Here at Frydach Insurance, we work with local business owners to make sure that they’re properly protected. When they’ve started out with other agencies, we’ve noticed that coverage for using personal cars for deliveries or even to run errands frequently has often fallen through the cracks. The types of coverage that business owners thought covered these situations may exclude cars owned by employees and even the owner. Take a moment to learn the risks of relying upon your employees or even your own vehicles to conduct your business.
Does Personal or Business Car Insurance Cover Using Personal Cars at Work?
If you run a local pizza place or another kind of restaurant, you may have decided to offer delivery services. You can tell by the number of online apps for food delivery that many customers enjoy this convenience. After a long day of work, errands, housework, and childcare, families can settle down to a delicious meal without having to leave home. Adding this kind of service may help your restaurant business grow.
On the other hand, one bad accident could expose your entire business to high liability claims. Typical personal and business car policies may not cover them. Consider the problems with these kinds of car insurance may already have:
- Personal auto insurance: Personal policies typically exclude using the vehicle for work. If you or an employee use a personal car to deliver food or even run an errand, you can’t count on personal coverage.
- Business auto insurance: You may assume that you’re fine because you purchased commercial car insurance to cover the delivery van you purchased for catering. That might be true, but you still may not have coverage for delivery driver’s personal vehicles.
How can you cover vehicles that your business does not own? You might also need a non-owned vehicle policy to make certain that your workers are still covered when they use their own vehicles to work for you. These policies will provide liability insurance for leased or employee-owned cars, and of course, they’ll even insure your own personal car.
If you intend to have employees drive for you with their own cars, you might also ask them to add additional coverage to their personal policies so that they won’t exclude business use. In general, non-owner policies protect businesses against liability. However, your employees may also have concerns about other types of hazards.
Nobody plans on having a car accident, but this way, you won’t also have to lose sleep over the possibility. Both you and your employees understand how car insurance may or may not cover their vehicles when they use them for work, and you have done the right thing by making certain that you’ve closed coverage gaps.
Ensure Your Business Covers Your Drivers
At Frydach Insurance Agency, we’re here to answer your questions about business risks and the best ways to cover them. We also welcome calls or emails from delivery drivers who may have concerns about their auto insurance. You’re welcome to call, email, or drop in. As independent agents, we’re also available to help you compare business car insurance quotes to make sure you’re getting the right coverage at the best price.
