Commercial vehicle insurance is a policy of physical damage and liability coverages for amounts, situations, and usage not covered by a personal auto insurance policy. This type of business insurance covers many types of commercial vehicles—from automobiles used for business purposes, including company cars, to a wide variety of commercial trucks and vehicles.
What kind of vehicles are covered by a commercial auto insurance policy?
Box trucks, food trucks, work vans and service utility trucks are just a few examples of larger commercial vehicles which will require a commercial auto insurance policy, including coverage for employees operating the vehicle and possibly the equipment inside. You may have heard of this coverage referred to as commercial auto insurance, commercial car insurance, truck insurance, or fleet insurance. While commercial vehicle insurance is most commonly associated with trucks or more recognized work vehicles, regular cars and automobiles may also require a commercial auto policy if they’re used for business purposes.
Why do you need commercial vehicle insurance?
Certain business usage and vehicle types may be excluded from personal auto insurance policies. Why? Since personal auto policies were not meant for businesses, they are written and rated differently. More important to you—a business owner or manager—businesses often need the particular coverages found in a commercial auto insurance policy.
Determining whether your situation requires commercial auto coverage can still be confusing.
What does commercial vehicle insurance cover?
Commercial vehicle insurance, like your personal auto policy, provides similar coverages such as liability, collision, comprehensive, medical payments (or personal injury protection), and uninsured motorist coverage. However, there are also differences between a commercial auto insurance policy and your personal auto policy that may include eligibility, definitions, coverages, exclusions, and limits.
What are the coverages in a commercial vehicle policy?
- Bodily injury liability coverage – pays for bodily injury or death resulting from an accident for which you are at fault and in most cases provides you with a legal defense.
- Property damage liability coverage – provides you with protection if your vehicle accidentally damages another person’s property and in most cases provides you with a legal defense.
- Combined single limit (CSL) – Liability policies typically offer separate limits that apply to bodily injury claims for property damage. A combined single limits policy has the same dollar amount of coverage per covered occurrence whether bodily injury or property damage, one person or several.
- Medical payments, no-fault or personal injury coverage – usually pays for the medical expenses of the driver and passengers in your vehicle incurred as a result of a covered accident regardless of fault.
- Uninsured motorist coverage – pays for your injuries and, in some circumstances, certain property damage caused by an uninsured or a hit-and-run driver. In some cases, underinsured motorist coverage is also included. This is for cases in which the at-fault driver has insufficient insurance.
- Comprehensive physical damage coverage – pays for damage to your vehicle from theft, vandalism, flood, fire, and other covered perils.
- Collision coverage – pays for damage to your vehicle when it hits or is hit by another object.