What is Garage coverage?
Garage liability is a specialized policy that provides coverage for businesses that deal with vehicles belonging to others. This includes garages, body shops, auto detailers, valet services, service stations, stereo installation shops and more. There are also garage policies that are specialized for new and used auto dealers. These include not only liability, but coverage on the autos being held for sale. The basic garage liability policy provides coverage for bodily injury and property damage that is caused by an accident during the operations of the business. Exposures such as customers being hurt on your premises due to your negligence, or damages an owned or customer’s vehicles does during a collision to another auto or structure, while being driven by an employee. Garage liability is normally based on either the number of people employed by the business or the annual gross receipts.
Customer’s vehicles also need to be covered while in your care. Garage keepers coverage protects you if a customer’s vehicle is damaged while it is at your business, being test driven or moved in the course of your work. There are different types of garage keepers coverage, from policies that are excess to your customer’s, to those that are primary or first to protect your customer’s vehicle. Many insurance companies only provide garage keepers coverage that is of use after your customer’s coverage is exhausted. This type of coverage can cause you to lose customers, as they normally expect the garage business to be responsible for their vehicle while it is in their care. Working with an agent that understands garage coverages and how they work is very important to make sure you have the coverage you need in the event of a claim.
Agents at Hunt & Associates, Inc. will help you determine which coverages are most important for your particular type of business, and discuss your options with you.
