Why You Need Limo Insurance
Running a limousine business is a huge investment, and as with any other business, you need to protect that investment with the proper insurance. Taxi and limousine insurance protects you in case of bodily injury, property damage, and personal injury to you or third parties resulting from an accident involving your limousine.
It also protects against legal liability arising from your business operations, such as a customer getting injured while in your limousine. In some cases, commercial limousine insurance can even cover the cost of defending against lawsuits.
Commercial insurance for limo service is explicitly tailored to the different risks involved in operating a limousine business, which is why it's important to have one. Without it, you could be left footing the bill for damages and legal fees, which could quickly derail your business. There are several types of insurance for limo service, such as:
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Bodily injury insurance
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Property damage liability
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Personal injury protection
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Uninsured and underinsured motorists
Each type of insurance for limo companies covers different risks, so it's crucial to select the right policy for your business. The best policy provides the right level of coverage at a price you can afford. You can try to encompass different risks with a single policy or purchase multiple policies to create a comprehensive protection plan.
Bodily Injury Liability Insurance
Bodily injury liability insurance is the most basic type of limousine commercial auto insurance, and provides coverage for damages and injuries caused by accidents involving your limousine. It can help pay for:
This type of limousine auto insurance is typically required by law in most states, so it's essential to have it to avoid any legal trouble.
Property Damage Liability Insurance
Property damage liability provides coverage for damages to other people's property in an accident. This, by the way, is offered as a stand alone policy or included in either limousine service insurance or commercial auto insurance for limousines One thing to note is that it doesn't cover damage to your property - only damage to third-party property. This type of insurance can help pay for:
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The cost of repairing or replacing damaged property
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Removal of debris that occurs after an accident
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The cost of renting a replacement vehicle while the damages are being repaired
Limousine Physical Damage Coverage
Your limousine might get damaged, and nobody would hire a limousine that doesn’t look presentable. That’s why you should get an insurance policy that takes care of your limousine’s look.
Physical damage coverage takes care of the damages your limousine incurs. This has two forms - collision and comprehensive.
Comprehensive physical damage coverage will take care of your limousine’s parts repair or replacement if damage is caused by a collision with a vehicle or object. In practice, this insurance provides money you can use or reimburses what you spent. But note one thing though, comprehensive physical damage coverage won’t help if the limousine is damaged because you were driving under influence, overspeeding, or engaged in other criminal activities.
Collision isn’t the only thing that will deal damage to your limousine. That’s why it’s not smart to only get collision physical damage coverage. Comprehensive physical damage coverage is also useful. Particularly, it will pay for parts repair or replacement if your limousine is damaged by:
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Vandalism
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Theft
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Fire
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Hail
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Wind
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Storm
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Lightning
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Other covered perils
Limousine Emergency Roadside Assistance
Think about a scenario where someone hires your limousine for a long trip out of town. You’ll surely have to shoulder out-of-pocket expenses if the limousine experiences issues during the trip.
Emergency roadside assistance coverage is a type of limousine insurance that will cover costs if the limousine acts up on the road, and you’ll need to pay for the following services to resume the trip:
Not all business insurance companies offer emergency roadside assistance coverage for limousines. Your best bet of finding emergency roadside assistance is to look for a company that gives coverage to businesses that offer commercial transport services.
Personal Injury Protection
Personal injury protection, included in limo car insurance, covers medical expenses and lost wages for you and your passengers in the event of an accident, regardless of who is at fault. It can help pay for:
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Medical expenses
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Lost wages
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Lump sum benefits
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Funeral expenses
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Repatriation expenses
Uninsured and Underinsured Motorists Insurance
If you live in a state that requires it, uninsured and underinsured motorists coverage included in limo driver insurance can help pay for damages caused by an accident involving a driver who doesn't have insurance or doesn't have enough insurance to cover the damages. This coverage covers:
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Medical expenses
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Loss of income
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Pain and suffering
Limousine Rental Business Insurance
You only need the insurance policies we mentioned above if you’re making money as a limousine owner-operator. However, if you’re running a limousine rental business, you need to get other business insurance policies such as:
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General liability insurance
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Commercial property insurance
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Business owner’s policy
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Workers compensation insurance
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Employer’s liability insurance
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Employment practices liability insurance
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Cyber liability insurance
Limousine Rental Business General Liability Insurance
Third-parties might experience an accident in the premises of your commercial space. It’s also possible for customers to rent a defective limousine from your business. General liability insurance sees to it that, in case your business faces a personal injury claim or property damage claim, losses won’t be incurred.
General liability insurance comes with optional policies that provide more protection for your limousine rental business. These are:
Your limousine rental business might copy another business’s ad. It’s also possible for competitors to accuse you of slander or libel. A basic general liability doesn’t cover these things. That’s why you should add advertising injury coverage. With advertising injury coverage, your general liability insurance can cover the cost of copyright infringement, libel, and slander claims.
If you’re just renting a commercial space for your limousine rental business, then add rented premises liability coverage to general liability insurance. If something happens to the commercial space you’re renting, rented premises liability coverage will pay on your behalf if the landlord files a claim.
Commercial Property Insurance for Limousine Rental Businesses
Running a limousine rental business means that you own a commercial space that serves as an office and the terminal where unused limousines are stored. We’re sure that you spent a lot of fortune on that commercial space. And to avoid incurring losses if something happens to it, purchase commercial property insurance.
Commercial property insurance will pay for the reconstruction of your limousine rental business’s commercial space in case a fire or extreme weather destroys it. Also, if the commercial space only got damaged, commercial property insurance will also take care of building repair costs. Note that commercial property insurance doesn’t only cover fire and extreme weather but also theft, vandalism, riots, and other covered perils.
Floods and earthquakes might destroy your limousine rental business’s building. Sadly, commercial property insurance excludes these perils on its terms. To cover floods, you need to get specialized flood insurance. To cover earthquakes, you need specialized earthquake insurance.
Limousine Rental Business Owner’s Policy
Don’t buy commercial property insurance and general liability insurance for your limousine rental business separately. The most effective way of getting your business protected from liabilities and destruction or damage to business property is through a business owner’s policy.
A business owner’s policy combines general liability insurance and commercial property insurance under one roof. Its cost is significantly cheaper than buying general liability and commercial property insurance separately. A business owner’s policy also features one additional insurance policy for more protection. This additional policy is either workers compensation insurance or commercial auto insurance.
Workers Compensation Insurance for Limousine Rentals
Your limousine rental business has employees for sure such as mechanics, drivers, sales personnel, and more. The law mandates you cover employees with workers compensation insurance.
What is workers compensation insurance anyway?
Your employees might suffer from a work-related injury or disease. The job of workers compensation insurance is to take care of the cost of treatment, rehabilitation, and lost income compensation.
Not getting workers comp insurance is punishable. This is why authorities recommend all types of businesses having employees to get the coverage. But still, insurance companies don’t provide coverage to high risk businesses. What if this happens to your limousine business? What should you do?
If you can’t get workers compensation insurance from commercial insurers, then ask authorities to include your business in a state insurance fund. If this isn’t an option, ask the workers comp department of the location where your limousine business is located if self insurance is possible.
Is There a State in the US That Doesn’t Punish Business Who Don’t Get Workers Comp?
If your limousine rental business is found in Texas, then there’s no need for you to get workers compensation insurance. In Texas, businesses are free to decide whether to get workers compensation insurance or not.
Employer’s Liability Insurance
After experiencing a work-related injury or illness, an employee might accuse you of being negligent in providing safe work conditions. And you can’t expect general liability insurance to provide a helping hand as it doesn’t cover employee personal injury claims.
Insurance companies recognize this issue and offer employer’s liability insurance. Employer’s liability insurance covers costs if an employee files a claim because you caused or allegedly caused workplace injuries or illnesses by being negligent.
Employer’s liability insurance is offered as a stand-alone policy or as an inclusion in workers compensation insurance. Depending on what jurisdiction your business is located in, then there’s no need to get employer’s liability insurance if you have workers compensation insurance. It’s because some states in the US have workers comp laws that prohibits employees from suing employers who have workers comp coverage.
Employment Practices Liability Insurance
Other reasons for an employee to file a claim against your limousine rental business are sexual harassment, workplace discrimintation, and wrongful termination. Employer’s liability insurance doesn’t cover these things. Instead, what provides protection is employment practices liability insurance.
Cyber Liability Insurance for Limousine Rental Business
Get cyber liability insurance if your limousine business runs a website or any other platform that collects sensitive information upon the user’s consent. The job of cyber liability insurance is to cover defense costs and settlements if cybercriminals gain access to sensitive information and affected users decide to hold your business liable. Aside from this, cyber liability insurance will also cover expenses for public relations and customer notification.
In case you want to get covered against the cost of containing and reversing the damages of the breach, consider getting cyber insurance. Cyber insurance is a comprehensive insurance plan that protects you from the risks of running websites or any other similar platform. We forgot to mention this but know that cyber liability insurance can be a stand-alone policy or inclusion in cyber insurance.
