Can I Add A Personally Owned Vehicle To My Business Auto Policy?

We get this question many times throughout the year, “My employees use their own vehicles on company business. Can I add their vehicles to my business policy?”

We strongly recommend not doing this for the following reasons:

• Your business policy is not designed to cover personally owned autos and the related exposures of family drivers, etc.
• The business policy only will insure vehicles owned or leased by the business.
• Your insurance will be affected by acts of others you can’t control.

Your business policy covers you if you are a sole proprietorship or your company if it is a partnership, corporation, or other legal entity. It covers employees while using vehicles owned by you or your company, but it doesn’t cover employees while using their personally owned vehicles.

Your policy could be changed to add an employee as an “additional insured,” but such a modification still does not adequately address all of the individual’s coverage needs, especially when the employee or the employee’s family is using their own vehicle for non-business activities.

We would not recommend risking your business insurance program to possible claims arising out of accidents involving family members and other risks associated with personal auto use. The most effective way to manage this is to have your employee keep their personal auto coverage. Have them notify their insurer of the business use. There may be an additional premium charged. If there is an additional cost, you might consider reimbursing them the difference.

We specialize in business auto insurance coverage. The descriptions of coverage listed on this blog and website are a brief description of insurance coverage. All claims are subject to the terms, conditions, provisions, limitations, and exclusions in your policy and related endorsements.