Your personal auto policy will decline the claim the moment it learns the trip was work.
Commercial auto covers vehicles the business owns and the people who drive them for work — liability for the harm they cause, and physical damage to the vehicles themselves.
Tell us the situation.
A licensed human replies the same business day — not an auto-responder, and not five producers calling at once. We shop it across our carriers and tell you if the policy you already have is the right one.
We use this to quote and service your insurance, and we do not sell it or pass it to lead networks. Privacy policy.
What commercial auto businesses actually need.
Liability
Injury and damage your vehicle causes to other people and their property.
Without it — An at-fault accident in a work vehicle becomes a personal judgment against the business.
Physical damage
Collision and comprehensive cover for the vehicles you own.
Without it — A written-off van is replaced out of cash flow, with the finance still owing.
Hired and non-owned
Rentals, and employees driving their own cars for work.
Without it — An employee’s personal policy declines a business trip and the business is named anyway.
Uninsured motorist
Injury to your driver caused by someone with no insurance or not enough.
Without it — A driver hurt by an uninsured motorist has no recovery beyond that person’s empty pockets.
Where commercial auto shows up.
- Contractor
A truck accident on the way to a job is a personal claim your employee’s insurer will decline the moment they learn it was work.
- Landscaping & Grounds Maintenance
Trucks towing loaded trailers all day are the largest severity exposure on the account, and personal auto declines the moment it learns the trip was work.
- Tree Service & Arborist
Chip trucks, bucket trucks and loaded chippers are heavy, frequently in traffic, and rated as such.
- Snow & Ice Management
A plough blade is an attachment your auto policy has to know about, and damage caused while ploughing is auto exposure rather than general liability.
- Pesticide & Herbicide Application
Spray rigs and tanks on the road are business use and carry the chemical with them.
- Irrigation & Sprinkler Contractors
Trucks and towed equipment are on the road between sites every day.
- Trucking
No authority, no loads. Primary liability is the filing that keeps you legal to run.
- Auto Services
Shop trucks, loaners and test drives are all uninsured business use.
- Janitorial & Cleaning
Crews driving between sites all day are uninsured for work use without it.
- Film & Entertainment
Production vehicles, cube trucks and picture cars are all business use.
- Directional Boring
Trucks, trailers and equipment transport are constant and all business use.
- Pet Services & Veterinary
Mobile grooming and transport put the animals and the vehicle on the road together.
- Tow Truck & Recovery
The wrecker itself is a heavy vehicle in traffic, often on a shoulder at night, which is where this trade’s worst losses happen.
- Tanker & Hazmat
The filing that keeps your authority active, at the higher minimum your commodity requires rather than the general freight figure.
- Refrigerated Freight
The filing and the primary liability that keeps the authority live.
- Livestock Hauling
Primary liability and the filing behind your authority.
- Auto Transport
Primary liability and the filing that keeps the authority active.
- Hot Shot Trucking
Operating under your own authority means the same federal filing as a tractor-trailer, whatever the truck looks like.
- Box Truck & Straight Truck
The filing applies to the freight and the authority, not to whether the vehicle needs a CDL to drive.
- Last Mile & Delivery Contractors
A fleet of vans making hundreds of stops a day is the highest-frequency auto exposure in transport.
- Dump Truck & Aggregate Hauling
Loaded dump trucks are top-heavy and the overturn exposure is unlike anything in general freight.
- Local & Short-Haul Trucking
Frequent stops in congested areas is a high-frequency exposure, and it is rated very differently from highway miles.
- Regional & Intermediate Radius
Regional running combines real highway severity with frequent stops, and the filing has to match where you actually go.
- Long Haul Trucking
Highway speeds and long hours produce the largest verdicts in transport, and the federal filing is what keeps the authority live.
- Public Auto & Passenger Transport
Passenger carriers have their own federal minimums, set by seating capacity rather than by what is in the back.
- Bus, Limo & Charter
The federal minimum for a passenger carrier is set by seating capacity, and crossing sixteen seats changes the number substantially.
- Non-Emergency Medical Transport
Wheelchair-equipped vehicles carrying non-ambulatory passengers are the highest-rated units in public auto.
- Taxi & Rideshare Fleets
High-mileage urban driving with continuous passenger pick-up is the highest-frequency exposure in public auto.
- Regional Center Vendors
Transporting consumers brings vehicle requirements of its own, and they are checked.
- Glass Contractors & Glaziers
Racked glass on a truck is fragile cargo and a load shift is a total loss.
- Carpentry & Framing Contractors
Crews, lumber and equipment move between sites daily.
- Hardscape & Retaining Walls
Material deliveries and towed equipment are constant and all business use.
- Pressure & Soft Washing
The truck and the trailer are on the road daily and towing is constant.
- Mobile Mechanics & Heavy Truck Repair
Service trucks are on the road constantly and frequently stopping on shoulders, which is the worst place a vehicle can be.
- Roofing Contractors
Loaded trucks, trailers, tear-off debris and material deliveries run all day.
What commercial auto operators ask us.
My van is in my own name. Does my personal policy cover it?
Almost certainly not once the use is commercial, and this is the single most common uninsured exposure in small business. Personal auto policies exclude business use beyond commuting. The insurer does not have to prove much — a signwritten vehicle, tools in the back, or a delivery on the trip is usually enough — and the discovery happens at claim time.
What is a symbol on a commercial auto policy?
Symbols define which vehicles a coverage applies to — owned, hired, non-owned, or any auto. They matter more than the limits in one specific way: a policy written for owned autos only gives you nothing when an employee crashes their own car on a work errand. Check the symbols, not just the number.