The numerous commercials advertising state minimum car insurance have accomplished the job of letting everyone know that motor vehicle insurance coverage is absolutely mandatory. As it turns out, however, not all automobile insurance policies are created equally.
Anyone who uses his or her vehicle for business purposes needs to consider getting commercial car insurance. The benefits of commercial car insurance are numerous, and the consequences of not having it are detrimental.
What is Commercial Car Insurance
Commercial automobile insurance is a policy that protects business owners and workers in the case that their company vehicle is in an accident. This type of policy is meant to meet the increased risk of liability that company vehicles face on a day-to-day basis. Commercial car insurance policies also cover the items and materials related to a person’s job that are being transported in the vehicle. This is very important due to the fact that some of the equipment being transported can actually be more expensive than the vehicle it is being transported by.
Benefits of Commercial Car Insurance
Commercial car insurance policies have several benefits over personal policies. Commercial policies cover all vehicles that a business owner has when he takes out the policy, and this coverage then extends whenever they purchase new vehicles for company purposes. As mentioned earlier, this type of policy also covers equipment being transported in the vehicle. The great thing about this is that it is only necessary to pay one deductible after an accident as opposed to one for each piece of equipment damaged. Commercial car insurance will even cover trailers that don’t belong to the business owner but are being used through a trailer interchange agreement.
Consequences of Not Having Commercial Vehicle Insurance
It’s well known that several people use their personal vehicle for business purposes from time to time, and this situation can lead to heartache. A person may very well use his or her vehicle to visit friends, go out on social gatherings, and make grocery store runs for the family, but if that vehicle is used for work purposes as well, the personal insurance company will likely view the automobile as a commercial vehicle. If this happens, most insurance policies will not cover the damages caused in an accident. This means that anyone involved in a wreck with his or her personal/business vehicle may be held completely liable for the accident without the backing of the insurance company.
Commercial car insurance may seem like an additional hassle for people that use their vehicles for employment purposes, but these policies will always be worth the cost in the end. The equipment related to business purposes can often be damaged in car accidents, and personal policies simply won’t cover these losses. In fact, personal vehicle insurance policies will likely not cover an automobile crash at all if the vehicle is used for business purposes. It’s always best to error on the side of safety when a person’s livelihood is in the balance.