It may seem fairly obvious that if you have cars or other vehicles that are used by your business (owned by your business; owned yourself; or even leased) that you must have commercial auto insurance on those vehicles. It is mandatory in many states, but there is a surprising amount of small business owners that hesitate to get the adequate insurance coverage needed for their businesses—and this includes the proper insurance for the vehicles that are used in their business. It isn’t that these business owners are neglectful, but they often mistakenly don’t feel the need to purchase it based on falsely provided information or some other rationale that makes them hesitate to get the commercial auto insurance that they really do need.
It is important to understand the basic reason that commercial auto insurance exists. First and foremost a business needs insurance on everything that is required by law and then additionally on anything else that they want to transfer the risk away from their business and onto the insurance company. The simple reality is that the protection you get from insurance is invaluable and commercial auto insurance policies are designed to protect a business loss arising from negligence as well as coverage to the vehicle itself. It exists to protect the owner financially.
Even if you are the only driver, and you are the most careful driver on the planet, there is unfortunately no possible way that you can control the driving of other people. If there is a drunk driver on the road, or weather situations are dangerous and an accident happens you need the right insurance policy to cover you. Instead of covering the cost on your own, or through the business’s cash flow, insurance would help you to protect your business, your livelihood, and the livelihood of your employees if involved. It can make a huge difference when you are faced with an auto accident.
If you don’t have commercial auto insurance, you are putting at risk your entire business, not just the vehicle involved. When you insure a business vehicle, check with your accountant as the insurance may be tax-deductible, because it is a known required expense. As any accountant would suggest, it is better to have commercial auto insurance because as at least you keep the money in the business if anything was to go wrong.
