How much does commercial auto insurance cost?

Because every business is different, there really isn’t an overall average cost of commercial auto insurance. Cost depends on a number of factors, including how much coverage you need.

Factors that determine how much commercial auto insurance costs

Some of the factors that influence the cost of business auto insurance include:

• Vehicle make, model and year
• Cost when new
• Gross vehicle weight, especially if the vehicle is a truck
• Driving records for all drivers
• What the vehicle is being used for or how it is being used (Is the vehicle just being used to travel to and from the office? Or to visit clients or job sites throughout the day? Or delivering supplies to various customers?)
• Claims history
• Coverage options, including limits and deductibles
• Number of commercial autos being insured

Do I need commercial auto insurance?

You need commercial auto insurance if you have vehicles that the business owns. You will also need commercial auto insurance for any vehicles an employees owns, leases or rents, if they use those vehicles while conducting business.

As a business, you probably don’t want to put your business at risk by being underinsured, such as opting for minimum auto liability coverage. Nationwide recommends at least $500,000 in liability coverage per vehicle.

What is commercial auto insurance?

Commercial auto insurance is a vehicle insurance policy which covers any injuries and damages that are caused by or to you or your employees, while in the scope of business, to covered vehicles, up to your policy limits.

What does commercial auto insurance cover?

A commercial auto insurance policy typically provides many of the same coverages as auto insurance for individuals, including these coverage policies:

• Auto liability, which protects you and your company by paying for bodily injury or property damages you may become legally liable for as a result of a covered automobile accident.
• Uninsured and underinsured motorists coverage, which pays for medical expenses, loss of income and other damages owed to you, your employees (Expenses that are not covered by Workers Compensation) or your passengers when an accident is caused by an uninsured or underinsured motorist
• Medical payments, which pays medical expenses, up to your coverage limit, for you, your employees and your passengers arising from motor vehicle accidents – regardless of who is at fault.
• Collision coverage, which pays for damage to your vehicle from another vehicle whether you hit another vehicle or object, another vehicle hits you, or your vehicle rolls over – regardless of who is at fault (subject to deductible).
• Comprehensive coverage, which can help pay for damage to your vehicle from something other than another vehicle like vandalism, theft, weather events and accidents involving animals (subject to deductible).
• Rental reimbursement, which pays for a rental vehicle if your vehicle is in an accident.

A commercial auto policy also can include coverage for cars you borrow or rent, as well as coverage for employees who use their cars for your business.

Learn more about commercial auto coverage from Nationwide or find an agent to help you and your business stay protected.