Insurance Content Navigation

• What Is Commercial Auto Insurance?
• What Does Commercial Auto Insurance Cover in Illinois?
• What Doesn’t Commercial Auto Insurance Cover in Illinois?
• Commercial Auto Insurance Near Me
• Is Commercial Auto Insurance Mandatory?
• What Are the Benefits of Commercial Auto Insurance in Illinois?
• Here’s How an Illinois Independent Insurance Agent Can Help

If your business relies on vehicles for any work-related purposes, you’ve got to make sure that your fleet has all the protection it needs. Work vehicles are at risk of collisions, theft, lawsuits, and more. Fortunately commercial auto insurance is designed to protect against each of these threats and more.

Better yet, an Illinois independent insurance agent can get your business set up with the right commercial auto insurance. They’ll ensure that you have adequate protection against all kinds of perils. But before we get too far ahead of ourselves, here’s a closer look at this important coverage.

What Is Commercial Auto Insurance?

Commercial auto insurance can be referred to by a couple of different names, including business auto insurance and commercial vehicle insurance. This coverage is designed to protect vehicles used for business purposes against many perils, including damage from natural disasters, lawsuits, theft, and more, depending on the specific type of coverage purchased. An Illinois independent insurance agent can help you find the type that’s right for your business.

What Does Commercial Auto Insurance Cover in Illinois?

What your specific commercial auto policy covers depends on the type of insurance you purchase. According to insurance expert Paul Martin, there are three main types of commercial auto coverage:

• Collision: Covers damage from business vehicle collisions with objects, or if the vehicle overturns.
• Comprehensive: Covers damage from numerous other threats other than collisions, including flood, fire, glass breakage, theft, and more.
• Liability: Covers lawsuits filed against your business by third parties who claim bodily injury or property damage caused by your work vehicles and their drivers.

An Illinois independent insurance agent can help you review your coverage options and determine which would be the best fit for your specific business.

What Doesn’t Commercial Auto Insurance Cover in Illinois?

Commercial auto insurance provides a lot of critical coverage for business vehicles, but it can’t cover everything. Here are some common coverage exclusions under standard commercial auto policies in Illinois, along with the rest of the country:

• Intentional injuries
• Pollution
• War damage
• Racing incidents
• Loading injuries
• Hired and non-owned auto incidents

For business purposes that are completed with the help of a hired, borrowed, rented, or leased vehicle, another form of insurance known as hired and non-owned auto coverage is necessary. An Illinois independent insurance agent can help you determine if your business is in need of this coverage.

Commercial Auto Insurance Near Me

When shopping for the right commercial auto insurance, it’s helpful to know some of the major companies where it’s available. Some of the most popular insurance companies that offer commercial auto insurance can be found below. Review these choices with your Illinois independent insurance agent to decide if they’re a good fit for your business’s needs.

Besides being familiar with leading commercial auto insurance companies, a local Illinois independent insurance agent can seriously aid you in your search for the right coverage. Illinois independent insurance agents know which carriers to recommend based on your business’s needs, as well as who offers the most affordable rates.

Is Commercial Auto Insurance Mandatory?

Commercial auto insurance is needed by anyone who regularly uses vehicles for business purposes. A regular homeowners insurance policy or business insurance policy does not fully cover business use of vehicles. In order to avoid having to pay out of pocket for damage to work vehicles, a commercial auto insurance policy is mandatory. An Illinois independent insurance agent can explain further why commercial auto insurance is crucial for business vehicles.

What Are the Benefits of Commercial Auto Insurance in Illinois?

Having the right protection for your business’s vehicle fleet provides a ton of benefits, from helping your business recover from potential lawsuits to being able to replace stolen vehicles.

Here are just a handful of major benefits to having this coverage:

• Coverage for employee accidents: Without commercial auto coverage, if an employee got into an accident with a work vehicle, you’d be out of luck.
• Coverage for lawsuits: If one of your employees caused property damage or bodily injury with a company vehicle, you’d be left paying for the legal and medical costs out of your business’s pocket without commercial auto insurance.
• Coverage for natural disaster damage: Comprehensive coverage under your business auto policy also protects against damage to company vehicles from natural disasters like fire, hail, hurricanes, floods, and more.
• Coverage for damaged windshields: The comprehensive coverage section of a business auto policy also provides coverage against damaged or destroyed windshields on company vehicles.
• Coverage for employee collisions with deer: Adding comprehensive coverage to your business auto insurance provides protection against one of your workers colliding with a deer while using a work vehicle.

An Illinois independent insurance agent can rattle off several other important benefits of equipping your business with ample commercial auto insurance.

Here’s How an Illinois Independent Insurance Agent Can Help

When it comes to protecting businesses against damage to company vehicles, lawsuits related to business vehicle use, and all other perils, no one’s better equipped to help than an independent insurance agent. Illinois independent insurance agents search through multiple carriers to find providers who specialize in commercial auto insurance, deliver quotes from a number of different sources, and help you walk through them all to find the best blend of coverage and cost.