It's not uncommon to find business owners using their personal cars for work purposes. If your car provides daily commutes to work and later access to a commercial activity, you'll need to secure business insurance on top of your personal auto insurance. You can use your car for various business activities, including:
Driving to corporate meetings and conferences
Visiting your company's various branches
Providing colleagues or employees lifts to work-related locations
Driving to visit clients' premises
Running work-related errands
Hauling goods or materials
Delivering food as side hustle
Business car coverage provides additional protection to cover the business use of the car, and your standard auto insurance doesn't offer that. It'll ensure your car is covered at all times. You need to know how to add business insurance to car. In this discussion, understand the process and familiarize yourself with the nitty-gritty of adding business insurance to car.
Before we delve into how you add business insurance to your vehicle, it's essential to know what business car insurance is.
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It is worth noting that your Business Owners Policy (BOP) does not cover any of your cars. That means you'll need to add business insurance to your car, a separate policy.
Many states require business owners to buy liability insurance coverage to cover third-party bodily injury and property damage sustained due to car accidents when you or an employee drives the car for business.
Additionally, it’s also wonderful if you decide to get uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage or medical payments coverage (MedPay).
A driver without insurance or not having enough insurance won’t pay for your medical expenses and property damage. That’s why there’s uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage to help you out. Underinsured/uninsured motorist coverage will take care of your medical expenses and will reimburse you for any damaged property if the driver at fault for the accident can't cover you with his insurance.
Medical payments coverage or MedPay will also pay for your treatment in the event of a vehicular accident. However, most commercial car owners use this one to cover passengers. No other insurance policy covers passengers except this one. In practice, medical payments coverage will pay for the emergency treatment of passengers injured by a vehicular accident. Coverage applies whether it’s the other driver’s fault or your fault.
There’s no fixed amount of auto liability coverage you need to get. It all depends on which state your car is registered. Here are the minimum commercial auto liability coverage required in select states:
New York - Cars used for business purposes must be covered with commercial auto insurance having a $25,000 per person and $50,000 per accident bodily injury coverage. As for property damage liability, the owner of the commercial auto must carry at least $10,000 in coverage
California - Vehicles used for commercial purposes must carry a $15,000 per person and $30,000 per accident bodily injury coverage. Property damage liability coverage, on the other hand, must not be lesser than $5,000
Texas - Business car insurance must provide bodily injury coverage having a $30,000 per person limit and a $60,000 per accident limit. Property damage liability coverage must not be less than $25,000
Florida - Each owner who wants to add business insurance to their car must see to it that there’s $10,000 per person and $20,000 per accident coverage for bodily injuries. Property damage coverage shouldn’t be less than $10,000.
Illinois - In Illinois, owners are required to get business car insurance having a $25,000 per person and $50,000 per accident bodily injury coverage. Property damage liability coverage must not be less than $20,000.
Physical damage coverage is another inclusion in business car insurance. Decide to get this if you don’t want to pay hefty costs for vehicle parts repair or replacement. This coverage has two forms - collision and comprehensive.
As already evident by its name, collision insurance will kick in if your commercial vehicle gets damaged in a vehicular accident - particularly, a collision with an object or car. Collision physical damage coverage pay for parts repair or replacement on your behalf.
You should know one thing though. Collision physical damage coverage won’t cover damages your car incurred after hitting an animal on the road.
Comprehensive physical damage coverage, on the other hand, covers damages not resulting from a collision. If your vehicle is damaged by fire, lightning, theft, vandalism, and other related incidents, then comprehensive physical damage coverage will pay for parts repair or replacement, not collision physical damage coverage.
There are three types of business car insurance, and each provides a different level of coverage. They include:
Class 1 Business Insurance – This policy protects you during your trips, including site visits as part of your business responsibilities.
Class 2 Business Insurance – Class 2 provides the same coverage as Class 1 business insurance. The only difference is that it allows you to add a driver's name to the policy.
Class 3 Business Insurance – This is a comprehensive business car policy. It's ideal if you drive for hundreds of miles every week and have multiple drivers you need to be named under the policy. It's also the best coverage if driving is a huge part of your job, for instance, door-to-door sales.
Depending on how you use your vehicle for business purposes, you might need other insurance policies aside from business car insurance such as:
Inland marine insurance
Cargo insurance
Trailer interchange insurance
Bobtail insurance
Non-trucking liability insurance
Unladen insurance
Are you using your car to take equipment to different project sites? If this is the case inland marine insurance can help. What this policy does is reimburse losses if your equipment gets damaged or lost during the trip. Note that inland marine insurance is offered as a stand-alone policy or as an inclusion in motor carrier policy.
Cargo insurance is essential for individuals that use their cars to deliver materials and goods to make money. This type of insurance reimburses the customer if his or her materials or goods are lost or damaged during the trip because of a vehicular accident, fire, theft, malicious mischief, and other covered perils.
You’ll need to have specific cargo insurance coverage, which will be mandated by contracts you enter with customers. On most occasions, you only need to get $100,000 cargo insurance coverage. But still, some owner-operators are required to get a $500,000 cargo insurance to satisfy the terms and conditions of contracts.
This is another useful insurance for those who haul goods or materials using their autos. Most owner-operators borrow or rent a trailer through a trailer interchange agreement. In connection, the purpose of trailer interchange insurance is to shoulder the liability of the owner-operator should a rented or borrowed trailer get damaged while being used.
Bobtail insurance is useful for cars that can be attached with a trailer. The function of this policy is to cover costs if the car with a trailer attached causes damage while it’s on the way to haul cargo.
A commercial vehicle that can be attached with a trailer might be used by the driver for personal errands. The purpose of nontrucking liability insurance is to cover costs if the driver causes an accident while doing so.
Sometimes confused with bobtail insurance and non-trucking liability insurance, unladen insurance covers costs if a commercial vehicle causes an accident while an empty trailer is attached or no trailer is attached. Also, this one provides coverage regardless if the accident happened while the commercial vehicle is used for business purposes or personal purposes.
When writing business car insurance, many insurance carriers use the Business Auto Coverage Form (BACF) as the standard document. Although the form indicates "Auto, " the vehicle under coverage is not limited to a small personal car. It can cover a van , truck, trailer , or any other vehicle designed for use on public roads.
You'll have to answer various questions from your insurance agent when purchasing business insurance for your car. Some of these queries include:
Who'll be driving the car?
Do you own, rent, or lease the car?
How do you use the car for business?
Are you likely to drive your car for your business?
The answers you provide to these questions will help your broker determine the type of coverage you need.
Generally, only a BACF can offer the right protection for your business needs. We live in a litigious society, and any accident leading to property damage or bodily injury can result in a lawsuit that can devastate your business financially. Insurers recommend that you get $500,000 to $1,000,000 in coverage. That's how to add business insurance on car.
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Adding food delivery to your car insurance means you pay more than your personal car coverage. Regardless, it's required by law, and it saves you from penalties like tickets and driving suspensions. If you make money delivering food, it would be best to add food delivery insurance to your car.
There are three types of insurance you can choose when buying insurance for your food delivery business:
Commercial policy - Commercial food-delivery coverage covers you in the event of an accident. It's more expensive than standard auto insurance, although the rates vary based on factors like:
Demographics
The type of vehicle
Driving record
Business-use policy - There are high chances that you travel to far-off destinations and make sales when delivering food. Your personal auto insurance may not cover you if you are involved in a collision without a business-use policy.
Personal Auto Insurance - As mentioned, your auto insurance might not cover any accidents or property damage during business use. Nonetheless, having it means you've met the required state minimums. It's critical to inform your insurance agent how you use your car to know their coverage requirements, lest they deny you a claim or decline policy renewal entirely.
Food delivery auto insurance costs vary depending on your driving record, credit score, where you live/operate, and more. The average cost of food delivery car insurance can be as low as $20 per month or $240 a year.
Below is a table to give you an idea of how much you’ll pay considering that you’ll be working for any of the food delivery companies shown:
| | Cost per Month | Cost per Year |
|---|---|---|
| Amazon Flex | $20 | $240 |
| Amazon Fresh | $24 | $288 |
| Caviar | $32 | $384 |
| Doordash | $35 | $420 |
| Postmates | $41 | $492 |
| Ubereats | $46 | $552 |
How much to add business car insurance will depend on several factors. If you’re asking yourself how much extra to add business insurance on my car? T hen know that driving frequency is one factor to consider.
Business vehicles are driven more through high traffic and on unfamiliar roads. This increases the risks of accidents and damage, which in turn increases the number you make claims. If your driving record indicates that you're likely to make a claim, your insurance company will charge you more. But learn the knack for saving on commercial insurance, and you’ll still get cheap rates.
There's no standard cost of how much to add business insurance to car. Several factors affect the price. They include:
The brand and model of the vehicle
How you use the car
The number of business trips the car will make
Where you live
Your occupation
Your claims history and driving record
Car mileage/age
Your age
But let’s say, you’re asking how much to add business insurance to my car if the policy limit is $1,000,000 ? A coverage plan with a policy limit of $1,000,000 has a median cost of $142 per month or $1,704 per year. Considering the median cost is a more accurate approach to estimating how much to add business cover to car insurance. This is because it's the figure in the middle, an outlier between high and low premiums.
For further reference, here’s a table showing the cost of the best companies to work with when adding business insurance to a car.
| | Cost per Month | Cost per Year | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| CoverWallet | $100 | $1,200 | Business car insurance online quotes comparison online |
| Thimble | $115 | $1,380 | Short-term business insurance for car |
| Next | $134 | $1,608 | Adding business insurance on a car with discounts. Also, sending proof of insurance as a text message, photo, or email |
| Hiscox | $138 | $1,656 | Adding business insurance on a car with proactive support |
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Allows you to compare commercial auto insurance quotes online
Easily allows you to add business insurance to a car
Not an insurance company but a broker selling the quotes of its partners
CoverWallet , with its online quotes comparison platform, provides you with all the offers of companies of commercial carriers that have business insurance to add to your car. You can also get covered immediately with CoverWallet and enjoy managing your policies online.
Best for: Comparing business insurance quotes for car online
Average Cost: $100
Our rating: 10/10
Business insurance for your car, which lasts for only hours, days, weeks, or months
Fast online customer support
Instant online proof of insurance
$0 deductible
Some customers reported in Better Business Bureau that Thimble wasn’t fast in handling claims
Thimble offers short-term business insurance for cars used in food delivery, trucking, and other commercial purposes. This company’s policy can be availed for only hours, days, weeks, or months.
Best for: Short-term business insurance for car
Average cost: $115
Our rating: 9/10
Enjoy discounts when bundling business insurance policies to be added on your car
Certified insurance agents that are always eager to help
Get insured quickly
NEXT’s rates can be very high for customers with cars having a high mileage
Next’s offers business insurance to be added on a car, which you can bundle and purchase at a cheaper price. Just like CoverWallet, Next offers a very streamlined online insurance management experience. Pay your bills online and send proof of insurance to someone in an instant.
Best for: Adding business insurance on a car with discounts. Also, sending proof of insurance as a text message, photo, or email
Average cost: $134
Our rating: 8/10
Generous policy limits
Offers free business resources
Proactively assists you when deciding what business insurance policy to add on a car
Customer reviews aren’t very positive
Hiscox is great if you’re looking for a company that offers business resources aside from business insurance for a car. If you’re not sure how much coverage you need, then know that Hiscox’s agents are always on the line. In case you don’t want lengthy talks, then Hiscox devised a tool that tells you how much and which coverage to add to the car.
Best for: Adding business insurance on a car with proactive support
Average cost: $138
Our rating: 8/10
Get the best business insurance for your car by looking at the offers of different carriers. To compare business insurance quotes for car, click the "Get Quotes " button on this page and simply fill-up the form.
1 / 5
Use anyone except Employers. Period. They are non-transparent and shameful. After I complained long enough to warrant a call from a supervisor, the supervisor called back from a PRIVATE NUMBER (no caller ID), left a message that they are not reversing their decision (without any communication with me), and failed to leave a phone number for me to call back. She was hiding! They also fact find via email and phone calls, which is terrific for speed and communication. However, after setting a precedence of email or phone calls, they send time sensitive information via email, without any heads up... they are hoping you miss it and forfeit via expiration. Evil policies. Go elsewhere.
1 / 5
This place is an absolute joke of a company and should be ashamed of the way they conduct business. I was hurt on the job at the end of July and it took them just shy of 7 weeks to issue out a paycheck to me. Yes the amount was back dated but still. Not many have the luxury of not receiving a paycheck for almost 2 months. To top it all off, the original adjuster marked me down for the wrong state which caused a problem from the get go, I've had 3 different adjusters now since each one can't seem to figure out the simplicity of my claim. All my paperwork which includes, my job, house, and drs visits all are from the same state and city but yet some how I have been filed under a completely different state 1500 miles away. They do not answer your phone calls or emails no matter how many you leave. I've had to escalate my frustrations to the supervisors of each of these individuals in order to even get some kind of response. I've had more communication and information given to me about my claim from the customer service representatives then the actual adjusters.......... please tell me how that works?! A serious overhaul needs to happen here in order to serve your clients the way they deserve to be taken care of. 10/10 do not recommend this company to a single soul on earth
1 / 5
I have never had the displeasure of working with a more incompetent and disrespectful person in my life. I’m an injured worker and the adjuster that was assigned to my case was named Carrie Furgeson. In the past 6 weeks that I’ve been injured and out of work I have only been able to get ahold of her twice, not for lack of trying. I have left countless voicemails, countless emails, and she ignores them all. When I am finally able to get ahold of her I’m greeted with terrible customer service. She is rude, she talks over me and I’m hardly able to get a word in edgewise. She spelled my name wrong on my documents even after I spelled it for her properly countless times, this caused a whole new issue with my bank. I have bill collectors from the hospital calling me demanding payment and Carrie Furgeson won’t do a single thing to help, or to get them paid. All of my documentation is in Colorado, my job is in Colorado, my address is in Colorado, all my Dr offices and appointments have been in Colorado and Carrie still managed to hold my claim because she wasn’t sure what state she needed to file it under. It’s been 6 weeks since my Injury and my company still hasn’t received the wage paperwork to fill out so they can get me my correct wages. When she’s not ignoring me she’s answering my questions with “I don’t know” well I don’t know how she got this job, because apparently she doesn’t know anything about it. She is a disgusting morose individual inside and out and I genuinely wish her the worst in all of her future endeavors. I highly recommend you don’t use this company. Please if you are a business owner and your looking into this company please don’t use them. I’m sure they have the cheapest payment and that’s why companies use them in the first place, but you will be doing your employees a grave disservice by forcing them to venture into this absolute dumpster fire of a company. I would rate 0/5 if possible but 1 was the lowest I was allowed.
5 / 5
Their general liability insurance purchase process is simply the best online experience I've ever had in my life!
5 / 5
As long as they cover your line of business, you're literally covered! best rates, best coverage, best online experience, best professionals, can't be happier that I chose them!
Not all those who wander are lost.
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