Do you really need small business car insurance? It’s a good question and there dozens of factors that go into a reply. Most of the time, the correct answer is a big YES! Just a few errands? Lot’s of small business owners, with a limited number of employees, are under the impression that if their employees are driving their own vehicles for company business, the business doesn’t need a commercial auto insurance policy.  Employees may just be running to the post office or office supply store in their own car. It seems like their own personal auto insurance policy should cover them…right?  Not always.

The Insurance Blame Game

Who should pay the claim? If your employee tries to run a yellow light while on company business, and gets T-boned in an intersection, you may be in for a dogfight about who should pay the claim.  That could drag on for months, even though the employee’s personal auto should theoretically cover them. Your attorney will cost you a bundle to straighten things out.  A settlement could wipe out your profits for the year.

20-20 Foresight?

Is it worth it to save a few bucks? I owned some radio stations in the 1980′and 90′s. We had a station van for promotional appearances, and a dozen salespeople on the road selling advertising.  I could have put the station van in my personal name with a  policy covering anyone one driving it. I also could have let my salespeople sort things out for themselves with their personal car insurance companies. Looking back, I’m glad I didn’t try to save a few bucks and go without a small business car insurance commercial policy.  With that many employees driving the roads on company business, we had a few pretty good sized claims. Now I realize how badly I could have been hurt without small business car insurance.

Sub-contractors for your deliveries

It goes without saying that if your small business owns a lot of rolling stock, you have to have small business car insurance commercial coverage.  It gets trickier if you contract out your delivery and/or pick up to sub contractors. Even though they may be bonded and insured, they are still working for your company. In fact, they may work for several companies simultaneously.  It doesn’t matter who they are supposedly hauling for at the time of an accident.  You are probably going to be named in any lawsuits. It’s great for your peace of mind to just turn it over to your small business car insurance carrier and move on to things that make your company money.

Don’t be left holding the bag!

Small business car insurance coverage is a little different than a personal insurance policy and allows you a little more flexibility on your vehicles and who, exactly, is behind the wheel. The policy will cover employee vehicles during business hours, as well as company owned vehicles with various employees behind the wheel. That means your company is not going to be left holding the bag, if an accident takes place.