What Does Commercial Auto Insurance Cover?

If you own a business and use a car—whether personally owned or owned by the business—for any business purpose, then you need to consider commercial auto insurance coverage. Even if your employees simply run errands for you in their own vehicles, commercial auto is a policy you must have.

A commercial auto insurance policy has the ability to cover the same types of incidents that a personal auto insurance policy can cover, but it does so when the accident occurs during a business activity. The reality of what your commercial policy will cover depends on how your policy is designed. Some of the coverage protection you may have includes:

Bodily Injury and Property Damage Liability

Since bodily injury and property damage liability are required by almost every state, it is likely that your commercial auto insurance policy provides this coverage. This will pay for injuries and property damage done to others during an accident. You may have a deductible and, for bodily injury, a limit for a single-person injuries along with an aggregate limit for multiple injured individuals.

Comprehensive

Comprehensive coverage is optional and it covers damages due to many non-collision sources such as nature, vandals, thieves and even certain civil disturbances. This kind of commercial auto insurance protection is extremely important because it protects the value of your vehicle for you so that your business won’t be interrupted after an insurable incident.

Collision

When you have an accident and you hit another vehicle or object, including a telephone pole, mailbox or other structure, collision coverage is what you will rely on when making an auto insurance claim. Collision covers the damages to your car, but not any liability you may have to another person’s property.

Uninsured Motorist

While insurance may be required in your state, there will always be non-compliant drivers who skirt the law and operate a vehicle without coverage. These individuals may be on the wrong side of the law, but it is you who will suffer if you are in an accident with them. Uninsured and under-insured motorist coverage on your commercial auto insurance policy gives you a resource for your accident expenses if the at-fault driver does not carry any, or enough, insurance.  Without this coverage, you may have to sue the other driver or, if they do not have any resources, pay out-of-pocket for damages.

Commercial auto insurance coverage is necessary for every individual who drives a personal or company vehicle at any point for any business purpose. If you are ready to begin shopping for Chicago auto insurance, give us a call at Oxford Insurance Group.