“My Employee Uses Their Own Car for Deliveries, Are We Covered?”
This is one of the questions Tom Steckler Agency gets asked most often by small business owners in Fort Wayne, and the honest answer is: probably not the way you think.
The Assumption That Trips Everyone Up
A lot of business owners assume that if an employee is driving their own personal vehicle for work purposes, whether that’s running to the bank, delivering an order, or picking up supplies, the employee’s personal auto insurance handles everything if something goes wrong. Sometimes that’s true. Often it isn’t.
Where the Gap Actually Shows Up
Personal auto policies are built around personal use. Some insurers specifically exclude coverage, or reduce it significantly, when a vehicle is being used for business purposes at the time of an accident. If your employee causes a serious accident while running a work errand, and their personal insurer denies the claim because of business use, that liability can land squarely on your business.
This Is Where Hired and Non-Owned Auto Coverage Comes In
- Hired auto coverage applies to vehicles your business rents or leases for work purposes
- Non-owned auto coverage applies to vehicles employees own personally but use for business tasks
- Together, these fill the gap that a standard commercial auto policy, which typically only covers company-owned vehicles, doesn’t address
- This coverage becomes especially important if employees regularly run errands, make deliveries, or drive between job sites using their own cars
Why This Matters More Than Most Owners Realize
Even a business that doesn’t own a single company vehicle can face significant liability exposure if employees are using personal cars for any work-related driving. It’s one of those coverage gaps that stays invisible right up until an accident happens, and by then it’s too late to fix.
Worth Checking Before It Becomes a Problem
If your Fort Wayne business has employees driving their own vehicles for any work purpose, even occasionally, it’s worth a quick conversation to see if hired and non-owned auto coverage makes sense for you. Tom Steckler Agency can walk through your specific situation and help close that gap. Check out our commercial insurance page or give us a call.
