What It Actually Covers

• Liability coverage pays for bodily injury and property damage to others when a covered vehicle causes an accident, plus related legal defense costs.
• Physical damage coverage (comprehensive and collision) pays to repair or replace the covered vehicle itself after a collision, theft, vandalism, or weather event.
• Medical payments or personal injury protection covers injuries to the driver and passengers of the covered vehicle regardless of fault.
• Uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage steps in when the at-fault driver in an accident with your vehicle doesn't carry enough insurance.

Why a Personal Auto Policy Usually Won't Work

A personal auto policy is priced and underwritten around personal, non-business driving, and most contain a business use exclusion that limits or eliminates coverage once a vehicle is used to haul equipment, make deliveries, transport clients, or carry tools between job sites. Insurers treat commercial use as a materially different and generally higher-frequency risk profile, since business vehicles tend to log more miles, more stops, and more exposure to other people's property while working. A contractor's truck involved in an accident while hauling materials to a job site can end up with a denied claim if the owner never disclosed the business use to a personal auto carrier.

Commercial Auto vs. Hired and Non-Owned Auto

Businesses that don't own any vehicles but still have employees driving personal cars for company errands still carry real liability exposure and typically need hired and non-owned auto coverage even without a single company-titled vehicle.