Companies of all sizes and industries will often need to use a vehicle to conduct some part of their business, whether it's making a service call, delivering products, transporting raw materials, or driving a client around. While some companies rely on commercial vehicles for these trips, others might need to hire or rent out a commercial vehicle temporarily, or have their employees use their own personal vehicles to conduct company business. In these instances, companies may benefit from having Hired Car Coverage or Non-Owned Auto Coverage. In today's Aegis blog post, we explain the basics of each of these policies and provide examples of businesses that might need them.

Hired Car Coverage

When your business needs to hire or rent a vehicle for company use, it's important to have liability coverage in the event of an accident or injury involving that rented vehicle. Hired Car Coverage offers businesses liability protection for any vehicles leased, rented, hired, or borrowed in order to conduct company business such as deliveries or client calls. For example, if your restaurant's delivery van breaks down and you have to rent a van to deliver catering orders, Hired Car Coverage would provide liability protection if the rented van rear-ended another vehicle and caused damage and injuries to the other driver.

Non-Owned Auto Coverage

In certain industries, businesses don't purchase commercial vehicles but instead rely on employees to use their own personal vehicles to conduct company business. For example, law firms typically don't purchase company cars, but attorneys are often expected to use their own vehicles to meet with clients or drop off legal filings to the courts. Likewise, pizza delivery drivers normally use their own vehicles to make customer deliveries instead of driving company-owned vehicles.

In these instances, businesses would benefit from Non-Owned Auto coverage, which provides liability protection for vehicles not owned by the business while they are used for company purposes. If your employee used their personal car to deliver invoices or pick up a client and was involved in an accident, Non-Owned Auto coverage would help cover the damages and medical expenses of the other driver, but would not cover the damage to the employee's vehicle, as their own personal auto coverage would cover those losses.

Businesses That May Need These Coverages

Many companies rely on vehicles for daily operations, client meetings, or running business errands, but some have a greater auto liability exposure than others because the nature of their business or how frequently they drive for business purposes. For example, businesses that have delivery or catering services, such as restaurants, bakeries, delis, retailers, and florists all would benefit from Non-Owned or Hired Car Coverage since they are more likely to hire a vehicle if their company vehicle became unavailable, or would rely on employee vehicles for company deliveries. Also, contractors such as HVAC technicians, plumbers, electricians, roofers, and others may benefit if they rely on personal vehicles or rented trucks for running their business.

Vehicles are an important part of many businesses, but it's important to have the right kind of auto insurance and coverage in place to protect vehicles, employees, other drivers, and the company itself from liability claims. Aegis Insurance & Financial Services protects companies of all industries and sizes through our full range of comprehensive and top quality Commercial Insurance policies, including Commercial Auto coverage, Non-Owned Coverage, Hired Car Coverage, and Personal Auto policies. Contact Aegis today at 713-850-7622 for more information, or fill out our online form for a free quote!