Massachusetts businesses that use vehicles generally need to insure those vehicles with some form of commercial auto insurance. What type of commercial auto is needed depends largely on what vehicles are used.

What Types of Commercial Auto Insurance Can Massachusetts Businesses Get?

Standard commercial auto insurance

Standard auto policies are generally the first policy type to consider when insuring vehicles that a Massachusetts business owns. This is what most people think of a standard commercial car insurance policy when they consider insuring commercial vehicles.

A standard commercial auto policy is much like a personal auto insurance policy, except it’s adapted for commercial vehicles that businesses use. For example, both policies commonly offer the following coverages:

• Bodily Injury Coverage: Often covers injuries sustained by individuals not in the insured vehicle(s), such as pedestrians, other drivers, and passengers in other cars.
• Personal Injury Coverage: Often covers injuries to passengers inside an insured vehicle, including the driver and any passengers. Sometimes called personal injury protection, or PIP.
• Property Damage Liability Coverage: Often covers damages to property other than an insured vehicle, such as damage to other vehicles, road signs, landscaping or buildings.
• Collision Coverage: Often covers damage to an insured vehicle that occurs during an accident involving at least one other car or truck.
• Comprehensive Coverage: Often covers damage to an insured vehicle that occurs during incidents other than collisions with vehicles, such as hitting animals, falling objects, fires, thefts, vandalism, etc.
• Uninsured and Underinsured Motorist Coverage: Often covers accidents involving drivers who don’t have any or enough auto insurance, and also may cover hit-and-run collisions.

Personal auto policy endorsement for work

When small business owners use their personal vehicles for work, the business-related driving may not automatically be covered by their personal policy. Personal policies are for personal driving, and not necessarily work driving when someone owns a business.

Many personal auto policies offer an endorsement that offers coverage for work driving, however. An endorsement usually adds a specific protection onto a policy, coverage for business-related operation in this case.

Select personal auto policies might actually offer limited coverage for basic business-related driving, in which case an endorsement might not be needed.

(Commutes generally aren’t considered work driving, and typically are covered by standard personal auto insurance.)

Hired and non-owned commercial auto coverage

A hired and non-owned commercial auto policy might be used when a business’s employees use vehicles that aren’t owned by the business, hence hired (rented) or non-owned cars and trucks.

For example, this coverage might be purchased by florists and pizza places if their employees (and not drivers on a third-party app) make deliveries. At-home nursing services, computer repair shops offering on-site service, and many other businesses might get hired and non-owned coverage if their employees driver personal vehicles.

Sometimes businesses also get this coverage if renting a vehicle, such as a replacement vehicle while a company car or truck is being repaired. Moving companies also might use hired and non-owned if they rent a truck for a specific move, for example.

Hired and non-owned policies normally only include liability coverages, and are primarily designed to protect the business from lawsuits if their employee is in an accident while working. Bodily injury, personal injury property damage liability and uninsured motorist coverages might be included.

Notably, hired and non-owned policies usually don’t have comprehensive or collision coverage. Instead, it’s left to the employee to insure their vehicle against damage themselves. Comprehensive and collision may need to be procured separately if using this type of policy for a rented car or truck.

Specialized commercial auto policies

These are some of the most common types of commercial auto insurance, but there are many other options too. Numerous policies offer specialized coverage for vans, different types of trucks, limousines, fleets of vehicles, and numerous other cars or trucks that businesses use.

The right commercial auto for your Massachusetts business

An insurance agent who focuses on commercial auto policies can help you find the right commercial auto insurance for your business, whether that’s a common or more specialized policy. To speak with an independent insurance agent in Massachusetts who knows these policy options well, contact us at The Feingold Companies.