Insurance Policies to Consider For Auto Repair Shop

General Liability Insurance

This type of insurance plan is designed to protect your business against lawsuits pertaining to property damage or bodily injury. Such an eventuality can arise any time during regular business operations. a General liability insurance offers coverage for the following types of events:

• Physical injury or property damage on your business’ premises.
• Medical expenses in case a customer gets hurt on the business premises.
• Reputational harm as a result of libel, slander, malicious prosecution, wrongful eviction, privacy violation, and other related incidents.
• Damage to rented property due to lightning, fire, or explosion.
• Advertising injuries like copyright infringement.

Commercial Property Insurance

Commercial property insurance can shield your auto repair shop’s physical assets against the losses arising from an explosion, fire, storm, vandalism, theft, and burst pipes. The estimated cost of this insurance policy depends upon factors, such as your business location, occupancy, fire and theft protection measures and more. 

A commercial property insurance policy typically takes into account equipment, furniture, inventory, computers, exterior signs, fencing, landscaping, and personal property. The coverage usually includes:

• Replacement costs in case of fire damage to property.
• Physical injury to customer due to tripping on falling on business premises.
• Theft of equipment.
• Loss of income from being temporarily unable to conduct business operations due to a covered loss.

Business Income Insurance

Business income insurance is a kind of property insurance that takes into account income loss due to a temporary halt in operations. This policy comes into play when the slowdown of business is the result of theft, fire, or wind. Business income insurance compensates for:

• Lost income when you have to shut down operations in case your auto repair shop catches fire.
• Lost income when thieves steal valuable equipment.
• Lost income in case business has to shut down when a hurricane hits, causing physical damage to your business.

Workers’ Compensation Insurance

Workers’ compensation insurance safeguards employees by taking care of medical expenses in case of injury, illness, disability, or death. It also takes into account the legal costs of defending your business if an employee files a lawsuit related to an injury sustained at work. Workers’ compensation insurance coverage typically includes:

Medical Fees

The medical expenses related to an employee’s work-related injury or sickness is covered in this policy. This may cover emergency room expenses, surgeries, and other associated prescriptions. For example, if one of your employees gets injured while using a tool to repair a vehicle, workers’ compensation insurance cover their hospital expenses.

Lost Salaries

If an employee needs time off to heal from an accident or injury sustained at work, a part of the lost wages is covered by this policy. For example, if a worker is accidentally hit by an object at work, they may not be able to work for a few days. In this scenario, this insurance policy can replace a portion of the missed salaries.

Permanent Disability 

If an injury sustained at the workplace deteriorates into a permanent disability, this insurance policy can compensate for some of the expenses. In this case, the affected worker would receive the permanent disability part of your workers’ compensation insurance policy. The expenses taken into account by your insurance provider would differ depending upon the type of disability.

Funeral Costs

If an employee gets severely injured, they may be unable to survive. If such a serious workplace incident takes place, workers’ compensation insurance can take into account the funeral costs and provide death benefits to the dependents.

Repetitive Injury

Sometimes, an injury at work is not a result of a single incident. Repetitive injuries may occur due to the type of work. For example, workers in an auto repair shop may be exposed to dangerous chemicals that can cause respiratory issues. Workers’ compensation insurance can compensate for the treatment as well as ongoing care expenses.

Garage Keepers Liability Insurance

Garage keepers’ liability insurance is designed to protect the vehicles or belongings of your customers from damage as long as they are in your custody. This insurance policy is crucial for small businesses providing automotive services. 

Garage keepers’ liability insurance is ideal for auto repair shops, towing companies, service stations, automotive body shops, and carwash hubs. It offers financial compensation if something unexpected happens to a client’s vehicle while under your possession. The coverage offered by this insurance policy includes:

Legal Liability 

This is the most common type of coverage that safeguard’s a customer’s car due to insured negligence. For instance, if a mechanic at your auto repair shop accidentally damages a vehicle while mending it or performing a test drive, this policy would cover a major part of the costs incurred.

Direct Primary

This aspect takes into account damage due to theft or extreme weather. In such a scenario, garage keepers’ liability insurance bears the expense of damage to your customer’s vehicle. No matter who is at fault, this policy pay for the damages as long as the car is protected.

Direct Excess

Just like direct primary coverage, direct excess coverage does not take into account the party at fault. However, instead of offering full financial compensation, it only pays the additional amount after the cost collectible as per the policy you have purchased.

Final Word

Owing your auto repair shop can expose your business to several risks. For instance, an employee may get severely injured while fixing a vehicle or a customer’s car may get damaged at your shop. In order to save your business from a major financial setbacks and continue operations smoothly, it is vital to purchase the right insurance policies.