AUTO BODY REPAIR SHOP INSURANCE
Auto Body Repair Garage Insurance is available for auto body repair shop business owners who have one or more business locations. The insurance is available through carriers rated AM Best “A” or better on an admitted and non-admitted basis. We can provide auto body repair shop insurance on a Business Owner Policy package policy type formate and also on the more traditional CPP garage liability policy. The BOP form is designed to provide comprehensive insurance for most auto repair businesses all in one package.
We know that auto body repair shop insurance must cover the the unique exposures to loss that car repair shop businesses are exposed to. For example, some businesses are also in the general mechanical repair business, or sell cars, and operate towing services. We have the capability of providing coverage to the entire business operation when required. In these cases we may need to more carefully consider the overall operations a little bit differently but in most cases we can provide coverage to almost any form of auto related business. When reasonable underwriting and management requirements can be met, our flexible package of coverage can provide business owners some of the best auto body repair shop insurance available in the marketplace.
The versatile Commercial Package Policy or the Business Owners Policy have been designed as a package of property, liability, and ancillary coverage that auto body repair shop businesses need and the policies can be made to be comprehensive or basic. These auto related businesses can be provided coverage on BOP-like programs or typical Garage Liability CPP policy forms.
A general outline of the most common available coverage options for our Auto Repair Garage insurance programs are shown below as standard or optional coverage:
Liability on an Auto Body Repair Shop Insurance Policy
- Bodily Injury and Property Damage, Premises Liability
- Primary Limits up to $2,000,000/$4,000,000
- Personal Injury and Advertising Liability Coverage
- Employment Practices Liability Insurance
- Fellow Employee Coverage
- Host Liquor Liability
- Non-owned Watercraft
- Hired and Non-Owned Auto Liability
- Products and Completed Operations Liability
- Employee Benefits Liability
- Ohio Stop Gap Liability Insurance
- Cyber liability coverage
- Garagekeepers Legal Liability Insurance
Regardless of business type, liability insurance protects against the tort of negligence that arise from business operations and it is no different for auto body repair shop business insurance. The tort of negligence is a breach of duty that is derived from common law principles that have evolved through decades and even centuries of recorded decisions about our relationships with one another. It is no different for the business of auto body repair operations. A duty is an obligation we owe to someone else. In essence, we owe each other the duty to protect them from the consequences of our actions and when someone is hurt or suffers harm to either body, property, or reputation, in our culture we boil down our grievances to a monetary settlement in most cases. In the case of the liability coverage provided in our auto-related business insurance policy, we will pay for the benefit of a legal defense against the claims of injury or damage and we will also pay the amounts that become due to another because a finding of your negligence has occurred through legal proceedings or an agreement accomplished through the negotiations of your insurance carrier and the other people involved in the claim. This includes bodily injury and property damage as a result of events on the premises, through acts on and away from the work facilities, injuries caused by products, advertising injury, personal injuries other than bodily injury, hired and non-owned auto liability, and injury or damage caused due to computer intrusion and compromise when chosen.
Property Coverage
- Buildings, Fixtures, Building Improvements including multiple locations
- Business Personal Property including Property Service Equipment
- Building Limit Automatic Increase
- Valuable Papers and Records
- Accounts Receivable Coverage
- Computer Coverage and Cyber Crime
- Outdoor Signs—Attached and Detached
- Building Ordinance or Law Coverage
- Off-Premises Coverage for Business Personal Property, including Property in Transit
- Earthquake Coverage (Some carriers)
- Business Income, including Extra Expense Coverage
- Coverage For Water Back-up
- Equipment Breakdown
Property insurance is required to be included when a an auto body repair shop business owner policy is used. If you own the building we must include the building. We must include the business personal property, stock and fixtures because the auto body repair shop insurance policy is a package policy that requires both liability and property coverage be included to maximize discounts. The reason the BOP policy is cost effective is the large package credits that are built into the premium for combining more coverage into one policy. The package of coverage is easy to issue and maintain than an assortment of separate policy forms and coverage. The business owner policy provides a lot of coverage in a tidy package and it is flexible enough to handle several locations and variety of situations for building, business personal property, computer and cyber-crime needs, signs, coverage on or off premises, loss of business income, and break down of critical building mechanical systems that may alter your ability to operate.
Inland Marine and Special Property
(See IM Section for more Details)
Mobile equipment and property that leaves the premises is best covered with an inland marine endorsement that is designed for equipment that may float to where you actually do your work. When any repair business goes mobile to conduct car repair that business has special concerns about the mobile equipment and tools they use away from the insured premises. Certain equipment that is mobile in nature and leaves the business premises will find the broad coverage of the inland marine policy endorsement that are the best way of insuring this type floating and mobile type of property. This coverage is not automatically included. In those instances where your property leaves your immediate premises your auto bopy business insurance is able to be amended to include this unique mobile equipment exposure. This becomes very important to mobile auto repair businesses or when occasional work is conducted away from the premises.
Umbrella Liability
Umbrella liability is an additional limit of coverage that protects for damages that exceed primary policies and sometimes losses that were not covered in the primary policies but were not excluded by the language of the umbrella policy. Umbrellas covering over auto body repair businesses provide the additional coverage and flexibility. Carriers writing the underlying BOP will often write umbrella liability for Auto Body Repair Shop businesses.
Crime and Fidelity
- Employee Theft
- Crime Inside
- Crime Outside
The loss of money through theft, robbery or burglary, or the dishonesty of an employee are losses that can cripple a small business of any kind and tailoring your needs for crime and fidelity coverage can be done within the Business Owner Policy or CPP to create the ideal auto repair and garage insurance policy of protection.
Business Auto
(See business Auto Section for Details)
When your car repair business operates owned business vehicles it is important to insure the vehicles with liability protection just like the premises and operations. Auto body repair shop insurance can be written to include both the vehicles used by owners and managers, but any vehicles you must operate to conduct your business operations. The business auto coverage is dealt with in great detail in the business auto section.
Professional Advice and Agency Service
Quality coverage begins with understanding your needs and the extent of your operation. I have nearly four decades of experience working with auto related business owners and have a unique and special connection to the auto repair business owners and their business insurance needs. My father operated a gas station and auto repair shop as a part of his auto service business for almost 50 years. I love writing auto body repair shop insurance and respect the knowledge and hard work required to be business owners and entrepreneurs. This agency represents quality carriers that have the ability to provide the coverage your business needs whether or not it is ultimately provided inside of our Business Owner Policy or our more flexible Commercial Package Policy (CPP) option. Call and ask for Terry McCarthy at (513) 779-7920, 9-5 Monday – Friday most days. We are conveniently located at 8114 Paul Manors Dr in West Chester, OH 45069.
