Commercial vehicles are essential to support commerce and flourishing businesses. The United States criteria for what defines a commercial vehicle are that the vehicle weighs more than 10,001 pounds, that the vehicle transports property considered by the Secretary of Transportation to be toxic or hazardous, or that it transports 8 people including the driver for compensation, or 15 people including the driver not for compensation. Commercial vehicles are also any vehicle used for commercial business and can be self-moving or a towed attachment.
It is important to have insurance on your commercial vehicle to support the lifespan and continued functioning of your vehicle for your flourishing business. This guide explains the best ways to insure your commercial vehicle at the best price today.
Commercial Vehicles and their Uses
Commercial vehicles are any vehicle used for the commercial transportation of passengers or resources. Buses, tractors, trucks, RVs, or vans can all be commercial vehicles. Large 18-wheel trucks can be used in the transportation of commercial goods such as food products, homewares, lumber, crude oil or coal, or any large commercial shipment of products. Buses are commercial vehicles that are used to transport passengers from one location to another. School buses, city buses, and prison buses are all commercial vehicles.
Tractors utilized in the movement of soil, crops, and fertilizer on farms are another type of commercial vehicle used in the process of the supply and demand chain. Vans can be commercial vehicles when used in the transportation of a smaller number of people in a business setting, for example in the transportation of the elderly for field trips at an old folks home, or in the transportation of guests at a resort.
Commercial vehicles are invaluable for many businesses’ smooth functioning. It is important to insure your commercial vehicle in case of accidents, which can cause liability to your company or cost too much to repair out-of-pocket.
Benefits of Insuring Your Commercial Vehicle
Auto-insurance for your commercial vehicle is necessary to insure the continuity of your company’s prosperity. Accidents happen all the time, especially when it comes to motor vehicles. If you own a farm and your employee is injured on your company tractor, insurance will protect your liability and make sure your business and your employee can financially recover from the incident.
Insurance on your commercial vehicle can be the only thing that stands between your company and permanent closure. If you are starting a small business and your company truck is broken into, stolen, or stolen from, your expense of loss will be covered with your commercial auto insurance making sure your company can continue flourishing.
Cost to Insure Your Commercial Vehicle
When it comes to insuring your commercial vehicle, it is important to know the ins and outs of commercial vehicle insurance. First-party policies are meant to cover the business owner in the face of liability in an accident. This type of policy will often cover third-party occurrences, where liability falls onto an employee of the business owner. First party policies will also cover non-collision losses such as theft or property damage.
Non-owner liability policies will cover property damage and repairs and physical injury expenses when liability falls onto an employee of the company. Medical payment insurance can be important to have as part of your auto insurance policy because it will cover any passengers’ medical expenses related to an auto-accident regardless of whose fault the accident was.
Depending on the function and size of your commercial vehicle, your insurance will cost more or less. The average annual cost of commercial auto-insurance for a semi-truck being driven by the owner of the truck is anywhere as high as $12,500 and anywhere as low as $8,000. This price will increase if the business owner has an employee operating the truck, in which case extra facets will need to be added to insurance to ensure damages and injury costs are covered while they operate the vehicle.
A company car can be insured for anywhere between $2400 and $600 per year. A delivery van can be insured for anywhere between $6000 and $3000 per year, but if the van is being utilized to transport passengers this price will increase to cover any injury incurred by the riding passengers. The reason why commercial auto-insurance costs so much more than personal auto-insurance is because the coverage limit is significantly higher than what you get with personal auto-insurance. The average limit for commercial auto insurance on a larger vehicle is $1,000,000.
When you run a business that requires the operation of commercial vehicles, the costs you can incur if an accident occurs can be exorbitant. If your business operates cargo trucks, the financial worth of the cargo can be completely lost if there were to be an accident. If your company operates a van that transports passengers and there is a collision, the medical bills for each passenger as well as the cost to repair or replace the vehicle can be more than your business can cover independently. Commercial auto-insurance can seem expensive at first, but in the end having commercial auto insurance on your business vehicles will save you a significant amount of money if an accident happens.
Best Commercial Insurance Companies
If you are looking to insure your commercial vehicle, there are companies ready to help you today. Here are some of the best commercial insurance companies on the market.
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Old Republic Insurance : Old Republic offers commercial auto insurance policies and business liability policies to protect you from accidents today.
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AmTrust Financial : AmTrust Financial is a great option for small businesses. They cover all types of vehicles besides the following: junk automobile haulers, livestock vehicles, gravel or sand freights, mobile houses, or garbage trucks.
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Sentry : Sentry is a well-known option for big or small businesses. They offer all types of insurance, and for their commercial auto policies they offer physical damage insurance and commercial auto liability coverage.
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Nationwide : Nationwide has well-rounded policies that offer comprehensive coverage, coverage of medical expenses, business auto liability, underinsured or uninsured operator coverage, and collision coverage.