Insurance for Car Rental Business: Cost & Quotes From $11

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The car rental industry generates a staggering $58.34 billion and is projected to grow to $144.21 billion by 2027. While highly lucrative, there's no doubt that the business comes with its share of risks. 

Most of the risks associated with car rental businesses include business property damage and third-party claims of bodily injury or property damage. 

To realize the full financial potential of the business, it's imperative to invest in commercial insurance for rental cars. Today, let’s talk about what this is, how much it costs, and more. 

Does a Car Rental Business Need Insurance? 

Car rental businesses have multiple risks. While many insurance companies claim to offer perfect packages for your business, it's up to you to find a car rental business insurance package that suits your needs. There are several policies in commercial insurance for rental car businesses such as:  

• General liability insurance 

• Commercial property insurance 

• Worker's compensation insurance

Liability Insurance for Car Rental

Liability insurance pertains to policies included in commercial insurance for rental cars that shoulder the cost of lawsuits. General liability, employment practices liability insurance, cyber liability insurance, and employer’s liability insurance are the most common liability policies included in insurance car rental company. 

General Liability Insurance for Car Rental Business

General liability insurance (CGL) with products and completed operations coverage is the most common insurance for car rental business and is often included in business auto rental insurance programs.  

This policy functions to cover costs when a client sues for bodily injuries, property damage, and reputational harm. Specifically, this policy in car rental insurance for business will pay for:

• Defense costs

• Compensation/settlement to the aggrieved party

General liability insurance for rental car company is useful when:

• You said - in good faith - that a car is in good condition, the client rented the car, then it turned out the car is defective

• The car is poorly maintained and caused injuries to the client

• An accident happened on the premises of your car rental business and the client got injured or damaged their property

• You accused the client of stealing or damaging the rented car, and the client wants you to pay for such a blatant accusation

Employer’s Liability Insurance for Auto Rental Business

Your car rental business won’t run without employees - mechanics, car rental dealer, and more. The law mandates you compensate employees for any work-related injuries. There’s no excuse for this. 

If ever you can’t provide compensation on time, then employees can file a lawsuit and demand payment amounting $300,000 to $1 million. In this situation, if you have it, then employer’s liability insurance can help. Employer's liability is the car rental business liability insurance  that will pay:

• The settlement for the employee

• Defense costs

Car Rental Employment Practices Liability Insurance

Let’s be clear that employer’s liability insurance won’t cover wrongful termination, workplace discrimination, sexual harassment, and other related incidents. To protect yourself from hefty financial responsibility if any of these happens, decide to include employment practices liability policy in your commercial insurance for car rental business. 

Auto Rental Cyber Liability Insurance

A website makes it easier for you to track rental schedules, collect payments, and find leads. Did you know that you have financial responsibility if your website gets hacked and clients get their personal data exposed? 

This is true. And if it ever does happen, you’ll have to spend at least $200,000 to contain the breach, inform clients about what happened, and compensate for their losses. 

So don’t forget to include cyber liability insurance in your rental car fleet insurance package. With this policy, you can recoup extra expenses incurred by:

• The cost for containing the breach

• The cost for informing clients about the breach

• The cost for compensating the losses of clients as a result of the breach

Commercial Auto Rental Liability Insurance

Auto rental liability insurance covers the costs associated with crashes. This policy in commercial insurance for car rental business covers:  

• Defense costs

• Compensation to third parties for bodily injuries and property damage

Some states require the purchasing of the minimum car rental liability insurance while others don’t. But operating without it is extremely risky. Should you get sued, you could face fees totaling thousands of dollars. 

Some businesses consider additional liability coverage options like commercial umbrella insurance as a secondary layer of liability. But this is often available through a business owner's policy (BOP). 

Fleet Insurance for Rental Cars 

Typically, commercial car rental insurance protects against losses and is already useful for covering your rental cars. However, the best way to protect all of the cars comprehensively and cost-efficiently is through fleet insurance for car rental company. 

Car rental fleet insurance covers rental companies with more than 15 cars used for rental services. 

Commercial fleet insurance for car rental companies is largely specialized and only few offer this type of coverage. > Fleet insurance for rental car business is a requirement in some states . The requirements also dictate the coverage you must have as a rental car provider. 

So what are the policies included in rental car fleet insurance? The most common policies included in auto rental fleet insurance are:

• Workers compensation insurance

• Commercial property insurance

• General liability insurance

• Commercial auto insurance

Van Rental Insurance

Commercial rental car insurance is generally available for businesses that rent pickups, vans , and other medium or light vehicles. For those who rent vans, it’s better to get covered through tailored van rental insurance. Companies that sell this include the following policies:

• General liability insurance

• Commercial property insurance

• Commercial auto insurance

Commercial Truck Rental Insurance 

Truck rental businesses can’t enjoy comprehensive coverage with car rental insurance.  This is because trucks are more costly to maintain. Furthermore, unlike cars, trucks are rented to be used for transporting various goods between locations. 

Carriers offer tailored commercial truck rental insurance. This consists of the following policies.

• Contingent auto liability insurance

• General liability insurance

• Commercial auto insurance

• Commercial property insurance

Contingent auto liability is the policy in truck rental insurance, which is not included in car rental insurance. So what does it do? Contingent auto liability insurance will help shoulder costs if your client causes an accident while using your truck, and you’re pulled into their mess. 

How Do Most Small Businesses Handle Rental Car Insurance? 

When starting a car rental business insurance, ask the traffic authority about what kind of insurance policies are required for you to operate a car rental business lawfully. 

Insurance policies you’ll certainly need to buy are general liability insurance and commercial auto insurance. For small and big businesses, these coverages included in vehicle rental insurance are provided by a property and casualty insurance company.

However, in some cases, say if you’re running a truck rental business, you might need to add contingent auto liability insurance to your commercial car rental insurance as well as other specialized coverages mandated by the FMCSA. 

Since it’s difficult to find an insurance package that fits their business and conforms with insurance requirements, most go for customizable insurance for rental car business. You should also decide to get this because it’s very easy to remove or add policies as you see fit. 

When it comes to implementing the coverage, most small businesses go for a car rental insurance that covers the fleet. This saves costs and ensures that all cars for rent are covered.  Some also insure each rental car separately. The problem with this is that it’s not very cost-effective and policy management isn’t easy. 

Commercial Car Rental Insurance Cost 

On average, car rental insurance cost is $50 a month or $600 a year for a $1 million general liability coverage. The price you pay for your commercial car rental insurance cost varies based on various factors. Typically, these factors rely heavily on the makeup of your fleet like:  

• The number of cars in your fleet 

• The types of vehicles you have in the fleet. Generally, insuring trucks will be more expensive than small cars

• The age and condition of the cars 

• Additional equipment or accessories on the vehicles 

The car rental business insurance cost also depends on the extent of your coverage, the limits, the policies you have, and the carrier. 

Below is a generalized breakdown of commercial car rental insurance cost estimates:  

For further reference, here’s a table showing the pricing of the best commercial hire car insurance company:

Commercial Truck Rental Insurance Cost

For commercial trucks, insurance is $87 per month or $1,044 a year for a $1 million general liability insurance. Like other rental businesses, the premiums depend on location, the number of units, revenue, and claim history. 

Van Rental Insurance Cost

Van rental businesses pay $75 a month or $900 a year for a $1 million general liability insurance. Like other rental businesses, the premiums depend on location, the number of units, revenue, and claim history.