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Is a Pet-Friendly Workplace Right for Your Business? Understand the Benefits, Risks, and Business Insurance Needs.

Thirty-nine percent of households have dogs, so it’s no surprise that more companies – including Google, Etsy, and Build-A-Bear Workshop – are allowing employees to bring their dogs to work.  After all, Congress has been dog friendly since the 19^th century.  And, according to a survey conducted by the American Pet Products Manufacturers, 17 percent of Americans work at pet-friendly companies. What are the benefits? What are the risks? Does your business insurance adequately cover the risks? You should know the answers to these questions before implementing a pet-friently workplace policy.

Pet-Friendly Workplace Benefits

Offering a “bring your pet to work” policy can definitely have its advantages.  It has been shown to lower employees’ stress levels and absenteeism; boost morale and create a more positive work environment; improve job satisfaction, which improves retention; encourage people to work longer hours; attract new employees by standing out among the competition; and offer opportunities for exercise and non-work-related interaction among employees. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention cites dozens of animal experts who report that pets can decrease blood pressure and cholesterol levels as well as increase opportunities for exercise and socialization.

Pet-Friendly Workplace Risks

If you’re considering opening the doggie door on your business, there are a few things you should consider.

• If you lease your workspace, make sure the landlord allows pets.

• If any part of your business involves the handling of food or beverages or offering personal care services, such as day care or elder care, check licensing bureau regulations.

• An animal allergy may be considered a disability under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990. If you ignore or don’t make reasonable accommodations for an employee who is allergic to animals, you could open your business to potential ADA liability.

• People who are afraid or uncomfortable around pets can also create possible ADA liability. A former mail room clerk from Foodarama Supermarkets in New Jersey brought an ADA claim in which she alleged that her former supervisor occasionally brought his house cats to the office, despite the fact that the employee had previously informed him of her condition as an ailurophobe (a person who is afraid cats).  Although courts are reluctant to find liability under strict liability statutes or under ADA accommodation laws, an employer could still face the expense of defending such a suit if they allow pets in the office.
• A pet can bite another employee, customer, or delivery person.

• A pet can damage or destroy property, such as carpets, computers, and other office equipment and furniture, or even “eat your presentation."

Business Insurance and Other Ways to Keep Your Business Out of the Doghouse

• Have open discussions with your employees about concerns, such as allergies, accidents, etc., and how you will accommodate them.

• Create and enforce a comprehensive written pet policy.

• Require that employees prove that their pets will respond to basic commands, such as “sit” and “stay.”

• Limit the number of pets allowed in the workplace at one time.

• Enforce a zero tolerance for aggressive pets that growl, bark, chase, or bite.

• Establish pet-free zones.

• Require that pet owners show that vaccinations are up to date and that pets are licensed and free of parasites and insects.

• Require proof, in writing, that pet owners have sufficient home owners’ or renters’ insurance to cover damage caused by their pet and carefully check exclusions.  Some policies have a business-pursuit policy exception and some exclude certain breeds, such as Pit Bulls and Rottweilers. 

• Consider indemnification in case your business gets sued.

• Ensure that your business insurance will cover any liability associated with pets in the office. 

Contact Us for the Right Business Insurance Protection to Support a Pet-Friendly Workplace

A pet-friendly workplace isn’t right for every business, but if you decide that it could be a good fit for your company, your first step should be contacting the independent insurance agents at American Insuring Group at (800) 947-1270 or (610) 775-3848. We offer business insurance protection from competing insurance providers. We'll help you find the right policy at the right price. Contact us today.

Will Your Restaurant be Held Liable for Accidents? How Much Can Restaurant Insurance Help?

Let’s say you own a restaurant.  One night, a group of friends enjoy dinner and a few drinks at your restaurant.  They decide to go to a club where they dance and consume more alcohol.  Then, they go to a corner pub to wind down with a few more drinks.  On the way home, one of those friends causes an accident that injures or – God forbid – kills someone in the process.

Who is responsible?  You and your restaurant?  The club?  The pub?  That depends on which state your restaurant is located.  If it’s in Nevada, none of the establishments will be held responsible for injuries caused by intoxicated patrons; all of the responsibility lies with the person directly causing the injury.   However, many other states place the responsibility elsewhere.

Pennsylvania’s Dram Shop Statute

In Pennsylvania, all of the establishments could be held responsible – even your restaurant.  Under Pennsylvania’s Dram Shop Statute, a licensed drinking establishment can be held liable for injuries caused by intoxication if the establishment served alcohol to a visibly intoxicated individual or to a minor.

Not only could you face administrative and criminal fines and penalties, but you could also be sued in civil court for damages that person might cause after leaving your establishment.  You could lose your liquor license. If you serve alcohol to a minor, the establishment's owner, operator, or the server could face a term of imprisonment of three months to one year, a fine of up to $5,000, or both.

Determining whether a server should have realized the extent of a patron's intoxication is fuzzy.   How the alcohol affects a person is what matters, not how many drinks were consumed. 

When is a Driver Considered Legally Drunk in Pennsylvania?

• Non-commercial drivers age 21+ are considered legally drunk when their blood alcohol level is .08 or more.
• Drivers of commercial vehicles are legally drunk when their blood alcohol concentration is .04 percent or greater.
• School bus drivers are legally drunk when their blood alcohol level is .02 or more.
• Drivers under 21 are legally drunk when their blood alcohol concentration is .02 or more.

How to Protect Yourself, Your Employees, and Your Business

If your establishment serves alcohol, all of your servers and managers should undergo some type of training in alcohol service, such as the National Hospitality Institute’s Techniques of Alcohol Management or Pennsylvania’s Responsible Alcohol Management Training Program (RAMP).

RAMP, created by the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board, helps licensees – such as restaurants, hotels, clubs, and distributors - and their employees serve alcohol more responsibly.  RAMP certification offers practical advice on detecting fake IDs, using the FEAR method of carding, and identifying a “visibly intoxicated patron.”

But, what if that person was not intoxicated when he or she left your restaurant and is of a legal drinking age?  You could still be held responsible.  If an incident does occur, your best defense is a written policy and documentation that you adhere to that policy.  Review the policy with your employees regularly. 

Liquor Liability Insurance - Important Restaurant Insurance Protection

Liquor liability insurance can be an invaluable form of restaurant insurance protection. It can help protect your restaurant business from highly damaging lawsuits into the millions of dollars resulting from property damage and injury caused by intoxicated customers who purchased alchohol in your establishment.

These policies may differ significantly by insurance provider in terms of costs and coverage details. This is why you should consult the independent insurance professionals at American Insuring Group. We offer policies from competing insurance companies. We'll help you find the right restaurant insurance policy at the right price. 

Contact an American insuring Group agent at (800) 947-1270 or (610) 775-3848 to find more ways to protect your business with the right restaurant insurance.

Protecting Your Baby - Business Insurance and Beyond

Business insurance is important because if you’re a small business owner, chances are good that you have a lot of heart, sweat, and maybe even a few tears invested in your business. Sometimes, your business becomes your “baby” – something that you want to protect from danger, just like you protect your family.  Aside from getting good commercial insurance coverage, how do you go about protecting “your baby” from outside threats, such as fire, flood, or theft? 

Preparation is the key.  It determines if and how quickly a business can recover from a set-back.  Unfortunately, many small businesses don’t prepare and don’t have a plan to protect their business from outside threats.  Start your plan NOW with these four tips:

1. Keep Your Eyes Open
You should monitor your place of business for suspicious activity 24/7. Security cameras can be used for two purposes: investigation and deterrence. Surveillance cameras are a cost-effective way to keep an eye on your business even when you aren’t there.  Some security cameras have DVR or remote monitoring capabilities, which allow you to watch, record and/or play back video.

Types of security cameras include…

Infrared (IR) security cameras

Dome cameras

Pro box cameras

Pan tilt zoom cameras

Hidden cameras

Click here for security camera basics.

2.  Be Armed with Alarms
Many commercial codes regulate smoke and carbon monoxide (CO) protection. Depending on the size and layout of your business, consider upgrading or adding smoke and CO detectors to ensure that you and your employees are properly alerted in case of an emergency. If your business is home-based, remember that the National Fire Protection Association a smoke alarm in every bedroom, outside each sleeping area and on every level of the home, including the basement. 

3. Protect Your Company Files
The loss of certain data could force your business – particularly if it is a small business – out of business. All essential paper documents, such as employee files, leases, insurance and tax documents should be kept in a fire-resistant and waterproof safe.  No safe is foolproof; however, they do give a degree of protection to your paper documents.  Here are some tips about buying a safe from SentrySafe, the nation's largest safe manufacturer.

Today, it’s simple and inexpensive to back up electronic files, so that you can access them even if your entire office building was under water or engulfed in flames.  Electronic files should be backed up daily to an external hard-drive, a CD, a DVD, and/or a USB Flash drive that is stored somewhere outside your business, or - better yet - backed up online.  This way your files are still accessible if one of your computers is damaged or stolen.  There are several online backup services that will automatically backup your data on a regular basis without your lifting a finger. 

4.  Safeguard your Computers
Cyber security isn’t only a concern for big corporations, like Target and Home Depot.  Small businesses can be just as vulnerable, so you need to keep operating systems, web browsers and anti-virus packages up-to-date. Don’t put off those update reminders that pop up on your screen; it’s important to update them regularly to prevent malicious software attacks on your computer and network.  Cyber threats are becoming increasingly sophisticated and can’t be ignored.

Implementing these four safety measures can help provide peace of mind that your “baby” is safe and allow you to focus on your business and your customers. 

The right business insurance can also help provide peace of mind (you might even sleep as sound as a baby!), so contact American Insuring Group at (800) 947-1270 or (610) 775-3848 to find out how insurance can provide additional protection for your “baby.”

Worker's Compensation Insurance Costs

According to a recent U.S. Bureau of Labor report, Workers’ Compensation accounts for 2.8 percent of the total cost of a production, transportation, or material moving employee’s compensation and 3 percent for construction and maintenance employee’s compensation.  Businesses interested in reducing those percentages do what they can to improve workplace safety; thereby, reducing the number of workers’ compensation claims and providing a safer and healthier environment for employees.  It’s a win-win situation.

Like Games? Try OSHA’s New Tool to Help Identify Hazards within the Workplace

One of the first steps to creating a safer workplace is to identify potential hazards; if you don’t know a hazard exists, how can it be properly mitigated?  The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has created an interactive, online, game-based training tool to help small businesses effectively identify hazards within the workplace.  This tool, with both an owner and worker mode, is designed to help both company leaders and workers to not only identify hazards, but also learn how to abate and control those hazards. 

Currently, the user can choose between three different scenarios:

• OSHA Visual Inspection Training
• Manufacturing Facility
• Construction

OSHA Visual Inspection Training

The "OSHA Visual Inspection Training" scenario, which contains a saw, industrial chemical mixer, scaffolding and fall protection for inspection, shows users how to identify hazards on items found in the workplace; become familiar with typical hazard categories; and understand common relationships of hazards to equipment components and operations.  It offers the user an opportunity to practice a visual inspection and find hazards. In this scenario, the user can view equipment from 360° to look for hazards. The user can also talk to the employee and observe the employee at work to identify additional hazards.

Manufacturing Facility & Construction

The Manufacturing and Construction scenarios, which focus on the principal skills needed to effectively identify hazards in the workplace and reinforce the key components in the hazard identification process, allow participants to experience the entire workplace. The manufacturing scenario allows the user to be a part of the safety committee in a hovercraft parts manufacturing facility.  In the construction scenario, the user must identify and mitigate hazards to maintain a safe workplace throughout three phases of a construction project.

5 Key Components in the Hazard Identification Process

This tool helps owners and workers understand the five process components in identifying hazards:

1. Collect information: Review all information (manuals, safety data sheets, OSHA data, etc.) you may already have available to find hazards that have already been identified by others.
   
   
2. Inspect workplace: The most basic (yet important) component of inspection is the simple visual inspection. Inspecting the equipment and the surrounding work areas allows the user to look over the equipment without any obstructions that might exist while the equipment is being operated. Certain hazards might only be recognizable when the machine is not in operation.
   
   
3. Observe the operation: Another good way to identify hazards during an inspection is to observe the equipment in operation. Watch the operator and note any hazardous situations. Observing an operation gives the viewer an opportunity to see how the task is actually completed. This can provide insight on additional hazards that would not be recognizable otherwise (positioning of controls relative to the worker, noise and dust levels, by-passing or improper use of safety functions). This can only be done when workers are present and production is underway.
   
   
4. Involve employees: A great way to gain insight into workplace hazards is to talk to the equipment operators. Often, they are aware of issues that may not be apparent during an inspection. Talk to the workers and listen to their feedback.
   
   
5. Investigate incidents: Whenever an incident occurs, use that as an opportunity to learn about hazards that may have been overlooked.

To find out more about this new tool, check out https://www.osha.gov/hazfinder/. 

Lower Your Workers' Compensation Insurance Costs

Let American Insuring Group help you control your workers’ compensation premiums. We're an independent agency representing multiple competing brands of workers' comp insurance, so we can help you find quality insurance at a great price! 

Contact us at (800) 947-1270 or (610) 775-3848. Serving Philadelphia, Reading, Lancaster, Allentown, Harrisburg, Pittsburgh, Erie and beyond.

The Cost of Substance Abuse in the Workplace

The National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence (NCADD) estimates that drug abuse in the workplace costs business owners $81 billion annually.  

Studies show that substance abusers miss work more often, use more sick leave, and arrive late more frequently than their coworkers.  Substance abusers are more likely to injure themselves or others and file more workers compensation insurance claims. 

Double the Worker's Compensation Insurance Cost

It’s estimated that substance abusers cost employers twice as much in medical and workers compensation claims as their drug-free counterparts.  And finally, substance abusers are considerably less productive than their drug-free co-workers. 

Although Pennsylvania does not have a state law that regulates, requires, or prohibits drug testing or any drug-free workplace programs, companies that implement a drug-free workplace initiative can improve their bottom line, increase productivity, and develop healthier employees.  A program may include supervisor training, employee education, drug testing, and/or an Employee Assistance Program (EAP). 

The Cost of a Drug-Free Workplace Initiative

The cost of a drug-free workplace will vary depending on the size of your initiative, your response level, and available community, state, and federal resources.   Costs may include policy development, employee education, management training, employee assistance, and drug testing. 

However, a study of the economic impact of a drug-free workplace initiative in Ohio found significant improvements in job-related performance:

• A 91 percent decrease in absenteeism
• An 88 percent decrease in problems with supervisors
• A 93 percent decrease in mistakes in work
• A 97 percent decrease in on-the-job injuries

Risks of NOT Implementing a Drug-Free Workplace Initiative

The cost of implementing a drug-free workplace program should be weighed against the cost of not implementing a program.  For many small businesses, one serious accident or one troubled employee can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars and jeopardize the future of that company. 

How to Create a Drug-Free Workplace Initiative

• Drug-free workplace policy - Establish written policies and procedures that prohibit the abuse of alcohol or illegal use of drugs. Ensure that all employees and potential applicants read and understand the policy and that compliance with the policy is a condition of employment.  The US Department of Labor has a “Drug-Free Workplace Policy Builder” at http://www.dol.gov/elaws/asp/drugfree/drugs/screen1.asp.
  
  
• Supervisor Training – Supervisors closest to the workforce should be trained on your drug free workplace initiative and their role in its implementation.   They should also be taught the signs, symptoms, behavior changes, and performance problems associated with drug or alcohol abuse and what to do when they see those signs.
  
  
• Employee Education - An employee education session should describe the impact that alcohol abuse and drug use has on the workplace, provide information about addiction and the major drugs of abuse, and include your company’s drug and alcohol policies.
  
  
• EAP – An Employee Assistance Program is a worksite-focused program designed to identify and resolve productivity problems associated with personal problems, such as alcohol and/or drug abuse, which often includes counseling and referral programs.
  
  
• Drug Testing – A drug and/or alcohol testing program may detect or deter drug and/or alcohol use or abuse.  Drug testing works best when used in conjunction with the other initiatives listed above.

Additional Resources:

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention- http://www.cdc.gov/workplacehealthpromotion/implementation/topics/substance-abuse.html

National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism - http://www.niaaa.nih.gov

National Institute on Drug Abuse – www.drugabuse.gov

Contact Us to Improve Your Bottom Line

A drug-free workplace initiative can create a healthier workforce and improve your company’s bottom line, including lowering your workers compensation insurance claims and costs. 

For more information about controlling your workers’ compensation insurance costs, contact us at (800) 947-1270 or (610) 775-3848.

Whether your company owns one commercial vehicle or an entire fleet of vehicles, regular vehicle maintenance is one of the best things you can do to protect your employees, your property, and your business.

As a bonus, any time you reduce risk you reduce the chance of incurring an insurance claim, which ultimately can help lower your commercial vehicle insurance and other business insurance rates.

Here's How:

• Regular maintenance can help prolong the life of your vehicle and allow it to operate more efficiently. 
   
• Regular maintenance also helps ensure the safety of your employees and can help cut down on insurance claims.
   
• Many state and U.S. regulations require a preventive vehicle maintenance program, including a structured record-keeping system.  Non-compliance of these regulations can lead to strict penalties, including hefty fines. 

Commercial Vehicle Compliance

Before initiating an internal vehicle maintenance plan, you should understand federal commercial vehicle requirements. Every year, the Commercial Safety Vehicle Alliance (CSVA) conducts approximately four million commercial motor vehicle inspections throughout North America.  These inspections focus on vehicle mechanical safety, traffic enforcement, cargo securement and regional rules and regulations.  Any vehicle with a gross vehicle weight rating of more than 10,000 pounds, including the weight of a trailer, may be subject to these random road checks. http://www.cvsa.org/programs/nas.php

Developing a Better Commercial Vehicle Preventive Maintenance Program

In addition to complying with federal regulations, it’s also a good idea to create a formal preventive maintenance program that includes a daily pre- and post-drive checklist.  This helps insure that drivers share some of the vehicle maintenance responsibility and that the day-to-day safety requirements are met. 

Where to Begin

A good place to start is the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) website.  http://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/ FMCSA’s “A Motor Carrier’s Guide to IMPROVING HIGHWAY SAFETY” is a great resource.  It includes lots of information and record-keeping forms. http://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/sites/fmcsa.dot.gov/files/docs/ETA-Final-508c-s.pdf.

With a preventive maintenance plan in place and knowledge of federal and state regulations, your one commercial vehicle or your entire fleet will be ready for the road. 

Reduce Risk & Save Money with the Right Commercial Vehicle Insurance

American Insuring Group’s independence and high standards allow us to provide the best commercial vehicle insurance rates and high-quality insurance protection for your commercially used car, van, truck, or fleet.  Contact us at (800) 947-1270 or (610) 775-3848 to learn more.

With the current sluggish economy, more and more companies are turning to business consultants to help cut spending, maximize productivity, and develop more cost-efficient practices.  Business consulting services come in a variety of shapes – from sales and marketing consulting to technology consulting – and sizes - from working out of a home office to working in a large consulting agency. 

Subjectivity, Risk and Professional Liability Insurance

If you’re one of the estimated 400,000 consultants in the US, it doesn’t matter what your specialty is, where you work, or your level of expertise - the advice you provide usually contains an element of subjectivity, which is open to allegations of negligent acts, errors, or omissions.  In the event of a lawsuit, legal fees and damages paid – whether a consultant is at fault or not – can quickly add up, so it’s important that you protect you and your business from potentially catastrophic litigation with Professional Liability Insurance (PLI), sometimes referred to as Professional Indemnity Insurance, which is a sub-category within Commercial Insurance. 

What is Professional Liability Insurance?

PLI is a type of commercial insurance that provides protection for Error and Omission exposure, sometimes referred to as errors and omissions insurance. It protects you from negligence claims arising from an alleged act or failure to act that caused harm to another party.  This type of claim is not covered by more general liability insurance policies. 

Why Isn't General Liability Insurance Enough?

General liability insurance policies only cover bodily injury, property damage, or personal injury. Some forms of insurance cover employers, public or product liability. Professional Liability insurance covers legal claims that cause harm that isn’t covered by these other general policies, such as negligence, misrepresentation, violation of good faith and fair dealing, and inaccurate advice.

Professional Liability Insurance and Larger Consulting Contracts

If you decide to work with a larger corporation, PLI may be required to secure a contract. By acquiring this type of coverage in advance may be viewed as being prepared and better qualified to operate in the big leagues where the more lucrative consulting engagements are typically found.

Learn More About Professional Liability Insurance

For more information about professional liability insurance and other forms of commercial insurance, contact American Insuring Group at (800) 947-1270 or (610)775-3848.

Worker's compensation insurance, job classifications, job risks and insurance premiums are all related. Job classifications, which are based on specific ratings and descriptions for all types of jobs, are determined by the National Council on Compensation Insurance (NCCI), the insurance industry’s ratings bureau.  There are more than 600 different job classifications, and more are being added all the time, so it isn’t surprising that 30-35 percent of businesses have classification errors. But have you considered the potential impact on your business insurance costs that an erroneous job classification can bring?

Workers' Compensation Insurance and Risk-Based Job Classifications

Why should you care?  These ratings, based on an estimated level of risk, help determine how much Workers’ Compensation premiums you will pay for each job classification.  The following misclassifications are examples of mistakes that can significantly increase your Workers’ Compensation premiums:

• An administrative assistant who sits at her desk all day is classified at the same job risk level as a tree trimmer who spends most of her day swinging through the trees.
• A dispatcher who spends most of his time on the phone is classified at the same job risk level as a driver who spends most of his time behind the wheel of a tractor trailer full of flammable materials. 

How can you avoid misclassifications?

• Review your NCCI Classifications
• Don’t use the same classification for everyone in your company.  Classify each worker individually.
• Ask your insurance agent how jobs are being classified.
• Read your policy.
• Don’t let the insurance agent copy from an old policy from year to year. Things change; your business changes. 

Don’t wait for your workman's compensation insurance premiums to skyrocket to discover something is off kilter.  For more information about job classifications and controlling workers’ compensation premiums, contact American Insuring Group at (800) 947-1270 or (610) 775-3848.

A Leading Cause of Workplace Injury

OSHA reports, “Lifting heavy items is one of the leading causes of injury in the workplace.”  This is particularly true in the healthcare industry.  Improper lifting can cause back sprains, muscle pulls, wrist injuries, elbow injuries, spinal injuries, etc. 

Sharing the following smart lifting practices with your employees will not only help improve the health of your employees, but also help reduce the number and cost of lifting-related workers’ compensation insurance claims.

There are several factors that contribute to lifting injuries:

• Weight of Objects
• Awkward Postures
• High-Frequency and Long-Duration Lifting
• Inadequate Handholds
• Environmental Factors

Avoid Workers Comp Injuries - Follow These Safe Lifting Tips.

Here are some tips from OSHA to help your employees avoid injury from lifting:

• Limit the weight you lift to no more than 50 pounds.  When lifting heavier loads, use two or more people to lift the load.
• Use ramps or lift gates to load items into trucks rather than lifting them by hand.
• Use your legs instead of your back when lifting an item from a low location.
• Avoid twisting, especially when bending forward while lifting.  Turn by moving the feet rather than twisting the torso.
• Keep your elbows close to your body and keep the load as close to your body as possible.
• Break down loads into smaller units and carry one in each hand to equalize loads.
• Rotate tasks so employees are not exposed to the same activity for too long.
• Take regular breaks and split tasks into shorter segments.
• Move materials from containers with poor or no handholds into containers with good handholds.
• Wear proper personal protective equipment to avoid finger injuries and contact stress.
• Adjust work schedules to minimize exposure to extreme temperatures.
• Drink lots of water to avoid dehydration in excessive heat.

More Safe Lifting Tips

For more information about safe lifting techniques, go to https://www.osha.gov/SLTC/etools/electricalcontractors/materials/heavy.html#awkward

Be Prepared for the Unexepected with Quality Workers' Comp Insurance

Following these tips will help ensure the safety of your employees and reduce workers’ comp claims; however, injuries may still happen. 

The right workers' compensation insurance will protect your business from these unforeseen incidents. 

Contact American Insuring Group at (800) 947-1270 or (610) 775-3848.  We can help with all of your business-related insurance needs, including workers’ compensation.

Picture this: a pizza delivery guy, a shuttle driver (sole-proprietor of the business), and an independent landscaping contractor collide into each other at the intersection of First and Main.

As they all get out of their vehicles to examine the damage, the delivery man asks, “Do you guys have commercial vehicle insurance?”   Both drivers shake their heads no.  “Do you?” asks the shuttle driver.  The delivery man looks down at his feet, and says, “No, but I’ve been meaning to talk to my insurance agent about it.” 

Insurance Claim Denied

In this scenario, chances are that all three would hear the same answer from their insurance agent, “Sorry, but your personal vehicle insurance won’t cover this accident.”  

If you own a fleet of vehicles and hire many drivers, you probably know you need commercial vehicle insurance.  But what if you just use your personal vehicle for business occasionally, or it’s just you driving your truck from job to job?   Won’t personal car insurance cover you in the event of an accident?  It depends. 

Like personal vehicle insurance, commercial vehicle insurance covers things such as liability, collision, comprehensive, medical payments, and uninsured motorist coverage. However, there may be a difference in eligibility, definitions, coverage, exclusions, and limits. Certain business usage and vehicle types can be excluded from personal policies. Some businesses need coverage only found in commercial car and truck insurance. 

Commercial Vehicle Insurance Benefits

Commercial vehicle insurance generally includes higher liability coverage.  Sometimes commercial insurance also insures the items (such as work equipment) within your vehicle; it may include rental reimbursement to help cover the cost to temporarily replace a commercial vehicle; and it may offer single-deductible options, which allow you to extend coverage to trailers or other specialized equipment you haul. 

So, how do you know if you need commercial vehicle insurance or if personal vehicle insurance is enough? It depends on the nature of your business, how you use your vehicle, and your insurance company’s policies.  Here are a few questions you need to consider - if you answer yes to any of them, you may need commercial car insurance.

·       Is your vehicle used to transport goods or people for a fee?

·       Is your vehicle owned or leased by a partnership or corporation?

·       Is your vehicle registered or titled to a business, corporation, partnership, or DBA?

·       Do employees operate your vehicle?

·       Is your vehicle a pickup, van, or utility vehicle with a gross weight exceeding 10,000 pounds or does it have a rated load capacity over 2,000 pounds?

·       Is your vehicle equipped with snowplow equipment, cooking or catering equipment, bathrooms, altered suspensions, hydraulic lifts, or racing equipment?

·       Is your vehicle equipped with a ladder rack or permanent toolbox that is used for your business?

Don't Take Chances on Insurance for Your Commercial Vehicle - Contact Us Today

Personal vehicle insurance provides enough coverage for some businesses; however, there are times when commercial vehicle insurance is required.  If you don’t want to be like the pizza delivery driver, the shuttle driver, or the independent landscaping contractor in our story, contact us for advice in making the right insurance decision at (800) 947-1270 or (610)775-3848.  We'll help you obtain the right type and level of vehicle insurance for your business.