Non owned and hired auto coverage….. Why it is so essential for a business.
Hired and non owned vehicle coverage is an often overlooked component of your business General Liability coverage. It covers bodily injury and property damage caused by a rented vehicle or a vehicle owned by others, including vehicle owned by employees.
This coverage protects you in the event an employee has an accident, while doing work or performing an errand on company time. It usually does not pay for physical damage to the vehicle itself, rather it protects you in the event you are sued because of that accident. Without this coverage, your company may not have any insurance protection in place in the event of an accident involving an employee during company time.
Even if the employee’s personal auto policy does step in to defend, most people do not carry high limits on their personal policy, leaving your company exposed in the event there is a large settlement.
This coverage is not to be confused with an auto policy for an owned vehicle. It is strictly third party coverage for a non owned or rented vehicle, designed to step in to defend if there is a law suit for an auto accident while one of your employees is on company business in their personal vehicle, or a hired vehicle.
