An electrical contractor in Kissimmee runs three vans and a pickup. Two vans are titled to the LLC and insured on a business auto policy. The third van and the pickup are still in his own name, on his personal policy, because that’s how they were bought. His helper drives the pickup to jobs most days, pulling a trailer loaded with wire, conduit and tools. One afternoon the helper backs the trailer into a customer’s parked car and, a week later, the trailer is stolen from a job site overnight. Each loss runs into a different gap: the wrong policy on the pickup, a driver no one listed, a trailer that was never scheduled and tools the auto policy was never going to pay for.
Commercial auto for a contractor isn’t just a truck policy. It’s a set of decisions about who owns each vehicle, who drives it, what it pulls and what it carries, and each one has to line up with the work and the contracts the business signs. When they don’t, the problems tend to show up together.
Put Every Work Vehicle on the Same Footing
Contractors often build a fleet one vehicle at a time, and the titles end up split between the company and the owner. A vehicle titled to the LLC generally belongs on a business auto policy in the company’s name, and most personal carriers won’t insure it. A vehicle titled personally but used every day for the business, with employees driving it, has usually outgrown a personal policy too.
The cleanest arrangement is every work vehicle on one business auto policy, with the named insured matching the way the vehicles are titled. Where some vehicles remain in the owner’s name, the owner can usually be added to the commercial policy so those vehicles can be covered there. What causes trouble is a split nobody planned, where one truck sits on a personal policy rated for commuting while it does the same work as the rest of the fleet. Our article on whether you need commercial auto insurance covers where that line falls.
Trailers Need Their Own Attention
Trailers are one of the most common gaps in a contractor’s auto program. Liability for a trailer generally follows the vehicle pulling it, so a trailer attached to a covered truck is usually covered for the damage it causes on the road. Damage to the trailer itself is a different matter. Physical damage coverage for a trailer generally applies only if the trailer is listed on the policy, and an unlisted trailer that’s stolen, rolled or crushed is often a total loss to the contractor.
List every trailer with its value, including utility, enclosed, equipment and dump trailers, and confirm how the policy treats a trailer parked at a job site without a truck attached. Heavier trailers can change how the towing vehicle is rated, so the carrier should know what each truck actually pulls.
The Tools in the Truck Belong on Another Policy
A contractor’s van is often worth less than what’s inside it. Business auto physical damage covers the vehicle and equipment permanently installed in it, and it generally doesn’t cover tools, materials and portable equipment carried in it. A break-in, a stolen trailer or a crash that destroys the cargo leaves those items to be covered elsewhere.
That’s the job of a contractor’s tools and equipment coverage, written on an inland marine form, which follows the tools from the shop to the truck to the job site. It should be sized to what the crew actually carries, with attention to theft conditions, since some policies limit theft from an unattended vehicle unless it was locked or shows signs of forced entry. Our guides to tools and equipment insurance and inland marine for contractors go into detail.
Equipment Mounted on a Truck Sits Between Two Policies
Bucket trucks, cranes, lift gates, mounted compressors and welders raise a question owners rarely think about until a claim: was the loss caused by driving the vehicle or by operating the equipment on it? Damage from the truck on the road generally falls under the auto policy. Injury or damage caused while the mounted equipment is being operated at a job site may fall under general liability instead, depending on the policy wording. Skid steers, mini excavators and other mobile equipment carried on a trailer are generally treated as equipment, not autos. The auto and general liability policies should be reviewed together so the transition between them doesn’t leave a gap. Our article on general liability for contractors explains that side.
Who Drives Matters as Much as What They Drive
Carriers price and accept a contractor’s auto policy largely on its drivers. Most will want every regular driver listed and will review each one’s motor vehicle record, and a driver with serious violations can be declined or force the business into a more expensive market. Helpers, seasonal workers and family members who occasionally take a company truck all count.
A few habits keep this manageable. Check a driver’s record before handing over keys, not after a claim. Decide in writing who may drive company vehicles and whether they may take them home. Tell the carrier when drivers are added or leave. And remember that Florida’s dangerous instrumentality doctrine generally makes the owner of a vehicle responsible for accidents caused by anyone it lets drive, so an unlisted driver in a company truck is still the company’s exposure.
Heavy Pickups, Dump Trucks and Hauling
Many contractors run trucks that are heavier than they look on paper. Dually pickups pulling equipment trailers, stake-bed trucks and dump trucks are rated by gross vehicle weight, and trucks of 26,000 pounds or more face Florida financial responsibility minimums set by weight. Rating also changes with radius: a truck that works within a county prices differently from one that regularly crosses the state.
A contractor hauling only its own materials and equipment is generally insured as a contractor. One that starts hauling fill, debris or materials for other people for a fee may cross into trucking, with different markets, filings and requirements. Our article on sand and gravel trucking insurance covers dump trucks that haul for hire.
What General Contractors and Clients Will Ask For
Subcontract agreements and commercial clients routinely spell out auto requirements, and a contractor who can’t produce them may not get on the job. Common requests include a minimum combined single limit for auto liability, coverage for any auto rather than only listed vehicles, the general contractor or owner named as additional insured on the auto policy, a waiver of subrogation, primary and noncontributory wording, and an umbrella that sits above the auto policy as well as general liability.
These terms have to be added to the policy by endorsement, and many personal and some basic commercial policies can’t provide them. Read the insurance section of a contract before signing it, and send it to your agent before the job starts rather than when the certificate is due. Our articles on additional insured coverage for contractors, what your contract requires from your insurance and umbrella liability for contractors cover those requirements.
Employees in Their Own Cars
Estimators, project managers and office staff often drive their own cars to job sites, supply houses and the bank. If one of them causes an accident on a business errand, the contractor can be sued along with the driver. Hired and non-owned auto coverage protects the business in that situation, and it’s often missing from contractors who insure only the vehicles they own. Our guide to hired and non-owned auto insurance explains how it works.
What Contractors Should Confirm
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Is every work vehicle on a business auto policy, and does the named insured match how each one is titled?
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Is every trailer listed with its value for physical damage?
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Are tools and equipment carried in vehicles covered on an inland marine or tools policy?
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Do the auto and general liability policies coordinate on truck-mounted equipment?
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Is every regular driver listed, and has each driver’s record been checked?
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Are heavy trucks rated correctly for weight and radius?
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Does the business haul anything for others for a fee?
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Do your contracts require additional insured, waiver of subrogation or primary wording on the auto policy?
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Does your umbrella sit above the auto policy?
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Do you carry hired and non-owned auto for employees using their own cars?
For more, see our contractor insurance and business auto insurance pages, what insurance a contractor needs in Florida, what contractor insurance doesn’t cover, how much contractor insurance costs, the biggest contractor insurance claims in Florida, and our pages for electrical, concrete, masonry, landscaping, janitorial and marine contractors.
Commercial Auto for Contractors With Prestige
Prestige Insurance Group insures contractors’ trucks, vans and trailers across Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Kissimmee, Orlando and Tampa. We write Progressive and GEICO directly and work with over 100 MGAs and specialty markets for heavier trucks, harder drivers and contract requirements standard policies can’t meet. Send us your vehicle list with how each one is titled, your trailers, your drivers and the insurance section of your next contract, and we’ll show you where the gaps are and what it takes to close them. Call the office nearest you. Se habla español.
Miami: 305-969-8776 Orlando: 407-993-2331
General information only, not legal advice. Policy forms, endorsements, driver eligibility rules and Florida financial responsibility requirements vary by carrier and change; refer to your policy and your contracts for the terms that apply to your business.
