Cost of Commercial Vehicle Insurance
If you own a business with vehicles, you need commercial auto insurance. The cost of the insurance depends on many factors. The type of vehicles, the amount of necessary coverage, and the driving history of your employees are just a few of them. Protecting your business is probably your top priority, so understanding what affects the cost of your commercial auto insurance is important.
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The Factors Affecting Your Commercial Auto Insurance
Just like your personal auto insurance, insurance companies need to know basic facts about the commercial vehicles:
- What are the make and models of the vehicles?
- What size are the vehicles?
- Are they new or used?
- How will you use the vehicles?
Other factors insurance companies need to know include:
- What is each driver’s driving record?
- What is the company’s insurance history?
- How many claims has your company filed?
- What are the ages of each driver?
- How far will your drivers travel?
- What is the value of the car or truck?
- What are you hauling or delivering?
The insurance company puts all of these factors together to determine the cost of your commercial auto insurance.
Factors You Should Consider
The insurance company needs to know a lot about you, your company, your drivers, and the vehicles. You should know certain factors regarding the insurance as well though. Mainly, you should look closely at the type of coverage. At a minimum, you’ll need liability insurance in order to meet the law’s requirements. But, you may also want other coverages and/or riders, which can increase your premiums.
You should also consider your deductible. If you can afford a higher deductible, you can pay lower premiums each month. The deductible only comes into play if you file a claim. You must then meet the deductible before the insurance will pay their part. Don’t choose an unaffordable deductible, but also don’t choose the smallest one as it will increase your premiums the most.
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The Common Commercial Auto Insurance Coverage
Each business will have different needs, but in general, you should consider the following commercial auto insurance coverage:
- Liability – You should have both bodily injury and property damage liability coverage. This protects you should you hurt someone else with a commercial vehicle or you hurt personal property with the vehicle. This doesn’t cover any damage to your commercial vehicle or your employees driving it.
- Collision – This covers your commercial vehicle should it have damage from an accident that you, your employee, or another driver caused.
- Comprehensive – This covers non-collision damage to your commercial vehicle. If a tree fell on your car, it would fall under this coverage. Theft, vandalism, and weather damage also fall under this category.
- Medical coverage – This covers the driver and any passengers of your commercial vehicle should they need medical attention or procedures due to an accident in your commercial vehicle.
Can’t You Use Personal Auto Insurance?
There’s a fine line between your personal auto insurance and commercial auto insurance. Personal auto insurance, as the name suggests, is for personal use. You can drive friends around, even deliver goods to a friend, but not for money. As soon as you start using your vehicle to earn money, you need commercial auto insurance because your personal insurance becomes invalid.
Commercial auto insurance has many benefits over personal auto insurance:
- They typically have higher limits because of the higher risks
- They cover all drivers of the vehicle, not just one driver
- They cover other equipment you may haul with your commercial vehicle
- They protect your business
Commercial auto insurance can cost as little or as much as you want, depending on the type of coverage that you choose. Shop around with different agents to find the commercial auto insurance that offers the protection you need at the prices you can afford.
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