March 3, 2011

Fleet Vehicles And How They Are Insured Differently From Personal Cars

There are many ways Fleet vehicle insurance is different from personal auto insurance policies. Auto insurance quotes for personal vehicles and fleet vehicles are written different because fleet vehicles are handled by commercial insurance companies. They are owned or leased by a business or government agency, rather than a person or family. A few examples of companies that use Fleet vehicles insurance are car rental companies, taxicab companies, freight trucks that carry equipment around the country, bus companies, and police departments. Receiving Fleet vehicle insurance usually requires two or more vehicles to be owned by that company.

Availability of most fleet vehicle insurance doesn't stop at corporations or government entities, some companies can even be sole proprietorships. The only requirement is that the company must have some kind of commercial element to it. When you are searching for auto insurance quotes for fleet vehicles they will ask you the use of your vehicles and in most cases you will not be allowed a policy if do not use the vehicles for commercial use. When you have your company together and meet all requirements be sure to include all vehicles separately, this would even include trailers, carts, and all other vehicles used by the company that need coverage to protect you and your business entity. You also need to get all drivers filed on a fleet vehicle insurance policy; they are stricter about this than personal auto insurance.

Another factor when searching for fleet vehicle insurance are material damage options and deductibles. These will vary for each vehicle, in most cases the liability limitations are the same for all vehicles. If you change the limitations on one vehicle you are usually doing this for all vehicles. There are some equipment used that are not specifically apart of the fleet vehicle that may need to be separately insured. On top of getting the fleet vehicle insured you may need to take extra precautions and get what is called an "inland marine" policy, this could include generators, mobile construction equipment, and other pieces of equipment. Just contact your agent or broker and ask exactly what your fleet policy covers.

Fleet vehicle insurance differs from personal auto insurance in many ways. All drivers must be clearly filed on the policy, the business must use for commercial reasons, all vehicles must be listed separately, the equipment carried must be insured properly, and every company must have two or more vehicles when trying to get auto insurance for their fleet vehicles. Personal and Fleet vehicle insurance are widely thought to be the same but they are very different and each have different steps to getting protected, contact your policy holder and get informed.