Commercial car insurance

[Windshield Guy]

I know I may have asked this before ... but I am having a blonde moment this am ... but two qs for ya ..

* Have any of you taken out commercial auto insurance at all? I know alot of ppl who are doing replacement/repair but no comms ins??
* Also, if you put vehicle lettering on another car (not used to do the job) just to advertise do you have to pay commercial ins on that too?

Thanks for your advice... (Windshield Gal posting under business partners Windshield Guys name)

[JAC]

I just retired this past July after 13 years as an insurance agent. If you do not have commercial vehicle insurance and you are using your vehicle for driving to and from jobs, you are asking for trouble.

You can definately try and hide the fact that you are using your vehicle for business use and probably get away with a personal policy, but if something major happened, like a major accident, the insurance company will do a pretty extensive investigation. If it is found that you were indeed using a personal policy for business use, you would most likely have your claim denied. That could mean thousands or hundreds of thousands of dollars of bills being put on you personally.

A couple of key factors that will give it away and give you no chance to get out of it are, if you have your vehicle lettered with business information and if you have the vehicle titled in a business name. If you have neither of these things done, then there is a chance you could say you were just driving to the store in your personal car and the accident happened. In a really major accident though, the insurance companies might even interview your neighbors. If the Insurance Company suspects anything, they will turn it over to their fraud department (in larger ins. companies) and they could talk to neighbors, watch your daily activities, etc.

It's really not worth the possibly problems. There's usually not a huge difference in cost and some companies even have an endorsement you can add on to your personal policy, adding business use for the vehicle.

JAC

[Windshield Guy]

Thank you for your advice JAC.

What about the vehicle lettering on my car which is used to go back and from work but not used for the business at all - but just for some advertising - can that be covered just with a personal policy?

[GlassStarz]

my understanding is that if its a work only vehicle yes but if its a personal vehicle that you use to get back and forth from a job no. but each state is different

[Delta Kits]

This is one of those areas that would be EXTREMELY costly if you get your information wrong and something happens.

I would highly recommend checking with an insurance agent in your state for rules/regulations. Things differ greatly policy to policy, state to state.

[JAC]

Windshield Guy,

You'll have to check with your agent on that. Some companies have specific wording in their policy that specifically says if you have business advertising (logo and/or lettering) on your vehicle you have to have a business policy.

As a side note, I'd send emails if possible, that way you have written documentation of any and all answers and information. You're in trouble if it's all over the phone and the agent plays dumb later when a claim happens.

JAC

[Windshield Guy]

Yes they do play dumb big time later on .. I will check the small print out, for sure. Thanks alot.

Windshield Guy,

You'll have to check with your agent on that. Some companies have specific wording in their policy that specifically says if you have business advertising (logo and/or lettering) on your vehicle you have to have a business policy.

As a side note, I'd send emails if possible, that way you have written documentation of any and all answers and information. You're in trouble if it's all over the phone and the agent plays dumb later when a claim happens.

JAC