Commercial vehicle insurance

All businesses using commercial vehicles will need commercial car insurance as part of their insurance program. With a wide variety of options available, it is necessary to consult with the insurance agent or company to provide full details of vehicle use and ensure the correct coverage is chosen.

The following points should be considered:

How many vehicles and drivers need to be covered?

Coverage is often determined by the number of vehicles and drivers requiring insurance. Businesses with several vehicles and drivers should opt for fleet insurance. This is likely to be less expensive than insuring by individual and vehicle but there are other factors that vary from insurer to insurer such as the class of vehicle.

How is Commercial Use defined in the Policy?

The terms for commercial use of a vehicle will not be included in your personal policy so it is necessary to establish terms with a dedicated commercial policy. The policy should be determined following a consultation with your insurer. It is important that both parties understand the level of insurance required to guarantee coverage in the event of an accident.

Lowering Premium Costs?

The following can help to lower commercial car insurance premiums:

Business Location. – Premiums will be affected if vehicles are located in high-risk areas for theft.

Driver Records. – Qualified drivers with clean records will mean lower premiums.

Vehicle Type. – The lowest premiums are reserved for mid-sized hatchbacks/saloons.

Excess. – If your company can afford to share the risk by pay a high excess, premiums will be lower. Safety and anti-theft devices. – Premiums are sure to be reduced if vehicles are fitted with devices such as alarms, GPS, air bags and seat belts.

Special Commercial Coverages and Considerations

Things to consider regarding commercial coverage:

If your business is subject to federal and state regulations, insurance coverage can be affected. For example, transporting cargo interstate requires specific terms must be met in line with the Department of Transportation. All such matters must be declared to the car insurance agent or company to ensure a clear understanding. If haulage involves equipment belonging to others, this should be reflected in the policy too.

Who is insured under the car insurance policy?

The structure of the business can lead to confusion over who is covered. Businesses with a large fleet of vehicles often form a separate company with the sole purpose of leasing the vehicles to the main company. In such cases, it is important to clarify this structure to the commercial car insurance company to guarantee the policy covers all vehicles, individuals and companies.

No matter what you do – please consider staying safe. There is nothing more precious than life and realization of it makes you not wise but also caring about others. There are so many people on the road with us everyday and we owe to think about them too. They don’t have to pay for our mistakes. You car and you are one and the same. Make both of you behave well!

About Uninsured/Underinsured Motorist Coverage

Having an accident with a driver who has no auto insurance coverage can place you and your insurance company in an unpleasant situation. However, having uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage allows you to rest assured that you’ll receive coverage no matter what. While having an accident with such a driver may sound quite unlikely, since all states legally require drivers to have auto insurance, fact is that there the number of uninsured drivers can go up to 25% in certain places.

What is UM or UIM?

Uninsured or underinsured motorist coverage will pay for injuries or damages you, your passengers or your property has sustained due to an accident with a driver who doesn’t have enough insurance coverage, or no insurance at all and is called responsible from the legal point of view.

By uninsured river most companies mean a driver who had no insurance, didn’t have the minimum required amount, or was denied coverage by his insurance company and thus being unable to pay for the damage caused. Hit-and-run drivers can also be classified as uninsured drivers from bodily injury liability perspective.

An underinsured driver in contrast, is a car owner who had the amount of coverage to meet state minimum requirements but not enough to cover the damage or injuries caused. In this case, his insurance will pay a certain part of the damage and the rest will have to be covered by underinsured motorist coverages.

Though, you have to keep in mind that these coverage types are not the same and are separate. Still, insurance companies tend to bundle them into a single product for convenience.

Is it a must?

Only in a small number of states UM/UIM coverage is legally required. The majority of states leave it as an option. However, if you choose to purchase this coverage it should meet the minimum state requirements but not exceed liability limits of your policy. In case your company offers uninsured motorist property damage (UMPD) coverage it is impossible to be purchased without having UMBI.

What use is there in it?

First of all, this type of coverage is relatively cheap car insurance and won’t boost up your rates dramatically. However, in case you have an accident with an uninsured/underinsured driver, you risk of not getting sufficient coverage by your company, which will pay for your car repair or medical bills if required. Assuming that the other party was at fault, it is the other party’s insurance company that should be paying for these expenses, and if there’s not enough or simply no coverage eventually you won’t be paid anything.

Having uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage will pay for your damages and injuries in case you face such a driver in an accident. It is evident that it’s better to have such coverage with your policy even if you are striving for cheap car insurance. You especially benefits from this coverage if you frequently drive in areas where there are more uninsured vehicles. See what the rates are in your location and decide if it is a must for you.

Is your car insurance company rated?

There are certain institutions in the country that can rate companies. Some of them deal with insurance companies only as there are too many to take into consideration. But we have some questions that we want to discuss now. How do coverage, rates and services differ and what makes this or that company better than the other one? How can one and the same service cost differently in different companies? If you have not dealt with an insurance company before it is tough to choose one and not to have doubts about it later on. What is important here is to know for sure your insurance company will be stable and will help you out when the time comes. You should know the financial strength ratings of your insurance company so you are not afraid of any risks that may arise. There are many companies that fail with time. They are unable to maintain the reputation due to the lack of financial strength and many other important factors that are pretty significant.

If you want to make a good decision about your insurance company you should ask around, analyze and come to a conclusion with the list of top five insurance companies to deal with. You should also trust your senses. Sometimes people have bad feelings about companies but they don’t care enough to trust them. Have a conversation with your family, relatives and friends about the insurance companies they use. It could be useful for you to take advice from those who you can rely on – people that will only advice you something descent. It is very important to know how easily and how quickly claims are processed. It would be perfect if the company that you plan to get insured with had a 24/7 claim service. Let us tell you the main reason for insurance. Take for example your car. Your insurance should protect you from any injury or property damage that may occur during an accident. It has to protect your assets and help you with the liability. In order to choose a good company you must shop around and ask for the costumer satisfaction ratings. They are extremely important. They can tell lots about the way company maintains itself on the market. But it should also be mentioned that it is not possible to tell the future according to the past. Sometimes unpleasant cases happen but it is not fair to judge the company like that. You should always check how long the company is around for. If they have been on the market for a decade and have lots of pleased costumers – you should definitely worry about nothing. History can show you all the advantages and disadvantages giving you the best perspective on what there is to expect.

Information on the insurance companies is not difficult to seek. You can always ask or email if you have any questions. With the help of internet insurance sites it became very easy to get insured. Cheap auto insurance is only a question of time. But we would not recommend you to run after the price. Cheap doesn’t always mean – the best. But if you decided you need cheap auto insurance and nothing else – there is no better place than internet for it. It is there to give you plenty of offers to choose from. Trust our word.