Don't Use Personal Auto Insurance For Your Business, Here's Why

There are nearly 300 million registered cars in the United States. Therefore, it’s highly likely that employees use their personal cars for company business or they use company cars for personal use. 

Either way, it’s important that you as a business owner, create and execute a car use program to help mitigate your company’s potential liability should an employee be involved in an accident while driving a personal or company car. 

Here’s what you need to know about the dangers of using a personal car for work and how you can best protect yourself against these risks.

Risks Of Using Personal Auto Insurance For Business

It’s true that a lot of employees and small business owners use their personal cars for work purposes. You’ll find that a lot of business owners don’t even know that their employees are using personal cars for work purposes. 

This puts the workers’ health and safety at risk since their employers are not well aware of what’s going on. In such a scenario, employees are less likely to receive training on company driving protocols meant to keep them safe. They are also likely to drive for long periods and without a break or even maybe take calls while driving especially if the call involves work.  

Another risk is if the employee gets into an accident, the company may have to take liability especially if work emerges as one of the contributing factors to the accident. It could be the employee was taking a cash deposit to the bank or even picking up lunch for an office event. 

Regardless, the company might have to pay medical fees in excess of the employee’s personal auto insurance limits as well as pay compensation to the employee since they were injured while on company time.  

Another risk a lot of employers are unaware of is that they could be held liable for negligence. If a company allows an employee to use their personal car to run business-related errands, and the employee has a poor driving record and proceeds to cause an accident, the company may be held liable for damages as a result of negligence. 

How You Can Protect Your Company With Commercial Auto Insurance

Commercial auto insurance is a kind of car insurance that provides certain coverages for cars used for commercial use. 

If you or your employees are driving cars for business reasons, you’re going to require commercial auto insurance especially if your work involves transporting people. Another scenario that would require you to buy commercial car insurance is if the car’s ownership is titled in the name of your business. 

Commercial car insurance provides many of the same coverages as personal car insurance. These coverages include property damage, body injuries, and medical payments. 

While a lot of the provisions included in a commercial car insurance policy are very similar to the coverages included in a personal car policy, the limits included in commercial car insurance are much higher. This design allows the policy to accommodate the potentially higher legal risks usually associated with private business. 

You’ll also find that some coverages provided by commercial car insurance are not available with personal car insurance. For instance, commercial insurance can pay for damages to the equipment being transported by a covered car even during loading or unloading. 

Some commercial car insurance policies also provide non-owner coverage. This covers employees who are driving cars not covered by the company. 

Where You Can Buy Commercial Auto Insurance in Baltimore, Maryland

If you have a small business that involves the use of cars, then commercial auto insurance is very important as it can protect your business from liabilities that may possibly run it into the ground. Doerfer Insurance Services is a premium insurance company with offices in Baltimore, Maryland, that has been in business for over 3 decades. 

As such, you can rest assured that their professionalism and experience are unmatched. 
Call Doerfer Insurance today to get a free quote.