Simply put, personal auto insurance is for cars that are used in personal life; commercial automobile insurance for vehicles that are used in business. Those who have a personal car with personal auto insurance and decide to use it for business should have their licensed insurance agent review their policy and try to add business use coverage as often time a personal auto insurance won’t cover your car, truck, or van while you use it for business purposes.

Commercial automobile insurance has many coverage forms that typically include liability coverage, medical and personal injury coverage, collision coverage, comprehensive coverage, and uninsured motorist coverage. Liability coverage includes bodily injury coverage and property damage liability. Bodily injury coverage is for when a person gets injured by one of your covered vehicles with you or one of your employees being at fault. Property damage liability follows the same concept except it covers damaged property rather than damaged or injured people. Medical payment and personal injury coverage are for the driver and passengers of your vehicle. If your driver gets hurt then this type of coverage will pay for his or her medical bills. Collision coverage pays for damages to your vehicle in case of an accident. Commercial automobile insurance also typically pays for damages resulting from theft or vandalism as well as those caused by weather.

Commercial automobile insurance has a few types of coverage that aren’t included in personal automobile insurance. These include hired vehicle coverage, non-owned vehicle coverage, trailer interchange coverage, and rental reimbursement with downtime.  Hired vehicle coverage is for when you rent vehicles temporarily and non-owned vehicle coverage is for when your employees use their personal cars for work. Trailer interchange coverage is for when your vehicles use trailers that are owned by other companies while rental reimbursement with downtime pays for you to rent a replacement vehicle until your primary one gets fixed after an accident or any kind of damage.

There are other differences between commercial and personal automobile insurance policies. Commercial policies tend to have higher liability limits and are often tax-deductible. Commercial automobile insurance also covers equipment like forklifts and trailers within the policy limits. These aren’t vehicles that can normally be covered by personal insurance policies. Commercial insurance policies can be tailored to fit the specific needs and budget of most businesses.

Policies can range from a few vehicles all the way to a large fleet of vehicles or heavy equipment such as tractors or large transportation vans. Business owners, those who use their personal cars for work, and people who own heavy vehicles should look to acquire commercial auto insurance. Vehicles that have a gross weight of over 10,000 pounds or a load capacity of over 2,000 pounds won’t be able to get personal auto insurance. Getting commercial auto insurance is important for all businesses that depend on vehicles. Not doing so is a huge risk and one that could potentially have severe consequences. So do your research and take your time choosing the best commercial automobile insurance plan and you won’t regret it.