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In a world where automobiles dominate transportation, mechanics and auto repair shops are some of the backbones of the economy. From diesel mechanics who work on our buses and public transportation to small self-employed mechanics, mechanic shop insurance is a must-have for such businesses.
Whether you’re looking for self-employed mechanic insurance or you run a larger shop and need a more comprehensive mechanic shop insurance policy, we’ve got you covered. Below, we’ll explain what mechanic liability insurance covers and explain some of the common types of mechanic insurance that you may need to consider. Then, we’ll give you a quick breakdown of the average mechanic insurance cost for various types of coverage options.
Lastly, we’ll provide you with a brief review of two of the best mechanic and auto repair shop insurance companies.
It’s time to take a look under the hood of this business insurance type.
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Auto mechanic insurance always includes a liability policy. Mechanic liability insurance is designed to prevent you and your business from being financially liable for certain accidents or damage that may come to the cars you’re working on or storing in your auto repair garage.
Given the high cost of cars these days, it’s more important than ever to make sure that your car repair business is adequately insured. Otherwise, you could end up on the hook for tens of thousands of dollars due to a small accident on your or your employees’ part.
Liability insurance comes in different forms. For mechanics, the common ones are general liability insurance, garage liability insurance, and professional liability insurance.
Mechanic general liability insurance will cover defense costs and settlements if a client, vendor, or any other third-party files a personal injury claim or property damage claim. The examples below make it easier for you to understand:
You’re working to install a new piece on the client’s car. This new piece is too small, and you accidentally dropped it. You didn’t manage to find the piece no matter how hard you looked. Because of this, the client filed a claim as the piece is expensive. He demands you reimburse his loss
Your tools are lying around. The client came to check how you’re doing and tripped on the tools. He got injured and had to be treated for a broken hip. The client filed a claim and demand you pay for his pain and suffering
General liability insurance for mechanics comes with optional policies. These are:
Advertising injury coverage
Rented premises liability coverage
Rented premises liability coverage is useful if you’re renting a space where you store and repair your customer’s vehicles. If the rented space is damaged or destroyed, rented premises liability coverage will help you reimburse the losses of the property owner.
It’s possible for you to be accused of committing slander, libel, and copyright infringement. Advertising injury coverage covers these perils. In a nutshell, what advertising injury coverage does is cover defense costs and settlements if a third-party files a slander claim, libel claim, and copyright infringement claim against you.
You might commit a mistake and clients might experience economic or financial losses as a result. Clients might sue you for being negligent. Professional liability insurance protects you in such a situation.
Mechanic professional liability insurance covers defense costs and settlements if a client sues you for negligence, misrepresentation, violation of good faith, and other covered perils. This is available as a claims-made policy or occurrence policy.
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Some mechanics provide home service to clients. Literally speaking, they are what’s called mobile mechanics. If you’re one, know that there’s tailored mobile mechanic business insurance that includes liability insurance and commercial auto insurance.
Liability insurance for mobile mechanics will protect you while you’re working on a client’s car at their residence or office. Since mobile mechanics typically aren’t using hydraulic jacks or other heavy machinery, liability insurance costs for small mechanics are usually quite affordable. The most common liability insurance available for mobile mechanics is general liability and professional liability.
Many mobile mechanics also specialize in diesel mechanic work. Diesel trucks can often be more complex to work on and cost more money, so your liability policy may be slightly more expensive for a diesel mechanic insurance policy than a standard car mechanic policy.
Another common insurance policy that mobile mechanics purchase is a commercial auto insurance policy. If you use a vehicle to transport your tools to and from your home to your client’s home, then you can register it as a commercial vehicle and get additional coverage that your personal auto insurance policy won’t necessarily provide.
Auto repair business insurance or car repair shop insurance is likely going to be the most involved. Most likely, you’ll have several employees working for you in the shop, so in addition to having a good liability insurance policy, you’ll also need other insurance policies.
Auto repair shop insurance offers liability insurance as the most basic protection. Liability insurance for your repair shop comes in the form of general liability insurance and professional liability insurance. We discussed this above but to recollect quickly, general liability insurance provides protection from personal injury claims, property damage claims, and advertising injury claims. On the other hand, professional liability insurance will cover claims filed because your auto repair shop committed or allegedly committed actions constituting errors and omissions.
Of course, you have to cover your auto repair shop’s commercial space against exposures. The only way to do this is through commercial property insurance.
Commercial property insurance will pay for reconstruction if your auto repair shop’s commercial building is destroyed by fire or extreme weather. If theft, fire, vandalism, extreme weather, and other covered perils only caused damage, commercial property insurance will pay for building repair expenses.
Commercial property insurance for auto repair shops has business equipment and tools coverage. This will reimburse losses if valuable equipment and tools get lost or damaged because of theft, vandalism, and other covered perils.
Your auto repair shop’s employees might experience and become injured. This threat is apparent. In fact, there are recorded incidents. Here are some examples.
At about 11: 40 a.m. on September 8, 2011, an employee was working on a car with an alternator that won’t charge the battery. While working on it, the car’s radiator exploded and sprayed the employee with hot coolant. He was hospitalized after sustaining second-degree burns on the chest, arms, neck, face, and head. Other injuries were lung infection, kidney trauma, and hearing loss.
At 3: 30 p.m. on July 17, 2019, an employee amputated his thumb while loosening the tired bead from a wheel with a tire changer machine’s bead loosener. The incident happened because the employee had his hand stuck between the wheel’s rim and tire bead
At 8: 30 a.m. on July 24, 2020, an employee was repairing a Chevy Silverado that was raised 5 feet from the ground. While releasing the transfer case, the truck rolled off the lift and pinned the employee's head. This resulted in injuries to the head, face, and torso
If ever any of the following examples also happen to your employees, trust that workers' compensation insurance will be there to help out. The job of workers' compensation insurance is to pay for employee hospitalization, treatment, medication, and lost income compensation so that you don’t have to spend a single dime.
Workers' compensation insurance is a state-mandated coverage. You need this as soon as you have one or more employees. Refuse to get this insurance and there will be stiff penalties from state authorities.
Mobile auto repair business insurance is what you’ll need to purchase if you operate a mobile auto repair business. Generally speaking, mobile auto shops won’t have to pay as much in premiums as a large shop will. A typical mobile auto repair business insurance includes liability insurance, commercial auto insurance, and workers' compensation insurance.
Workers' compensation insurance will cover any claims coming from employees who get injured while working for your auto repair business. On the other hand, commercial property insurance will protect all equipment from theft, severe weather damage, or destruction
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Although it’s a completely different topic. Let’s discuss tailored insurance for bicycle mechanics.
Bicycle mechanic liability insurance is primarily offered as general liability insurance. General liability insurance will cover defense costs and settlements if a client files a claim because you injured him while working on his bike or because you caused more damage than fixing the bike.
Tailored bicycle mechanic insurance includes stand-alone equipment and tools insurance. Equipment and tools insurance will cover your losses if your bicycle repair kit becomes damaged or lost on-site or off-site because of theft, vandalism, and other covered perils.
Some garage-keeping businesses also offer mechanic services to their clients while the car is being stored. The average garage keepers insurance cost is $96 per month. Typically, the type of repair service provided is simple in nature and doesn’t involve in-depth repairs. However, there is still a slightly higher risk, which can drive the cost of insurance up to $138 per month.
If you specialize in fixing dents, cracks, and other ugly impressions on cars, then consider going for an auto body shop insurance. This consists of general liability, professional liability, and commercial property insurance.
The general liability insurance for auto body shops has a $1 million-$2 million per occurrence and aggregate limit. Aside from bodily injuries, you can use this to cover expenses if an employee causes further damage to the body of the client’s car. This can be added with a customer property coverage inclusion that will take care of expenses in case the cars in your custody get damaged or lost due to fire, theft, vandalism, and other covered perils.
This auto body shop insurance coverage will shoulder claims for negligence and accusations of defective work. Use professional liability insurance to reimburse the client’s financial losses and shoulder defense costs if a lawsuit is filed.
Commercial property insurance will reimburse your losses if the auto body shop, sprayers, welding machines, cutters, and other valuable business property gets damaged or destroyed due to fire, theft, vandalism, and other covered perils.
On average mobile mechanic liability insurance costs between $49 per month or $588 per year for a $1,000,000/$2,000,000 general liability insurance. In connection, here’s a table showing the rates of the top carriers:
| Cost per Month | Cost per Year | Best for | |
|---|---|---|---|
| CoverWallet | $49 | $588 | Mechanic insurance quotes comparison online |
| Geico | $56 | $672 | Small to mid-sized auto mechanic shops |
| State Farm | $61 | $732 | Self-employed mechanics |
While some bikes can cost a pretty penny, they are relatively simple, easy-to-repair machines. As such, the average bike mechanic liability insurance policy only costs about $35 per month or $420 per year.
If you operate a larger auto repair shop, then your insurance costs are going to be a good bit more expensive. This is due to several factors, such as the fact that you’ll have employees working for you, a public lobby where customers walk into, more garage space, and the added risk of keeping your client’s vehicles overnight.
On average, auto repair shop owners pay between $107 per month or $1,284 a year for a $1,000,000/$2,000,000 general liability insurance. This is for a small to mid-sized auto repair shop. If you own a large auto repair shop, then your price could easily double.
On average, mechanic shops pay $52 per month or $624 per year for a $1 million general liability insurance policy. Factors that affect the cost of premiums are location, business size, business history, claims history, and more.
The best way to get a great deal and find an affordable auto mechanic and auto repair shop insurance policy is to compare quotes from different insurance companies. By comparing quotes, you’ll be able to look at the best insurers side-by-side, and see which companies offer the best rates and the best coverage.
To start comparing right now, simply click ‘Get Quotes’ below, enter some basic info on your business, a contact email, and you’ll receive cheap, competitive rates from top insurers online!
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If you’re looking for a great mechanic insurance policy, then you can’t go wrong with either CoverWallet, Geico, or State Farm. These companies offer excellent, comprehensive insurance policies for self-employed mechanics and full-fledged auto repair shops as well. Here’s a brief overview of each so that you know the pros, cons, and pricing for a $1 million general liability insurance.
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Stable rates
Not an insurance company but a broker selling the quotes of its partners
CoverWallet’s mechanic insurance offers four options. Go for a general liability-only insurance plan if you don’t want to have comprehensive protection. If your business is growing, get general liability with commercial property insurance. But still, if you go for the second option, it’s best if you bundle them in a business owner’s policy so that you’re eligible to have workers compensation insurance. Finally, if you want the most tailored protection for your business, get a custom plan because you can choose the insurance policies to get.
Best for: Mechanic insurance quotes comparison online
Average cost: $49 per month
Our rating: 10/10
Make claims 24/7
Easy-to-use online platform and smartphone app to handle your policy.
Great rates on small business insurance policies
Due to the large size of the business, call wait times may be a bit longer than average
Geico has you covered whether you need auto mechanic shop insurance or a simple mechanic trade insurance policy! Not only is Geico the second-largest insurance provider in the nation, but they also offer some of the most competitive rates for small business insurance policies on the market. Geico makes handling claims a breeze with offices across the country, agents available for claims 24/7, and a quick and efficient online web and smartphone app.
Best for: Small to mid-sized auto mechanic shops
Average cost: $56 per month
Our rating: 9/10
Best customer service ratings on the market
Competitive pricing when comparing quotes
Commercial insurance policies for small mechanics and large auto repair shops alike.
Handling claims may take longer than average
If you need business insurance for an auto repair shop, then State Farm is an excellent choice. They’ve received incredible ratings for customer service and offer very fair pricing as far as small auto repair shop insurance goes. They also happen to be the biggest insurance provider in the United States, meaning that you’ll be able to get in touch with agents and representatives in person or over the phone, no matter what time of day it is.
Best for: Self-employed mechanics
Average cost: $61 per month
Our rating: 8/10
Their general liability insurance purchase process is simply the best online experience I've ever had in my life!
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!
It really can't get any better than this... wow
Very good experience
Terrific experience with their construction business insurance! 10/10! Thank you!
Not all those who wander are lost.
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