Is commercial auto insurance much more expensive than personal?
I have a little Mr. Fix it business on the side and I carry a few tools in my SUV. I am thinking of getting a commercial auto policy. Will it be more expensive than personal and how much more?
Good question.
The answer varies.
But the bigger question is, will someone WRITE a commercial policy on you. Here's the scoop - for a while, about 15 years ago, some people were trying to avoid paying accident surcharges by calling themselves "contractors" and putting their vehicles on a business auto policy. Well, losses skyrocketed, and insurance companies changed how they do it.
So if you have LESS than 5 vehicles, and they are registered in a PERSONAL name, most insurance companies won't put them on a business auto policy, unless they are a "business" class - like dump truck, taxi/limo, delivery vehicle. Of course, one of these business type classes is MUCH MUCH MUCH more expensive to insure on a business policy than a SERVICE type vehicle (to and from a job site). The only time it really gets cheaper, is if you have a large fleet of vehicles - at LEAST 5, but the serious price breaks come when you have more than 20.
So, to sum up - unless the SUV is registered in the name of a corporation, you are not going to get anyone except Progressive to put this on a commercial policy - and THEN it will be more expensive than a personal policy.
