Did you know every type of use of a vehicle must be covered with a specific use insurance policy. If your car is for commercial use the policy is different to one for personal use and again if you’re using your car to visit clients i.e. business use you need a policy for that use too. So why doesn’t personal auto use cover business driving? A business car insurance policy is for all business related driving including: commuting back and forth between locations, driving your employees or going to meet customers and any use on behalf of an organization.
Self employed and micro business owners are renown for avoiding business car insurance because the premiums are higher than personal, even though they may know the risks are greater due to the car being in use more often. There’s also the risk of their personal policy being invalidated.
Prepare yourself
No matter which insurer you choose, they will ask you a lot of questions when you apply for a car insurance policy especially one for business. First of all, you will asked about your business, how you work, how much time you or someone else will be driving the vehicle and how many kilometers or miles your vehicle will average per year for business travel.
It may be difficult to deliver an accurate estimate, so work out how many hours per day the vehicle will be used and whether it will be constant in use.
Which level of cover to choose?
There are multiple types of business car insurance policies and providers. An insurance broker may be able to help choose the right one. Here are some of the policy categories:
Business use by a single person
This option covers the main driver for a vehicle. In most cases, the driver can add a spouse to the coverage if they will drive him or her to work, even when this stray away from a person’s regular routes. A good fit for this business car insurance is a salesperson.
Business use by all drivers
This option is very similar to the one that we just explained above. However, this kind of policy can include multiple drivers – in fact, as many as you want or need. If you have multiple shifts and more drivers that will be using the same vehicle this is a suitable option.
Policies for commercial commuting
These policies are used for people that drive constantly for their work. Simply put, their job description requires them to spend most of their time in a vehicle, driving. This will also affect the price of the policy and make it more expensive. This policy is used for job positions such as taxi driver. All of these policies can have a lot of details that can change depending on the insurer and the factors of the policy. You need to learn as much as possible and go through every single detail to make sure that you are covered for expensive things that might happen. For example, the catalytic converter repair cost is substantial and can set you back quite a bit.
How to get a good deal
To get good deal, compare multiple quotes and this is where an insurance broker can assist and do the legwork on your behalf. It is also a good idea to consult with other business owners that use vehicles for their work to get referrals and an idea of what they pay. Every insurer will offer a deal especially if you move your other insurances to them.
As it’s a business cost do your homework or outsource it so savings are realised ideally on all your business insurance policies.