Commercial auto insurance is a kind of insurance that is used to protect vehicles used for any business purpose or vehicles owned by businesses. Cars, trucks, vans, and many other kinds of vehicles come under this category that is used to carry goods or passengers from one place to another at some fees.
Basically, the cost of commercial insurance depends on the value of vehicles, the number of vehicles, their usage for the business, etc. It provides financial protection to your business in cases of unforeseen accidents. Having the correct insurance policy at the correct time helps you to cover costs related to injuries or property damage that occurred in the accident when the vehicle is being operated during business hours.
But, what if the business owner doesn’t know much about the different policies and prices of commercial insurance?
Don’t worry, here you will read about how much an average commercial auto insurance costs and the factors affecting that. But before putting your money to buy such policies, let’s understand why you need to buy vehicle insurance.
The Need to Buy Commercial Auto Insurance
There are so many factors to purchasing insurance policies for your business vehicles. Here we will discuss some of them:
Protection Against Financial loss
Damage and repair cost after an unexpected loss or accident is very significant. But if you don’t have proper insurance protection for your vehicle, you may burn your pocket. Commercial insurance helps you to cover such losses and protects your business from any financial crunch, especially in cases of truck insurance.
Legally Required
In most of the States of the Country, it is legal to have a proper insurance policy for any vehicle to operate freely. If you fail to have this, you may get penalized and fined. To avoid such circumstances, and to have a clean vehicle record, you should insure your vehicle as soon as you purchase it.
Liability Protection
If your commercial vehicle is involved in an accident and it is responsible for the damages and injuries that occurred to the third parties. Commercial vehicle insurances are a life-saver for your business in such circumstances. It will help you to protect against liabilities.
This insurance is very much needed for heavy vehicles like Box-truck, bobtails, dump trucks, etc. as they can harm other parties very badly. Box-truck insurance, bobtail insurance, and many other different kinds of truck insurance are the life-saver for your business.
To Have Protection for Employees
If your employee is driving your commercial vehicle and gets involved in an accident. This may cause injuries to the employee. Commercial insurance policies assists to cover the cost of any medical expense, and any other cost related to the accident.
As you have read about the need of having your commercial vehicle insured, let’s jump onto know the factors affecting the rates of the policies.
Factors Affecting Commercial Auto Insurance Rates
The rate of your commercial vehicle insurance is calculated based on a number of factors. Some of them are discussed here:
Type of the Vehicle
The year, make and model of the vehicle have an impact on the price of the insurance policy. Smaller vehicles have less rates as compared to the rates to insure heavier vehicles. Box truck insurance, semi-truck insurance, tractor-trailer coverage, bus coverage, taxi coverage, etc. all have different rates. The age of the vehicle is also considered while calculating the price of the policy.
Driving Record
The driving record of the person driving the vehicle is very crucial to discuss the rates of the policy. If the person has a better driving record, the insurance rate will surely be lower. The insurance company will also consider the traffic rules violations done by the driver in the past. So, if you need to get your vehicle insured at a lower rate, you should hire a driver will a good driving record.
Number of Vehicles in your Business
Getting insurance for a single vehicle or a fleet of vehicles will definitely impact the cost of the insurance coverage. It may increase the overall rate but may lower the pre-vehicle rate.
Type of Industry
Having insurance for your commercial vehicle definitely depends on the kind of business you are operating with these vehicles. This also has a direct impact on the rate variation.
Insurance history
If you take insurance claims repeatedly for any reason, this can impact the insurance rate of your vehicle for the future insurance policy. The company will consider the risk of getting your vehicle insured. In such cases, you will surely have higher premiums.
Coverage Needed
If you need higher coverage limits, then obviously the rates of the premium will be higher. If you include some optional coverage in your policy, the company will charge you higher in such cases.
These all are some of the important factors impacting the premium. You can’t know the exact cost of commercial insurance for your vehicle, but there is an average cost to get you an expected range to get your vehicle insured.
Average Cost of Commercial Auto Insurance
The average cost of the vehicle can vary significantly depending on the above-given factors. But we can always consider a rough estimate to calculate the budget for our business. Any small business can get an estimate to pay $600 to $2500 annually to pay for a commercial auto insurance policy. The cost varies as per the type of vehicle, some of them are given here:
- Any Commercial truck: $800-$7000
- Commercial cars: $1200-$2400 (This can be low as per frequent usage)
- Box truck: $3300-$6200
- Semi-truck or Tractor-trailer: $8000-$12000
These all are just rough estimates to know the price limits. Actual value will depend upon your vehicle condition and business needs.
Tips to Save Some Money While Purchasing Commercial Insurance
The insurer will give you a general quotation if you ask them to send but in every case, you can save some money while buying the coverage with some tips.
- Have a clean driving record or hire a professional driver with a clean history.
- Get quotes from multiple insurers and then select the right one.
- Always consider raising your deductibles.
- Take advantage of available rewards and discounts.
- Go for the needed coverage to avoid the extra cost that is not required for your business type.
Summary
Closing this blog with this piece of information for you to know the average cost of commercial insurance and how you can save on this. It’s always advisable for you to choose the right policy at the right prices. We tried to make this easy for you by giving some factors to lower the premiums. Always remember to compare policies from different insurers to fetch the best deal.
Also read: When Should I Renew My Auto Insurance Policy