Garage repair facilities have special insurance requirements that can be a bit different from other types of businesses.  You have a liability exposure not only your business location, but also for your customer’s vehicles.  This makes garage insurance in a class by itself.  There are several different insurance policy types you will want to make sure you are covered for.  

Your policy or policies should likely cover all or most of these exposures. Insurance for these businesses can be quite confusing.  In fact, even some insurance agents get confused on proper policy coverage required.  Like for instance, what is the difference between garage liability and garage keepers legal liability insurance?  That is why you should be dealing with an expert.  We will discuss some of the specifics now.   

 

Types of Repair Shops 

There are many types of shops where the described coverage come into play. 

Below is a list of the more common types of garage shops in Charlotte, NC. 

• Auto Body Shop 
• Auto Repair Shop 
• Brake Shop 
• Tire Shop 
• Truck Repair Shop 
• Car Wash 
• Fix It Yourself Garage 

Some of the common insurance policy types are shown below.

Business Owners Policy (BOP) 

A business owner’s insurance policy covers liability for your premises along with many other coverage options.  There are a lot of bells and whistles on these policy types but make sure the requested endorsements have been added because some may have to be selected as an add-on individually. 

Some common BOP coverage types include: 

• General Liability 
• Signage 
• Business Interruption Insurance 
• Property Coverage 
• Crime Insurance 
• Cyber Liability 
• Personal Advertising Injury 
• Equipment Breakdown 
• Employment Practices Liability (EPLI) 

Garage Liability 

Garage liability covers any damage incurred while driving a covered vehicle.  This could be a vehicle owned by the business and scheduled on the policy, a customer’s vehicle, or an employee’s vehicle used in the business.  The vehicle itself is not covered under this coverage type, only what is hit by that vehicle.  We will discuss this under garage keepers legal liability (GKLL).  Garage liability will also extend to premises liability as well.  This means that there would be coverage for a slip and fall of a client while on the business premises. 

Garage Keepers Legal Liability 

Garage keepers legal liability insurance covers damage to your customer’s vehicles while they are in your care, custody, and control.  This includes coverage for theft, weather related losses, accidents, etc.  Rates can be improved if you keep certain security measures in place.  This can include security systems, gates, fences, cameras, and garages to store the vehicles.  

Business Auto Liability

Any trucks or autos owned by the business should be scheduled under a business auto policy.  You can choose liability coverage which will cover anyone or anything hit by your business owned cars used in your business.  You can also choose to have physical damage coverage on these vehicles which will cover comprehensive and collision losses.

Workers Compensation 

Workers compensation, also known as employer’s liability,  works just like any other business for this policy.  It will cover you at the limit you choose for any employees while they are engaged in business operations.  This policy picks up any medical bills as well as payments for being out of work due to the injury or illness incurred while on the job.   You should be aware of any NC laws regarding workers compensation mandates.  You can check these out here.  http://www.ic.nc.gov/

Commercial Umbrella

A commercial umbrella policy will cover above and beyond over any underlying coverage that you have in place at the umbrella limit you choose.  You should make sure that you know what the umbrella policy is over.  An umbrella policy could be over just certain types of policies, like a general liability or garage liability policy only.  You should make sure that it picks up over any of the policies you wish.  Further, you should make sure you have the minimum underlying limits on each policy that the umbrella policy is over.  Insurance companies require you to have certain underlying limits on your policy before an umbrella policy will pick up and pay.

Rating Factors

Certain things will play a factor in the rate for insurance for your auto repair shop.  Some of those things are shown below.

• Years in business
• Claim history
• Sales amount
• Total payroll
• Number of employees
• Security measures
• Details of the business
• Types of coverage chosen
• Previous insurance

 

Not all auto repair shops are the same.  Nor should the insurance policies for those shops be the same.  Give us a call today at 704-494-9495 to discuss in detail any questions you may have.  We will also be more than happy to get you insurance quotes from our numerous carriers.   You can also email us at contact@pegramonline.com.