Shanu Singh Guliani

What is a Hired and Non-Owned Insurance Policy?
August 12, 2007

As a business owner, you need some of the same insurance coverage for cars, trucks, vans, or other vehicles that you and your employees use in your business as you do for vehicles used for personal travel.

Do I need a business auto policy?
If your business owns a company car, there’s no way around buying a commercial auto policy, which is meant to protect your business’s assets in the event of an accident.

The gray area comes in when your employees use their personal vehicles for business purposes—even for something as simple as trips to Kinkos. If they get into an accident, their personal insurance will kick in, but anyone involved in the accident can also come after your business.

This is the case in which you will need a hired and non-owned policy. It not only protects your business if your employee is involved in an accident on the way to a sales appointment, for example, but it will make your employees less apprehensive about using their personal cars for business, since they won’t be held personally liable in case of an accident (and their personal auto policies won’t be at risk). This type of policy will also cover cars rented for business use.

Consult an insurance agent that will ask in detail how you use vehicles in your business; who will be driving them; whether you own, rent or lease; and whether you and your employees are likely to be driving their own cars for your business. The answers to these questions will indicate the exact types of coverage you will need.

Posted by Shanu Singh Guliani on August 12, 2007 | Comments (0)