Commercial Auto Insurance

Commercial auto insurance is a necessary business expense for any farm or business owner. It’s tempting to include the truck you personally drive around the farm under your personal car insurance, but commercial auto insurance can be affordable and protects you and your business in the long-term. We have insurance policies for your farm trucks and business automobiles. Talk to our experience staff to discover the right kind of insurance for your commercial vehicles.

Three Reasons Your Business Needs Commercial Auto Insurance

Every business owner has asked themselves at some point, “Does it really matter whether I have personal auto insurance or commercial auto insurance?” It really depends on how you’re using your vehicles because commercial and personal coverage differ in the situations they cover. Personal auto insurance is designed to provide coverage for individuals who have damage or are in accidents while using their vehicle for personal use, such as traveling to the grocery store or picking up your kids from school. But if you use a vehicles for any part of your business, such as traveling to a client meeting, driving around the ranch, or transporting supplies, then you need commercial insurance.

Increased Value, Increased Protection

The number one reason to have commercial auto insurance is to protect your bottom line. Businesses are seen as the “deep pocket” and commercial coverage will give you a higher level of protection. Having personal auto coverage for a business vehicle is almost as bad as having no insurance at all.

For example, an employee of a produce delivery company gets into an accident while in a company truck while making a delivery, hitting someone driving to work in their personal car. Both the produce delivery person and the commuter are driving vehicles that only have personal auto coverage. The person driving to work is covered but the produce delivery vehicle is not.

Not only will the business have to pay out-of-pocket for damages to both vehicles, it also opens up the company and the driver to being sued. The number of people being insured, the type of vehicles that are being driven, and the type of goods that are being transported are all reasons that commercial coverage is a business’s best option.

Multiple Drivers Can Be Insured

One of the best benefits that commercial auto insurance has over personal coverage is the number of people it can protect. Whereas most insurance for personal use will cover an individual or one household (spouse and children usually), commercial auto insurance can be designed to cover any number of employees. You can get blanket coverage which would allow any employee driving the vehicle to be insured under that one plan. This gives the business flexibility on who can drive a company car when needed and protects the business from the risk of paying out-of-pocket or being sued if someone gets into an accident.

Plans That Fit Your Business

Our commercial auto insurance is flexible when designing a plan that will meet your needs. You can lower your monthly payments by raising the deductible (or the other way around) as well as easily add to the number of employees you would like to insure. If you have enough vehicles you can also receive fleet insurance. If you have large vehicles like tow trucks or even something unusual like a specialty wine bottling trailer,  you can get a commercial truck policy which would increase the amount of liability coverage you would have.

Personal auto coverage is great for personal use (ask us about our personal auto insurance options and service), but it’s not suitable for the vehicles that are used in your business. Courier companies, ranches, produce distributors, farm owners, wineries, construction companies, and even Uber drivers are all examples of businesses that would need to have the increased protection that commercial auto insurance provides. If you are wondering whether or not you need increased coverage, give us a call and we can walk you through what might determine whether or not you need to upgrade to Commercial coverage.