Does Your Personal Car Insurance Cover ‘Business Use?’
Do you use your personal car for business purposes? If you do so, wait, does your personal auto insurance policy cover ‘business use?’ Yes, not all personal auto insurance policies consider commercial use. In fact, a personal policy generally doesn’t cover damage to your car if you are using it for business purpose. And in certain cases, even if your personal policy has business-use coverage, you may find yourself at a loss when an accident happens, that is when your liability limits are not high enough to cover the damage. Thus, if you are not sure whether business use is covered on your personal auto policy, it is very important to call your insurance company or agent and put the following questions to them:
- How do insurance companies define “commercial use?” The answer to your question could come as “transporting goods for compensation or a fee,” which may include pizza and newspaper delivery; catering; door-to-door consulting services;
- landscaping or snowplowing services; logging business; or day care/church van services. People who are engaged in such kinds of work should consider a commercial vehicle policy.
- What are my liability limits or do you need more liability coverage than that of a personal auto policy? Usually, a commercial auto policy offers higher liability limits, for example: larger vehicles like delivery vans can cause more damage than passenger cars.
- Does my personal policy have special coverage for situations occurred while conducting business? Generally, commercial auto policies offer such coverages, but personal auto policies don’t provide these. For example: if your trailer damages another vehicle while on a job, your personal liability policy may not cover its repairs.
- Do I need employees to drive my vehicles? A commercial auto policy allows you to employ people to drive your vehicles for work. But, a personal auto policy doesn’t provide this option. In other words, you will need a commercial auto coverage if the vehicle you use is owned by a corporate partnership or driven by employees. Moreover, if the vehicle is used to haul tools weighing more than 500 pounds, or make heavy deliveries that may require state or federal filings, then you should consider one commercial coverage for your vehicle.
