What is commercial vehicle insurance and how does it benefit you?
You’ve worked quite hard to build your financial stability. Therefore, if you own a business and need to use vehicles for business purpose, then you should have commercial vehicle insurance regardless of whether or not you have a fleet of business vehicles. The primary purpose of having this insurance is similar to buying personal car insurance; the purpose is to provide coverage to you and your company’s assets. It is sometimes referred to as business vehicle insurance.
Business vehicle insurance basics
Apart from the vehicles owned by a particular company for its business purpose, commercial vehicle insurance also provides coverage to the following.
- Vehicle owned by employees: If your employees drive their own vehicles for business purpose and the car meets an accident, then other driver may sue your company for additional damages; in this case, you’ll require commercial vehicle insurance along with basic business owner’s policy to cover the financial losses.
- Business owner’s vehicles: If you use your car for both personal and business purposes, then you should have business vehicle insurance to provide coverage against any financial losses caused by a car accident or due to any theft or natural disaster.
Commercial vehicle insurance coverage
A standard commercial vehicle insurance policy provides the following coverage.
- Physical damage coverage: It covers any damage to your vehicle in case of any accident with another vehicle.
- Comprehensive coverage: The policy covers damage caused by theft, fire, vandalism or windstorm. Apart from collision coverage, this policy also covers damages caused by some other events.
- Liability coverage: You will also get coverage if your business vehicle is responsible for any damage of property or in case of any bodily injury.
- Medical payment coverage: This policy provides coverage for the medical expenses if your vehicle is responsible for someone’s bodily injury.
- Uninsured motorist coverage: It also covers uninsured motorists if your vehicle is involved in the accident.
Apart from these, basic commercial insurance also covers the following.
- New vehicle replacement cost: Covers the cost of replacing a vehicle in the event of an accident.
- Vehicle loan or lease coverage: This policy pays for the lease balance on a vehicle that gets damaged in an accident.
- Damage of hired vehicles: It pays for the damage of a hired or rented vehicle.
- Rental vehicle reimbursement: The policy covers the cost of hiring a rental vehicle if your car is in the shop.
- Expanded towing: It covers towing of trucks, jump starts along with minor roadside repair.
It is quite important that you buy adequate commercial vehicle insurance so that you get right amount of coverage. You can take help of insurance agents, who can assess your needs and financial situation thereby guiding you to buy adequate business vehicle insurance policy.