What does commercial auto insurance cover? (2024)

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What does commercial auto insurance cover?

Commercial auto insurance covers a variety of claims involving your business vehicles. It typically includes liability protection for other people and property, as well as coverages for you, your passengers, and your vehicle. Additional options are available depending on your business’s risks and contractual requirements.

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A commercial auto policy from Progressive is made up of many different coverages. The primary coverages work like personal auto insurance but offer higher limit options.

Liability protection covers injuries or damage to other people or property if you’re at fault for an accident. You can choose a split or combined limit to determine the maximum amount your policy will pay out. Split limits separate injury and property damage coverages into individual amounts, while a combined limit is a total maximum payment for all damages.

Driver protections, like medical payments and uninsured motorist coverages, can help pay for medical expenses if you or a passenger are injured.

Vehicle protections, like comprehensive and collision coverages, cover damages to your vehicles caused by accidents and other mishaps. And there are additional coverages available depending on your vehicle type, including hired auto, cargo, and roadside assistance.

Progressive will help you customize a commercial auto insurance policy to your needs. Get a quote and protect your business today.

Disclosure: Coverages not available in all states for all vehicles and coverage selections. Roadside assistance services and coverages subject to policy terms and limits and include towing, winching, battery charge/jump-starts, fuel and other fluid delivery, vehicle lockouts, and flat tire repair/replacement. Towing assistance determined on case-by-case scenario. Replacement parts, tires, fuel, fluids, lubricants, key and other costs are additional. Progressive Casualty Ins. Co & affiliates.

Common commercial auto coverages

There are several primary commercial auto coverages that small business owners can get to protect from accidents involving their work vehicles. These coverages work like those on personal auto policies but offer higher limit options that are suitable for businesses.

Liability

Vehicle liability insurance protects against injuries to other people or damage to their property if you're at fault for an accident. It contains two coverages:

  1. Bodily injury: Pays for the other driver’s medical bills, rehabilitation costs, and more if you’re liable for their injuries.
  2. Property damage: Covers damage you cause to other vehicles and property.

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You’ll choose a split limit or a combined single limit (CSL) to determine the maximum amount your policy pays out. Split limits separate injury and property damage coverages into individual amounts, while a combined limit is a total maximum payment for all accident-related damages.

Each state has different liability insurance requirements. Learn more about commercial auto insurance by state.

Uninsured/underinsured motorist

There are four uninsured/underinsured motorist coverages that can protect your commercial drivers, depending on your state and coverage selections:

  1. Uninsured motorist bodily injury (UMBI): Pays for injuries to you and your passengers if the at-fault driver doesn’t have liability insurance or you’re involved in a hit-and-run accident.
  2. Underinsured motorist bodily injury (UIMBI): Covers you and your passengers if the at-fault driver’s liability limits aren’t high enough to pay for your injuries.
  3. Uninsured motorist property damage (UMPD): Pays to repair or replace your vehicle if a driver with no insurance damages it.
  4. Underinsured motorist property damage (UIMPD): Pays to repair or replace your vehicle if a driver without enough coverage damages it.

Medical payments, also known as MedPay, is a driver protection that covers you and any passengers injured in an accident. It protects you regardless of who is at fault.

You’ll select a per-person limit when you purchase medical payments coverage, which determines the maximum amount your insurance company will pay for each person involved in the accident.

Comprehensive

Comprehensive coverage protects your vehicle from non-collision events that are out of your control, including fire, theft, vandalism, glass damage, and hitting an animal. It also covers acts of nature, such as hail. Your lender might require comprehensive insurance if you finance or lease your vehicle.

Collision

Collision insurance pays to repair or replace your vehicle if it collides with another object, overturns, or rolls. It covers:

  1. Single-vehicle accidents, like hitting a telephone pole
  2. Collisions with other vehicles
  3. Collisions while your vehicle is parked, such as another car backing into you

To purchase collision coverage, you must have comprehensive insurance or fire and theft with combined additional coverage (CAC) insurance. Your lender might require collision coverage if you finance or lease your vehicle.

Additional commercial auto coverages

Some businesses opt for additional commercial auto coverages depending on their vehicle use and preferences. These coverages can offer more protection and support against specific risks.

Roadside assistance

Roadside assistance covers up to one hour of on-scene labor if your commercial vehicle breaks down due to events like a mechanical or electrical breakdown. It provides towing to the nearest repair facility, locksmith services, flat tire changes, fuel or fluid delivery, battery jump-starts, and more.

Roadside assistance for light vehicles is available in all 50 states, and heavy truck roadside assistance is available in most states.

Hired auto

Hired auto insurance includes vehicles you lease, hire, rent, or borrow in connection to your business. If you or one of your employees needs to drive an auto not listed on your commercial auto policy, hired auto coverage can extend your existing liability protection.

Non-owned auto insurance extends your liability coverage to include employees who occasionally use their personal autos for work. While all the vehicles your business owns, registers, or contracts should be on your commercial auto policy, non-owned auto coverage can protect you and your employees when they’re on work-related errands.

Not sure which coverage is right for you? Explore our commerical insurance directory for more information.

What does commercial auto insurance cover? (3)

Commercial auto coverage requirements by state

Each state has its own rules for commercial auto insurance. Learn more about the coverages and limits you need.

Browse by state

Commercial auto coverages for trucks and tow trucks

Trucks and tow trucks share many of the same coverages as other commercial autos. However, there are also specific protections for these vehicles.

Coverages for trucks include:

  • Motor truck cargo
  • Motor truck general liability
  • Non-trucking liability
  • Rental reimbursem*nt with downtime
  • Trailer interchange

Tow truck insurance options are:

  • Garagekeepers legal liability
  • On-hook towing insurance
What does commercial auto insurance cover? (4)

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What does commercial auto insurance cover? (2024)

FAQs

What does commercial auto insurance cover? ›

Commercial auto insurance can help pay for expenses related to everything from injuries, property damage and collisions to underinsured motorists, rentals and towing.

What is included in a commercial insurance policy? ›

Commercial insurance can protect you from some of the most common losses experienced by business owners such as property damage, business interruption, theft, liability, and worker injury.

What types of limits are found in a commercial auto policy? ›

Unlike personal auto policies that have separate limits for bodily injury and property damage liability (split limits), the BACF commonly has a Combined Single Limit (CSL). This creates higher limits for both bodily injury and property damage coverages, including per occurrence limits.

What is covered under a business auto coverage form? ›

BAPs cover injuries or property damage sustained in any vehicular accident as well as any costs associated with repairing the damage to the vehicle. Managers should not rely on personal auto insurance as those typically do not cover any damages done in the course of business.

Which of the following is not included in the definition of an auto under a commercial auto policy? ›

In general, mobile equipment is not included in the policy's definition of auto.

What is not covered in a commercial package policy? ›

Commercial package policies can't include certain items like workers' compensation or directors-and-officers insurance. Workers' compensation insurance is required by law and must be purchased as a separate policy. Directors-and-officers policies are necessary for non-profit organizations.

Which is not covered under the commercial property insurance? ›

Commercial property insurance protects your company's physical assets from fire, explosions, burst pipes, storms, theft and vandalism. Earthquakes and floods typically aren't covered by commercial property insurance, unless those perils are added to the policy.

Who is insured under a commercial auto policy? ›

You: You are an insured. “You” means the named insured, the person or company listed on the declarations. Permissive Users (VARIES BY CARRIER): Anyone driving a covered auto you own, hire, or borrow with your permission. If you give someone permission to drive a vehicle you own, rent, or borrow, the driver is insured.

What are the three covered causes of loss under the business auto policy? ›

Analysis: The physical damage insuring agreement of the business auto coverage form states that the insurer will pay for loss to a covered auto or its equipment under any of three coverage choices: comprehensive, specified causes of loss, or collision.

Is commercial insurance the same as auto insurance? ›

Unlike a personal plan, Commercial Auto Insurance is designed to meet the needs of businesses that have several drivers and multiple business-owned vehicles. In order to cover every driver within the company, the liability protection is usually greater than the amount provided for a Personal Auto plan.

Which would not be covered under a business auto policy? ›

The BAP does not cover damage to property: Owned by the insured; Transported by the insured; or. In the care custody or control of the insured.

What is Section 2 liability of a commercial auto policy? ›

Section II - Liability Coverage

The insurance company agrees to pay sums that the insured becomes legally obligated to pay “as damages” because of bodily injury or property damage. The injury or damage must result from an accident and arise out of an insured automobile exposure.

What does the business auto coverage form provides coverage for all except? ›

Question: The Business Auto Coverage Form provides coverage for all of the following, except:AHired autos rented or borrowed by the insuredBVehicles that are sold, stored, or repaired for othersCNon-owned vehicles while being used in the businessDAny auto if used in the insured business. Here's the best way to solve it ...

What technically is a commercial vehicle? ›

The regulations define a "commercial motor vehicle" as any self-propelled or towed vehicle used on a public highway in interstate commerce to transport passengers or property when the vehicle: (1) has a gross vehicle weight rating of 10,001 pounds or more; (2) is designed to transport more than 15 passengers, including ...

What is the difference between auto and commercial? ›

Commercial vehicles are used for business purposes and must be registered with the DMV. Personal vehicles, on the other hand, are used for personal, non-business purposes and do not have to be registered with the DMV. There are some important distinctions between these two types of vehicles that you should know about.

Which type of expenses will not be paid by medical payments coverage? ›

Medical payments coverage doesn't include: Lost wages. Medical treatment not related to the accident.

What is an example of a commercial insurance plan? ›

Two of the most popular types of commercial health insurance plans are the preferred provider organization (PPO) and health maintenance organization (HMO). Although not administered by the government, plan offerings, to a large degree, are regulated and overseen by each state.

How many coverage parts are in a commercial package policy? ›

Any of the available coverage forms could also be issued as part of a monoline policy (only one major kind of coverage), or could be joined with other coverages to form a package policy (consisting of two or more coverage parts). In order for a CPP to exist, the package needs to have two or more coverage parts.

Is commercial insurance the same as full coverage? ›

Full coverage auto insurance is typically a combination of various commercial insurance options that add up to protect the vehicle, the driver, and the company to the fullest extent possible.

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