It might surprise you that the annual average daily traffic in North Dakota in several areas was 15,000 or greater in 2020. If your business uses vehicles in its operations, the likelihood of vehicle accidents should concern you. Vehicle accidents can lead to expensive lawsuits, repair bills, and lost time at work, which can be challenging to recover from. This article will examine commercial auto insurance, which can help you mitigate those risks.
Commercial auto insurance is a policy that protects your business against expected losses from operating vehicles. This policy can help you pay for the following:
legal claims for lawsuits
damage to vehicles
medical treatments for people injured in accidents
The chart below highlights some key statistics for auto accidents in North Dakota. The data from this chart is from 2021 and comes from the state website for North Dakota.
| Total vehicle crashes | 9,500 |
|---|---|
| Total vehicle fatalities | 101 |
| Total vehicle injuries | 3,947 |
| North Dakota fatality rate | 1.09 |
During this time in North Dakota, a vehicle accident occurred once every 55 minutes. Also, a person was injured in a vehicle crash every two hours. The stats indicate that someone died in a vehicle accident every four days on average in 2021.
Commercial auto insurance North Dakota comprises several standard components that many policies will share. The sections below will describe these standard components.
Auto liability insurance covers bodily injury and property damage that occurs from the actions of your vehicle. Your auto liability policy will pay the party you have injured for medical expenses, vehicle damage, and other property damage.
Your policy’s collision coverage is responsible for paying for vehicle damage that results from colliding with road objects. Typically you use this coverage for collisions with other vehicles. However, this policy can also cover objects like mailboxes, traffic lights, and other items on the road. This policy will also cover damage to your vehicle if it gets flipped over on the road.
Your comprehensive coverage will protect your business's vehicles from causes other than road accidents. Standard events covered include:
Fire
Theft
Hitting an animal
Weather
Falling objects
This policy will cover medical bills, funeral costs, and lost wages to your injured drivers or passengers. As its name suggests, it will provide coverage no matter who is at fault for the accident. Some insurers will call this policy personal injury protection (PIP). North Dakota will require drivers to have this insurance as part of their commercial auto insurance policy.
If another motorist has insufficient insurance, your uninsured motorist coverage will help pay for medical bills for you and your passengers. This can happen if you are the victim of a hit-and-run. Sometimes people drive without insurance, initially leaving you stuck with the bill. Typically uninsured motorist insurance covers medical expenses, but sometimes it also covers property damage.
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Below are a few additional policies you can include in your North Dakota commercial auto insurance.
A policy with gap coverage will assist you with financed vehicles. Sometimes, you may owe more on your car loan than your insurance company will pay you for your vehicle. Gap coverage will help make up the difference, so you aren’t stuck paying for a totaled car.
You can use roadside assistance coverage to pay for times when your vehicle is stuck on the road. This policy will help you pay for towing costs, battery jumps, flat tires, and more. Many policies will only allow you to tow your vehicle in specific circumstances. Roadside assistance can alleviate the burden of towing your vehicle to a repair shop.
Your rental reimbursement coverage pays for the costs of renting a vehicle. You may need to rent a vehicle when one of your vehicles is out of commission. This can happen if a vehicle is totaled and needs to be replaced. It can also happen if a vehicle needs an extended stay in a repair shop.
A windshield repair policy is focused entirely on your vehicle’s windshield. Windshield damage can be costly to fix and can start with just a crack. This policy will save you money should an unfortunate incident cause your windshield to break. Unlike other vehicle damage types, a windshield cannot be ignored. You may not be able to see out of your vehicle with a damaged windshield.
This coverage can be tremendously helpful if you have just purchased a new vehicle. New vehicle replacement coverage will pay for replacing a new vehicle quickly after you purchase it. The typical timeframe is within a few years of the time of purchase. It can be beneficial because new vehicles depreciate quickly. If you get unlucky, you may be left with a considerable cost to replace a vehicle without this coverage.
Commercial auto insurance North Dakota has specific legal requirements for insurance policies to be considered satisfactory. The following sections will describe these requirements.
North Dakota requires 25/50/25 auto liability coverage. This number describes the amount of bodily injury and property damage coverage required.
| Bodily injury per person | Bodily injury per accident | Property damage per accident |
|---|---|---|
| $25,000 | $50,000 | $25,000 |
Your North Dakota commercial auto insurance must also have uninsured motorist protection. The minimum limits are $25,000 per person and $50,000 per accident for bodily injury claims. There is no requirement for physical property damage.
After seeing so many coverage components, you may have the idea that commercial auto insurance covers everything. This is not the case. Commercial auto insurance does not cover every risk and peril you may face. Some events that are often excluded from these policies include:
Workplace injuries: If an employee is harmed not through a vehicle collision or accident, their injury is usually excluded. Employee workplace injuries need to be covered by a workers' compensation policy.
War or rebellion: Commercial auto insurance will not cover damages from catastrophic events like war.
Expected acts: If a specific vehicle action results in a likely damaging outcome, your commercial auto insurance will not include this act. These can be acts where someone intends to harm the vehicle. A typical example of this is drag racing.
Pollution and hazardous materials: Commercial auto policies exclude events like transporting hazardous materials and cleaning up pollution spills by default. You must purchase a separate policy like pollution insurance or use a pollution liability add-on.
North Dakota’s website clearly states the penalties you might face if you do not comply with insurance requirements. These include:
Mandatory fine of $150 or more.
Suspension of driver's license.
File an SR-22 form that demonstrates future proof of your financial responsibility.
Yes. Commercial auto insurance typically requires the business to own the vehicle you cover. However, through hired and non-owned coverage, you can get a personal vehicle not owned by the business covered. You can purchase this coverage together or separately from commercial auto insurance.
Yes. North Dakota is a no-fault state. This means that the person who initially pays the damages for auto accidents is the person injured. North Dakota requires its drivers to carry no-fault or personal injury protection insurance.
No-fault states prevent lawsuits against another driver for bodily injuries except for specific circumstances of severe injuries.
North Dakota commercial auto insurance will cost as low as $49 per month or $588 per year. Please look at the below comparison to understand what you will spend monthly and annually.
| Company | Cost per Month | Cost per Year | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| NEXT | $30 | $360 | The best overall choice for North Dakota insurance |
| CoverWallet | $33 | $396 | Commercial auto insurance for small and large businesses |
| The Hartford | $35 | $420 | Commercial auto insurance expertise |
| Tivly | $37 | $444 | Getting quotes fast |
| Thimble | $39 | $468 | First-time buyers of commercial auto insurance |
| Hiscox | $42 | $504 | Small businesses that need commercial auto insurance |
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See our reviews of the best North Dakota commercial auto insurance companies below. Read on to see their pros, cons, and average rate.
Towing & labor coverage
File entirely online
Offers underinsured motorist
None found
NEXT is a superior provider of commercial auto insurance. They offer a great selection of policy options at a low price. The company was founded in 2016 but has a strong foundation. NEXT has an excellent score from financial rater AM Best. The Better Business Bureau gives it a B+ rating.
Best for: Best overall choice for North Dakota insurance
Average cost: $30 per month
Our rating: 10/10
Excellent policy add-on selection
Longstanding and trusted insurer
Offers specialized large business coverage
Some users report a lack of resolution to claims promptly.
The Hartford is an insurer that has been writing policies for over 200 years. You can trust their experience to steer your commercial auto insurance policy in the right direction. The Hartford has an A- rating from AM Best. They also have an A+ rating with the Better Business Bureau.
Best for: Commercial auto insurance expertise
Average cost: $35 per month
Our rating: 10/10
Offers a range of policies to meet your needs
Over ten insurance partners to choose from
Allows you to skip the form and call directly
Not an insurance provider
CoverWallet offers a unique digital platform that simplifies the insurance buying process. You can compare quotes with their 10+ insurance partners, saving you the time to contact companies individually. CoverWallet has an A+ score from the Better Business Bureau.
Best for: Commercial auto insurance for small and large businesses
Average cost: $33 per month
Our rating: 10/10
Get quotes quickly thanks to a 4-second phone answer rate
Covers food trucks
Offers Gap insurance
No mobile app
Tivly is an insurance platform with a lot to offer. You can choose from over 200 partners that all provide excellent insurance options. They also have many commercial auto insurance add-ons possibilities to go with their vast partner selection. Tivly has an A rating from the Better Business Bureau. After one call, you could have a policy within hours. Call now to compare quotes over the phone.
Best for: Getting quotes fast
Average cost: $37 per month
Our rating: 10/10
Covers owned, leased, and non-owned vehicles
Excellent experience for first-time buyers
More freedom in defining your policy duration
Customer call times can be long.
Thimble is an insurance broker that serves the needs of your business through its partners. They offer an excellent selection of commercial auto policies with all the coverage you need in North Dakota. The company provides an amazing user-friendly user experience to those unfamiliar with buying insurance.
Best for: First-time buyers of commercial auto insurance
Average cost: $39 per month
Our rating: 10/10
Save when purchasing commercial auto insurance with other policies
Helpful online resources
Refund your policy within 14 days if you are unsatisfied
It might not offer all the options you need
Hiscox is the preferred insurer for over 500,000 small businesses. They offer tailored policies that maximize the coverage you need at a low cost. You can get a quote quickly by calling one of their agents and quickly get your insurance certificate. Hiscox has an excellent rating from AM Best.
Best for: Small businesses who need commercial auto insurance
Average cost: $42 per month
Our rating: 10/10
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
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.
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
Not all those who wander are lost.
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