Do you own a business in Delaware? Does your business require using a vehicle in the course of daily operations? If the answer to both of those questions is yes, you should explore commercial auto insurance coverage options.
- 5 best commercial auto insurance companies in Delaware
- Commercial auto insurance requirements in Delaware
- What does commercial auto insurance cover in Delaware?
- Who needs commercial auto insurance in Delaware?
- How much does commercial auto insurance cost in Delaware?
- Factors affecting the cost of commercial auto insurance in Delaware
- How to save money on commercial auto insurance in Delaware
5 best commercial auto insurance companies in Delaware
- Progressive: Best Overall and the only carrier offering commercial auto insurance quotes online in Delaware
- Simply Business: Best for comparing several quotes
- The Hartford: Best for fleets
- Smart Financial: Best if you prefer working with knowledgeable agents
- InsurePro: Best for flexible pay-per-day commercial auto coverage
Progressive: Best Overall and the only carrier offering commercial auto insurance quotes online in Delaware
Progressive provides a 24/7 online quote experience for those looking for commercial auto insurance in Delaware. IN fact, Progressive is the only carrier offering commercial auto insurance quotes online. The company is one of the largest auto insurers in the US, and it extends that to include commercial auto insurance. The quote process is relatively simple and straightforward. You provide some brief information regarding yourself and your business, and you receive a quote within approximately ten minutes.
If you choose to purchase the quoted policy from Progressive, you can do that online as well. They also offer an app and customer service representatives that you can reach by telephone. Flexible payment plans round out the pros of this carrier.
Below, we’ve provided the details of a quote we obtained for a cleaning business in Wilmington, Delaware. The quote shows the down payment that would be needed today and the annual policy premium. The quote comes out to be around $317 per month, relatively reasonable for a cleaning business.
Even if you are not sure you will go with Progressive, it is worth your time getting a quote online to see how much your commercial auto insurance policy will cost. It only takes you about 10 minutes.
Simply Business: Best for comparing several quotes
Simply Business is an insurance broker specializing in serving small businesses. They partner with several leading small business insurance companies. The benefit of working with Simply Business is that as a broker, Simply Business is able to pull quotes from several companies and help you compare and select the best and the cheapest one for your needs.
They may not be able to help you show you all quotes online, but you can discuss your quote options on the phone with them. This is understandable since commercial auto insurance is more complicated and depends on several factors which can be difficult to have them all in one simple quote request form.
The whole process shouldn’t take more than 10 minutes. It is also reassuring to know that Simply Business gets great ratings by their customers. The company earns the rating of 4.1 out of 5 on Trustpilot.
The Hartford: Best for fleets
The Hartford has been in the insurance industry for over 200 years. What started as a fire insurance company has grown to include various commercial insurance products. It has insured more than 1 million small businesses and commercial auto insurance is one of their key coverage. It has earned itself a stellar reputation as a leading insurance company.
The Hartford writes commercial auto insurance policies for small businesses of all sizes, from just one founder/owner and one company car to companies of hundreds of employees with several company’s vehicles. However, companies with several vehicles will benefit from its customizable policy and its fleet quotes and rates.
Smart Financial: Best if you prefer working with knowledgeable agents
Smart Financial is a commercial insurance broker specializing in small businesses’ insurance products. Smart Financial is known for its large network of agents who are experts in their niches and industries.
If you prefer working with a knowledgeable agent who understands your industry so well and has worked with several similar companies, you may want to work with commercialinsurance.net.
In addition, if you have had difficulties getting commercial auto insurance coverage for your company’s vehicle for whatever reason, you definitely want to work with them. Their agents are experts in this field. They can help you find coverage at an affordable rate, even if you may have had difficulties getting coverage before.
InsurePro: Best for flexible pay-per-day commercial auto coverage
InsurePro is an online insurance broker that provides you with a quote online in less than 10 minutes. The company offers a simple questionnaire that only takes a couple of minutes to complete. One of the questions that we found unusual was whether you need the insurance for one job or your business in general.
This is a unique and innovative feature of InsurePro. Unlike the traditional policy in which you have to buy a policy for the entire year, InsurePro allows you to buy coverage for just a few days. If this is something that may work for you, you should definitely consider getting a quote from InsurePro. That would save you a lot of money.
We obtained a quote from InsurePro for a small business cleaning firm in Wilmington, Delaware. You’ll see the result below. This is for the traditional coverage, ie. full year. But if you want to get quote for just one job (or a few days), you can select that option in the quote application and you will receive a much cheaper quote
Commercial auto insurance requirements in Delaware
If you drive a vehicle for business purpose, you must have commercial auto insurance. It is legally required in Delaware.
Commercial auto policies in Delaware are required by Delaware law to have a minimum liability limit of 25/50/10, ie.
- $25,000 per person
- $50,000 per accident for bodily injury, and
- $10,000 for property damage
Some vehicles are required to have higher limits. When you apply and receive quotes from carriers or brokers, the quotes provided to you should meet the minimum requirements for the vehicle specified in your quote application.
Your are also required by Delaware state law to carry personal injury protection (PIP) which is to pay for the medical expenses and lost wages of your drivers and passengers regardless of who is at fault for an accident. Delaware is considered a “no-fault” state, meaning that you can only sue an at-fault driver for injuries once this coverage has been exhausted.
When applying for a commercial auto insurance quote in Delaware, you should select limits that are best for your business which can be much higher than the minimum requirements by Delaware state law.
What does commercial auto insurance cover in Delaware?
Different insurers have different policies when it comes to auto insurance in Delaware. As a result, the coverage differs from place to place. However, generally speaking, most companies offer coverage options similar to what you get from a personal auto insurance policy. This includes coverages like:
Bodily injury liability coverage
This includes costs that may arise from medical bills caused by the use of one of your vehicles. For example, if you or one of your staff hit someone with a company van while at work, this insurance might cover their treatment bills.
Property damage liability coverage
This includes costs associated with damage to other people’s vehicles while you are at work. For instance, maybe your company car was to hit someone else’s vehicle while delivering pizza. This insurance coverage might pay for the damages uncured in repairing the person’s vehicle and other possible lawsuits from the incident.
Personal injury coverage
This includes costs associated with people who are injured in the insured vehicle. For instance, if the person driving the insured car or other persons with him get injured, the insurance will cover their medical expenses.
Uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage
This includes all costs associated with damages caused by drivers who do not have proper insurance. This coverage is important considering that about 6.2% of drivers in Massachusetts do not have any insurance, and a lot more drive around with insurance policies that are not adequate. However, when you have this coverage, it will protect you if your cars get in accidents with drivers who are either uninsured or do not have adequate insurance.
Comprehensive coverage
This covers all costs incurred when your company vehicle gets involved in non-collision incidents.
Collision coverage
This covers all incidents that involve collisions with your company vehicles.
Depending on the broker you use, the policy you get might have additions or subtractions to the above coverages. For example, if your vehicles were to suffer damage from extreme weather problems like floods, hailstones, or maybe a deer ran into your parked commercial vehicle during the winter. In such situations, your commercial auto insurance will cover you.
What Massachusetts commercial auto insurance doesn’t cover?
Commercial auto insurance is a dicey issue that often comes with several misconceptions about what is and what is not covered. The following are some instances where your commercial auto insurance alone might not be sufficient:
- Damage to or caused by leased/employee-owned vehicles. To cover such incidents, you need the Hired and Non-Owned policy added to your commercial auto insurance.
- Expensive claims or lawsuits that exceed the policy’s limits. To cover for such, you might need to carry an additional business umbrella coverage.
- Mechanical breakdowns that happen during work
- Damages caused by equipment attached to a covered vehicle, such as a new snowplow attached to your company truck. If you add any equipment to your insured vehicle, you need to discuss that with your insurer before signing an agreement.
- Finally, any vehicle not included in the policy is naturally not covered. However, you can review and update the list of vehicles when you upgrade your fleet.
Who needs commercial auto insurance in Delaware?
Commercial auto insurance coverage is for those automobiles owned by your business. Personal, rented, and leased vehicles used in business are covered by hired and non-owned auto insurance. Any company in Delaware using vehicles for business purposes must have appropriate insurance coverage.
Your personal auto insurance policy only covers you when you drive to and from work. If you are making deliveries, picking up supplies, or doing any other business activity, you will need a commercial auto policy. Your commercial auto policy should cover you if you’re at fault for accidents while on business outings.
Even if you own a sedan that you use only for business, you need a commercial auto policy. This includes people who use their personal automobiles to deliver food or provide ride-share services. Those services aren’t covered by individual auto policies either.
How much does commercial auto insurance cost in Delaware?
The average cost of commercial auto insurance in Delaware is $142 per month. Some businesses can pay as low as $82 per month for a commercial auto insurance policy. Other businesses can pay up to $575 per month.
The cost of commercial auto insurance in Delaware varies dependent on a few factors. Those costs can be higher or lower relative to the risk factors involved with your business operations. We’ll discuss those factors in-depth below.
This is just the average cost. Your rate will be different. Be sure to shop with a few carriers and compare several quotes before making your final decision.
- Get quotes online from Progressive and InsurePro to start the process. It shouldn’t take you more than 10 minutes to have a good idea of the ballpark of your commercial auto insurance cost.
- If you are still not happy with these quotes, work with a top broker like Simply Business, CoverWallet, or Commercialinsurance.net to get more quotes in one place. After getting another 3 quotes from these companies, you should be able to find the best and the cheapest one for you. The whole process shouldn’t take you more than 30 minutes. Saving thousands a year in your policy is worth it.
Factors affecting the cost of commercial auto insurance in Delaware
What factors affect the cost of commercial auto insurance in Delaware? There are several things that factor into your premium costs.
- Your business. Some businesses incur more risk than others. The kind of business you have informs your insurance rates. If you must drive daily, your premiums will be more than someone who only drives occasionally for business.
- Your vehicle. The kind of vehicle you drive affects how much you will pay for your premiums.
- Your driving record. If you have moving violations or accidents on your driving record, you will pay more for your premiums than you would if you have a clean driving record.
- Your location. Are you in a big city, or are you in a rural area, or somewhere in between? Your location determines your risk, which then determines your premium costs.
- Your mileage. If you drive 100 miles a day, you will likely pay more than someone who drives 20 miles a day. More time on the road causes you to incur more significant risks.
- Your coverage. Do you need liability alone, or do you need greater amounts of coverage? What policy limit do you need? These will also impact your premiums.
How to save money on commercial auto insurance in Delaware
Commercial auto insurance is not an inexpensive business cost. However, if you follow a few tips, you could lower your premiums significantly.
- Only hire people with good driving records. Accidents and tickets will cause your auto premiums to increase.
- Bundle your policies. Many companies give you the option of bundling your commercial auto policies with other policies. Then, you are charged reduced rates for the individual components of the bundle.
- Purchase coverage based on a realistic assessment of your needs. Sometimes it’s beneficial to pay for an added coverage because of long-term savings. Other times, you may only need liability coverages. Take a comprehensive assessment of the coverage you require to get an idea of your final costs.
- Consider an increased deductible. Higher deductibles tend to lead to lower premiums because you are willing to pay more out of pocket in the event of an accident.
- Shop around for quotes. The first quote isn’t always the best quote. Sometimes, you need to continue shopping to find the right policy for your needs.
Final thoughts
Commercial auto insurance is necessary for those who use a vehicle in the execution of their business. This could be anyone from the DoorDash driver delivering food to the trucking company with a fleet of 12 trucks. When choosing your commercial auto insurance company in Delaware, you should compare coverages and rates and then discuss your options with an insurance agent or broker.
