{"id":13310,"date":"2025-08-15T15:48:34","date_gmt":"2025-08-15T20:48:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rate.com\/insurance\/?p=13310"},"modified":"2025-08-15T15:48:35","modified_gmt":"2025-08-15T20:48:35","slug":"understanding-non-owned-auto-liability-insurance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rate.com\/insurance\/resources\/understanding-non-owned-auto-liability-insurance\/","title":{"rendered":"Understanding Non-owned Auto Liability Insurance"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Businesses form and grow in many different ways, and sometimes this can lead to surprises when an auto accident happens while someone is out on company business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For example, your employees may have run deposits to the bank or other work errands for years without any issue. However, if one of your employees gets in an accident while doing work for the company, the insurance claims process could become very complicated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>That\u2019s because even if an employee is driving his or her own vehicle, it\u2019s being used for business purposes\u2014and that might not be covered by a standard auto insurance policy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If your employees regularly use their own vehicles for company work, if you rent vehicles for employees to use, or if you hire drivers to use vehicles your company owns, you\u2019ll need coverage called non-owned auto liability insurance.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<div class=\"block-cta-blog my-4 \">\n\t\t<div class=\"cta-blog_copy\">\n\t\t\t<p>Get a free consultation<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"text-center\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/insurance.rate.com\/commercial-insurance?utm_source=blog&#038;utm_medium=website&#038;utm_campaign=blog&#038;utm_content=cta\" class=\"btn btn-sm btn-primary\" >Let&#8217;s Chat<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>What is non-owned auto liability insurance?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Non-owned auto liability insurance is commercial insurance coverage for employees who either drive vehicles they don\u2019t own for work or use their own vehicle for work purposes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Here are a few examples:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>If you own a business that provides livery services, such as driving people to and from the airport using company-owned vehicles, you will need to purchase non-owned auto liability coverage. That\u2019s because your employees\u2019 personal auto insurance covers them when driving their own vehicles for their personal use.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>If you own a business that routinely has employees use their own vehicles to run work errands or conduct business, you\u2019ll need non-owned auto liability coverage in this situation as well. Even though your employees are using their own vehicles for which they have insurance, most auto policies do not cover accidents that happen when a personal vehicle is being used for commercial purposes.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>If you run a business that occasionally needs to rent a vehicle that your employees will use, you\u2019ll need non-owned coverage. For example, if you run an event-planning business and have the occasional need to rent a larger delivery vehicle to transport a tent or folding chairs, etc. In this situation, the vehicle is not owned by the company or an employee, but is instead being rented for work purposes.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>This last example\u2014renting a vehicle for your business\u2014is not always included in a non-owned auto liability coverage policy. Some insurers sell additional insurance called Hired Auto coverage to protect a business for this type of risk. If your business sometimes needs to rent vehicles, ask your insurance agent if this is covered under your non-owned auto liability policy, or if it makes sense to purchase additional coverage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>What types of businesses need non-owned auto liability insurance?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Any business that depends on transporting goods and services is a likely candidate for non-owned auto liability insurance. Whether your employees drive vehicles owned by the company or their own cars, you probably need this additional coverage. Here are some examples:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Restaurants that deliver food<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Livery companies<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Grocery store delivery<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Snow removal businesses<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Event planning<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Landscaping<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Businesses that have employees meet clients on-site<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Businesses that have certain employees run company errands, such as making bank deposits<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>The most obvious candidates for non-owned auto liability coverage are delivery businesses. If a big part of an employee\u2019s job is driving\u2014whether it is their own vehicle or one owned or rented by the company\u2014the need for coverage is clear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It\u2019s less obvious when employees are running errands. To determine if you need non-owned auto liability insurance for your business, take a look at how tasks are accomplished. If employees are using their own cars for work purposes, you likely need the additional protection that non-owned auto liability coverage offers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>What is covered by a non-owned auto liability policy?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Non-owned auto liability policies do not cover everything a standard auto insurance policy would cover. For your business, you\u2019ll want to make sure that you also have commercial auto insurance coverage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A non-owned policy is liability coverage. This means that if your employee is using their own car to run an errand for the business and gets into an accident, this coverage will protect your business if it is sued.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This type of insurance <em>would not<\/em> cover things such as items stolen from the vehicle, damage to your business property, or injuries that your employee sustains in an accident.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>What factors affect premium rates for a non-owned auto liability policy?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>As with other forms of insurance, a lot of different factors will contribute to your premium cost. The size of your business, where you are located, and how far your employees typically drive are all considerations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Your claims history will also factor into your premium cost, particularly if you\u2019ve carried non-owned auto liability insurance before and had to make a claim.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If your business owns the vehicles employees will be driving, the type of vehicle will likely affect premium costs, since more expensive vehicles cost more to repair. The driving history of your employees matters too; if any have had accidents in the past, your insurance premium may be higher.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you\u2019re interested in learning more about non-owned auto liability coverage, contact the experts at Rate Insurance. With access to a wide range of commercial insurers, they have the information to find you the right policy at the right price for your business.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<div class=\"block-cta-blog my-4 \">\n\t\t<div class=\"cta-blog_copy\">\n\t\t\t<p>Protect your business<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"text-center\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/insurance.rate.com\/commercial-insurance?utm_source=blog&#038;utm_medium=website&#038;utm_campaign=blog&#038;utm_content=cta\" class=\"btn btn-sm btn-primary\" >Get Your Free Consultation<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\n<p><em>Disclaimer:<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>All information provided in this publication is for informational and educational purposes only, and in no way is any of the content contained herein to be construed as financial, investment, or legal advice or instruction. Rate Insurance does not guarantee the quality, accuracy, completeness or timelines of the information in this publication. While efforts are made to verify the information provided, the information should not be assumed to be error free. Some information in the publication may have been provided by third parties and has not necessarily been verified by Rate Insurance. Rate Insurance, its affiliates and subsidiaries do not assume any liability for the information contained herein, be it direct, indirect, consequential, special, or exemplary, or other damages whatsoever and howsoever caused, arising out of or in connection with the use of this publication or in reliance on the information, including any personal or pecuniary loss, whether the action is in contract, tort (including negligence) or other tortious action.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Businesses form and grow in many different ways, and sometimes this can lead to surprises when an auto accident happens while someone is out on company business. For example, your employees may have run deposits to the bank or other work errands for years without any issue. However, if one of your employees gets in<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":20,"featured_media":13311,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":true,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16,20],"tags":[51,39,45],"class_list":["post-13310","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-auto","category-business","tag-business-insurance","tag-car-insurance","tag-small-business"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v19.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Understanding Non-owned Auto Liability Insurance | Rate.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.rate.com\/insurance\/resources\/understanding-non-owned-auto-liability-insurance\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Understanding Non-owned Auto Liability Insurance | Rate.com\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Businesses form and grow in many different ways, and sometimes this can lead to surprises when an auto accident happens while someone is out on company business. For example, your employees may have run deposits to the bank or other work errands for years without any issue. However, if one of your employees gets in\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.rate.com\/insurance\/resources\/understanding-non-owned-auto-liability-insurance\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Rate.com\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-08-15T20:48:34+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-08-15T20:48:35+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.rate.com\/insurance\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/2025-Blog-Graphics-46.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1027\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"441\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Jennifer Phillips\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Jennifer Phillips\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.rate.com\/insurance\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Guaranteed Rate Insurance\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.rate.com\/insurance\/\",\"sameAs\":[],\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.rate.com\/insurance\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"\",\"contentUrl\":\"\",\"caption\":\"Guaranteed Rate Insurance\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.rate.com\/insurance\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.rate.com\/insurance\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.rate.com\/insurance\/\",\"name\":\"Rate.com\",\"description\":\"Find car, home, business or life insurance\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.rate.com\/insurance\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.rate.com\/insurance\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.rate.com\/insurance\/resources\/understanding-non-owned-auto-liability-insurance\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.rate.com\/insurance\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/2025-Blog-Graphics-46.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.rate.com\/insurance\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/2025-Blog-Graphics-46.png\",\"width\":1027,\"height\":441},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.rate.com\/insurance\/resources\/understanding-non-owned-auto-liability-insurance\/#webpage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.rate.com\/insurance\/resources\/understanding-non-owned-auto-liability-insurance\/\",\"name\":\"Understanding Non-owned Auto Liability Insurance | Rate.com\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.rate.com\/insurance\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.rate.com\/insurance\/resources\/understanding-non-owned-auto-liability-insurance\/#primaryimage\"},\"datePublished\":\"2025-08-15T20:48:34+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-08-15T20:48:35+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.rate.com\/insurance\/resources\/understanding-non-owned-auto-liability-insurance\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.rate.com\/insurance\/resources\/understanding-non-owned-auto-liability-insurance\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.rate.com\/insurance\/resources\/understanding-non-owned-auto-liability-insurance\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Understanding Non-owned Auto Liability Insurance\"}]},{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.rate.com\/insurance\/resources\/understanding-non-owned-auto-liability-insurance\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.rate.com\/insurance\/resources\/understanding-non-owned-auto-liability-insurance\/#webpage\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Jennifer Phillips\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.rate.com\/insurance\/#\/schema\/person\/3c93d517b3dc6f46a24aaad73d1c5b66\"},\"headline\":\"Understanding Non-owned Auto Liability Insurance\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-08-15T20:48:34+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-08-15T20:48:35+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.rate.com\/insurance\/resources\/understanding-non-owned-auto-liability-insurance\/#webpage\"},\"wordCount\":1056,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.rate.com\/insurance\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.rate.com\/insurance\/resources\/understanding-non-owned-auto-liability-insurance\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.rate.com\/insurance\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/2025-Blog-Graphics-46.png\",\"keywords\":[\"business insurance\",\"car insurance\",\"small business\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Auto\",\"Business\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.rate.com\/insurance\/#\/schema\/person\/3c93d517b3dc6f46a24aaad73d1c5b66\",\"name\":\"Jennifer Phillips\",\"description\":\"Jen is a freelance writer who writes about insurance topics including home, auto, and life insurance and insurance carriers. She provides insights about insurance to help customers make informed decisions about their insurance.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.rate.com\/insurance\/resources\/author\/jennifer-phillips\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Understanding Non-owned Auto Liability Insurance | Rate.com","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.rate.com\/insurance\/resources\/understanding-non-owned-auto-liability-insurance\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Understanding Non-owned Auto Liability Insurance | Rate.com","og_description":"Businesses form and grow in many different ways, and sometimes this can lead to surprises when an auto accident happens while someone is out on company business. For example, your employees may have run deposits to the bank or other work errands for years without any issue. However, if one of your employees gets in","og_url":"https:\/\/www.rate.com\/insurance\/resources\/understanding-non-owned-auto-liability-insurance\/","og_site_name":"Rate.com","article_published_time":"2025-08-15T20:48:34+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-08-15T20:48:35+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1027,"height":441,"url":"https:\/\/www.rate.com\/insurance\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/2025-Blog-Graphics-46.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"Jennifer Phillips","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Jennifer Phillips","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.rate.com\/insurance\/#organization","name":"Guaranteed Rate Insurance","url":"https:\/\/www.rate.com\/insurance\/","sameAs":[],"logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.rate.com\/insurance\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"","contentUrl":"","caption":"Guaranteed Rate Insurance"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.rate.com\/insurance\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.rate.com\/insurance\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.rate.com\/insurance\/","name":"Rate.com","description":"Find car, home, business or life insurance","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.rate.com\/insurance\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.rate.com\/insurance\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.rate.com\/insurance\/resources\/understanding-non-owned-auto-liability-insurance\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.rate.com\/insurance\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/2025-Blog-Graphics-46.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.rate.com\/insurance\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/2025-Blog-Graphics-46.png","width":1027,"height":441},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.rate.com\/insurance\/resources\/understanding-non-owned-auto-liability-insurance\/#webpage","url":"https:\/\/www.rate.com\/insurance\/resources\/understanding-non-owned-auto-liability-insurance\/","name":"Understanding Non-owned Auto Liability Insurance | Rate.com","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.rate.com\/insurance\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.rate.com\/insurance\/resources\/understanding-non-owned-auto-liability-insurance\/#primaryimage"},"datePublished":"2025-08-15T20:48:34+00:00","dateModified":"2025-08-15T20:48:35+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.rate.com\/insurance\/resources\/understanding-non-owned-auto-liability-insurance\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.rate.com\/insurance\/resources\/understanding-non-owned-auto-liability-insurance\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.rate.com\/insurance\/resources\/understanding-non-owned-auto-liability-insurance\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Understanding Non-owned Auto Liability Insurance"}]},{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.rate.com\/insurance\/resources\/understanding-non-owned-auto-liability-insurance\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.rate.com\/insurance\/resources\/understanding-non-owned-auto-liability-insurance\/#webpage"},"author":{"name":"Jennifer Phillips","@id":"https:\/\/www.rate.com\/insurance\/#\/schema\/person\/3c93d517b3dc6f46a24aaad73d1c5b66"},"headline":"Understanding Non-owned Auto Liability Insurance","datePublished":"2025-08-15T20:48:34+00:00","dateModified":"2025-08-15T20:48:35+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.rate.com\/insurance\/resources\/understanding-non-owned-auto-liability-insurance\/#webpage"},"wordCount":1056,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.rate.com\/insurance\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.rate.com\/insurance\/resources\/understanding-non-owned-auto-liability-insurance\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.rate.com\/insurance\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/2025-Blog-Graphics-46.png","keywords":["business insurance","car insurance","small business"],"articleSection":["Auto","Business"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.rate.com\/insurance\/#\/schema\/person\/3c93d517b3dc6f46a24aaad73d1c5b66","name":"Jennifer Phillips","description":"Jen is a freelance writer who writes about insurance topics including home, auto, and life insurance and insurance carriers. She provides insights about insurance to help customers make informed decisions about their insurance.","url":"https:\/\/www.rate.com\/insurance\/resources\/author\/jennifer-phillips\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rate.com\/insurance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13310","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rate.com\/insurance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rate.com\/insurance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rate.com\/insurance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/20"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rate.com\/insurance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13310"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rate.com\/insurance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13310\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rate.com\/insurance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13311"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rate.com\/insurance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13310"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rate.com\/insurance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13310"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rate.com\/insurance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13310"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}