Commercial Vehicle Insurance – Cover Drivers and Vehicles
If you have employees who get behind the wheel, your commercial vehicle insurance will protect your business financially in the event of incident on the road. The risks you face as a business owner vary widely from liability concerns to workers compensation issues to the possibility that one of your workers could be responsible for an accident.
One of the best ways to identify the right commercial vehicle policy for your needs is to work with Hartzell Insurance Associates. We have relationships with many different insurance companies, so they can help cover every aspect of your business insurance needs.
Who Needs Commercial Vehicle Insurance?
- Delivery companies and other businesses that use commercial trucks.
- Independent contractors who drive during the course of doing business.
- Any business that makes deliveries or transports goods.
- Transportation services such as bus companies, taxi services and limo services.
If you or your staff members use a vehicle for commercial purposes, you will need a commercial auto insurance policy. Your personal auto insurance will not cover you in these situations.
The risks associated with commercial use of a vehicle, whether it is personally owned or company owned, often call for higher policy limits and different policy provisions.
What Does Commercial Vehicle Insurance Cover?
Commercial vehicle policies, like personal auto policies, are primarily designed to cover your liability risks and provide compensation for damage to your vehicle. But instead of just covering your personal use of the vehicle, the policy covers you and any other person who drives the vehicle. If you have employees who use their own vehicles for work related to your business, you need to make sure your commercial auto policy covers those employees and their vehicles.
A typical policy will include:
- Liability: Covers expenses resulting from an accident you or an employee causes, including:
- Bodily injury to another person
- Property damage to another person’s property
- Legal fees
- Medical payments: Covers hospitalization and other medical expenses for you or your employees, and any passengers in your vehicle
- Uninsured/underinsured motorist: Covers bodily injury and property damage you or your employees and passengers incur if an uninsured or underinsured motorist caused the accident.
- Collision coverage: Covers your vehicle when another object or vehicle causes damage.
- Comprehensive coverage: Covers “other than collision” perils such as weather damage, theft and vandalism.
Get the Right Business Vehicle Insurance for Your Company
With commercial vehicle insurance, there is no “one size fits all.” The variables that affect the kind of coverage you need include the size of your company, whether you have one company car, a small truck, a fleet of limousines or freight trucks, or a few delivery vans. You may also need special coverage for transporting hazardous or flammable materials. There are so many scenarios that need to be considered so contact us at Hartzell Insurance Associates.
In addition to these factors, your commercial vehicles may be subject to state and federal regulations that impact your insurance coverage. Every business is unique, and therefore each commercial vehicle policy must be tailored to the business.
To get the right policy and the right amount of coverage for your company, talk with Hartzell Insurance Associates. Our experienced agents will fully explore your commercial vehicle usage and risks. When you meet with us we will need to know the following information.
- How is the company organized (from a legal perspective)?
- What types of vehicles does your company use?
- Who owns them?
- Who drives them? You will need to provide driver’s license information for each driver.
- How often do you or your employees drive these vehicles?
- Do you transport people? Transport or deliver goods? Use the vehicles to provide services? What kind?
Getting the right business vehicle insurance policy can be complicated, but at Hartzell Insurance Associates we can find the right coverage for you from multiple insurance companies.
The bottom line is that a business needs a flexible, tailored company auto insurance policy, and it is important to make sure your policy adequately covers your real world use and risks. At Hartzell Insurance Associates you can rest assured that we will tailor a policy to fit your specific needs.