Commercial Auto Insurance Policies

Your parents warned you that having teenagers was a good way to go insane. You believed them of course, they raised you! But you had no idea at the time that one of the biggest headaches was when your teenager took a job that removed them from your auto insurance policy. Very often the parents of pizza delivery employees find that to their consternation, their teen’s delivery job is going to be a financial issue, but you must make sure they are properly covered.

Pizza Delivery Drivers aren’t covered by automobile insurance companies. Surely you recall all of the information you had to enter into the forms on your first insurance policy. The extensive questions, about everything it seemed, felt invasive and intrusive. Why would an insurer want to know everything about how and when you used your car before they would even agree to give you a price quote? Actually, they need to know a lot about where, when and how much you’re on the road. More time and more miles on the road mean the driver is more likely to be involved in an accident and for the company that means paying out for claims. You got it, more claims mean higher insurance rates.

Now we’re beginning to catch on, aren’t we? There’s a big difference between parking your car in one place and being on the road during work hours. In the first instance there’s virtually no chance of damage and in the second you’re driving at relatively high speed with many other drivers, a big risk for the insurer. Your child’s job exposes him or her to the most risk of all circumstances as well as being something of a novice driver. It’s not surprising that most insurance firms have no intention of insuring a driver with such a high risk. You, and you alone could be held responsible for repairs and/or injuries, which is also an unacceptable risk.

Getting a Commercial Auto Insurance Policy These are the few things that parents must know before waving their teenager goodbye on their path of pizza delivery. Firstly, the insurance offered by their employer must be queried. Technically, companies that have delivery drivers in their staff list must carry insurance to protect them. Some of these companies are wise and use company cars as this lets them keep auto insurance rates low. This is because they would know the exact number of their cars on the road at any time.

Still others will use a non-owned style policy. This kind of insurance will work for delivery drivers using their personal family cars. However, it’s important to note that non-owned auto insurance only provides liability coverage. If your car gets banged up, you’re outta luck. That can be fine if you feel that the overall risk for other problems is low and your teen isn’t going to be doing the job for a very long time. But if there’s risk of other problems cropping up, or your child wants to be a delivery driver for a long time, you’ll definitely want to talk with the employer and see what can be done for a more comprehensive policy.

You may be required to purchase a commercial auto insurance policy. Stand back, this is going to hurt, but knowing that your vehicle is covered instills peace of mind. It’s a lot less costly than repairs to your vehicle. In very short order you’ll be ‘encouraging’ your teenager to move on to bigger and better career achoice. And who knows, if he or she pays the premiums out of their own pocket they may be convinced it was all their own idea!

Susan Reynolds is the webmaster for a leading South African Insurance provider who specialises in Car Insurance.

categories: Car Insurance,Cars,Automobiles,Insurance,Personal Finance,Vehicle Insurance