Commercial Auto Insurance

At first, comparing the importance of Commercial Auto Insurance to that of Commercial Property Insurance for a business owner seems a lot like comparing apples to oranges. Sure, the latter are both a type of fruit that grows on trees and good for your health, but that’s about where the commonalities end.

In the same vein, Commercial Auto and Business Property are both types of business insurance that are smart choices for the health of your business, and that’s seemingly where the similarities end. These two kinds of coverage clearly protect entirely different assets that your company might possess.

However, a closer look at both demonstrates that business owners like you should carefully consider commercial auto insurance for virtually the same reasons you would talk to your agent about property insurance. For instance, whether you are a business owner who works out of your home, leases space, or owns an office building, Business Property insurance is critical coverage to have in order to protect all the important contents of your office from fire, theft, vandalism, or a weather-related catastrophe. Similarly, regardless if you own company cars, trucks, trailers, vans or other vehicles, lease them, or you and your employees use your own personal vehicles for business, you will need a special policy that will cover all the potential damages that a serious accident could cause.

Don’t assume your personal insurance will cover it

Some business owners, particularly sole proprietors, assume that since they use their vehicle for both personal and business-related reasons that their personal car insurance will be coverage enough. Coincidentally, this is almost exactly how many business owners, who have a home office, assume that their personal property insurance will cover any losses of business-related furniture, computers, inventory, supplies, equipment, and more. But neither of these assumptions is true and these are extremely risky conclusions to make.

Not having the proper business insurance policies in place could leave you paying out-of-pocket for hundreds of thousands of dollars in claims for property damage, personal injury, medical expenses and more caused by you or an employee.

Getting the proper insurance for your company vehicles

The first step that our BayCoast Insurance team recommends to a business owner is a thorough assessment of how you use your vehicles. We have some very important questions we will ask you in order to ensure you have the right policy for all your automobiles and potential drivers. For example:

1. Do you have vehicles that are driven by you or your employees for both business and personal use on a consistent basis?
2. Are these vehicles used to pick up or deliver any goods?
3. Do any of these vehicles provide a service for a fee?
4. Do you or any employees travel to a remote work location or between work locations or visit client locations?
5. Is the vehicle equipped with a snow plow, have an altered suspension system, or other equipment or modification?
6. Are any of these vehicles rented or leased by others?

With your responses to these questions, plus additional information that we will gather from you, the experienced professionals at BayCoast Insurance will be able to advise you on whether you need a separate commercial auto insurance policy or if your personal car insurance coverage is sufficient. However, even if it turns out that your personal policy is appropriate, we always encourage you to indicate to your insurance carrier that you occasionally use this vehicle for business reasons. This will help you avoid any significant road blocks should you ever have to file a claim.

Why BayCoast Insurance is the right choice for your Commercial Auto Insurance needs

The team at BayCoast Insurance has helped businesses, like yours, across the South Coast of Massachusetts and Rhode Island, find the optimal commercial auto insurance coverage for a wide variety of vehicles, including:

As you can see, BayCoast Insurance has accumulated considerable insurance know-how over a century of doing business in Fall River and throughout the South Coast of Massachusetts and Rhode Island. We also have access to a range of customized insurance solutions through our partnerships with well-established local and national insurance carriers, and we can provide virtually any sized business with comprehensive commercial auto insurance solutions for almost any kind of company vehicle. So, regardless if you are a manufacturer with a private fleet of trailers, or a real estate agency with a few luxury sedans used to shuttle high-end clients around, or a self-employed contractor who drives to worksites in your pickup truck, the BayCoast Insurance team will devise a commercial auto insurance plan that safeguards you, your employees and your business.

Contact us today for a complimentary review of your current commercial auto insurance policies or to get a free quote on a new policy. We will gladly answer all your questions and concerns with straightforward answers and advice so that you can have confidence and peace of mind that your vehicles are protected on and off the road.

The professionals at BayCoast Insurance will design a Commercial Auto Insurance policy customized for your specific business needs that may include the following coverages and endorsements:

1. Collision coverage for losses that result from the collision of a covered vehicle with any object or from the vehicle overturning.
2. Comprehensive coverage for physical damage to a vehicle caused by anything not already covered under collision, including flood, fire, theft, glass breakage, falling objects, explosion, earthquake or colliding with a wild bird or animal. There are a few policy exclusions to be aware of, such as wear and tear, mechanical breakdown and acts of war.
3. Specified perils coverage for the same perils as comprehensive covers, but because there are “named” perils in this policy, it has a lower premium.
4. Liability coverage for costs related to defending or settling a case related to bodily injury or property damage caused by the covered vehicle, up to the policy limits.
5. A separate schedule for employees who drive company vehicles home and use them for personal purposes in the evenings or on weekends. These vehicles need to be specially scheduled on your commercial auto policy and appropriately identified on the declarations page.
6. Drive Other Car Coverage Endorsement for employees or executives who have been supplied a vehicle by the company, have no other personal vehicle, and have not secured personal auto insurance, in order to close a gap in coverage.
7. Non-Owned Auto Liability Endorsement for employees who drive their own personal vehicles for business purposes, such as visiting clients, in order to provide coverage in excess of the employee’s personal auto insurance coverage.