Whether your company owns a single car or an entire fleet, those vehicles need protection in the form of commercial auto insurance. For businesses in Florida, it’s even more important to maintain a high level of coverage in case of an accident involving an uninsured driver.
To make your search for the best commercial auto insurance companies in Florida a little easier, we’ve put together a list of the top 7 companies. Each of these companies offer specialized options for businesses in different circumstances.
- Top 7 Commercial Auto Insurance Companies in Florida
- Why Should Companies Get Commercial Auto Insurance in Florida?
- What Isn’t Covered By Commercial Auto Insurance in Florida?
- Is Commercial Auto Insurance Required in Florida?
- What Factors Affect the Premiums for Commercial Auto Insurance in Florida?
- Should Delivery Drivers Carry Commercial Auto Insurance in Florida
- How Much does Commercial Auto Insurance Cost in Florida?
- How to Find Cheap Commercial Auto Insurance in Florida?
Top 7 Commercial Auto Insurance Companies in Florida
We researched more than 15 companies offering commercial auto insurance in Florida and here are our recommendations of the 7 best companies for your consideration:
- Progressive: Best Overall as the industry leader
- Simply Business: Best for Comparing Online Quotes
- Farmers Insurance: Best Customized Policies for Small Businesses
- Travelers Insurance: Best for Oil & Gas Industry
- Nationwide: Best for Reputation
- The Hartford: Best for Midsize to Large Companies
- Smart Financial: Best for knowledgeable agents
Progressive Commercial Auto Insurance: Best Overall as the industry leader
If you are an independent delivery driver or participate in a rideshare program, consider getting additional coverage through Progressive. They have a rideshare insurance policy that covers drivers in most states who pick up riders and who provide delivery services. This coverage is designed to fill the gap between your personal policy and what your delivery company may provide.
Progressive also offers a discount when you opt to bundle your insurance with a home or renter’s insurance policy.
We used a fictional delivery service to pull a quote from Progressive’s website for commercial auto insurance. The initial down payment was $1,072 and the monthly premium was $358 thereafter.
Simply Business: Best for Comparing Online Quotes
If you want to compare several commercial auto insurance quotes online conveniently, just like you are used to for personal auto insurance, your best option is Simply Business. They are a digital broker and work with several business insurance companies.
Once you provide your information, they will be able to pull quotes from their partner companies so that you can compare them in one place.
After buying a policy through them, you will be able to use their digital dashboard to manage all of your business insurance policies in one place. The dashboard also offers useful features such as downloading the certificate of insurance, filing a claim, or renewing a policy.
Farmers Commercial Auto Insurance: Best Customized Policies for Small Businesses
If you are a small business owner with just one or two company vehicles, you might want to look into Farmers Insurance. They provide affordable policies with plenty of customizable features. You can get insurance to cover stolen items that are taken from a parked vehicle, or set up spoilage insurance for your restaurant.
Farmers also provides discount options, like their Signal program that monitors your driving and lower their rates based on it.
Travelers Commercial Auto Insurance: Best for Oil & Gas Industry
If you are having a little trouble finding insurance coverage for trucks or vehicles that you use in the oil, gas, or public sectors, check out Travelers. For more than 30 years, they have been insuring fleets in these industries. Many of their policies are also written directly with the oil and gas industry in mind. They offer a variety of policies, including business auto coverage and oil rig and equipment coverage.
Nationwide Commercial Auto Insurance: Best for Reputation
If you are searching for a commercial auto company with an impeccable reputation and financial rating, the answer is Nationwide. They boast an A+ rating from A.M. Best and Standard & Poor’s. Plus, they have been serving customers for almost a century now.
Nationwide also offers the Vantage 360 Fleet program, which is another risk management program that allows businesses to monitor driver safety. If your company enrolls in this program you’ll get a 10% discount on your commercial auto insurance.
The Hartford Commercial Auto Insurance: Best for Midsize to Large Companies
If you are a larger company with a small to large fleet of vehicles, The Hartford is a great choice. Established in 1810, this insurance company has spent hundreds of years refining their services. They prefer setting up commercial auto policies with clients who have other commercial insurance policies through them. But, if your fleet is large or you need a decent amount of coverage they may be able to help you with a single-line policy.
The Hartford also offers programs to improve safety for customers and their drivers. For instance, their FleetAhead program integrates risk management with technology to analyze and interpret driver performance data.
Smart Financial: Best for knowledgeable agents
If you prefer working with agents who specialize in your business niche and very experienced in providing commercial auto insurance to a variety of businesses in different industries, you may want to work with commercialinsurance.net. They are a national broker specializing in small business insurance. They partner with an intensive network of hundreds of agents across the country who are very knowledgeable and experienced in providing commercial auto insurance to small businesses in all industries.
However unique and niche your industry is, you can count on Smart Financial to connect you with an agent who is the most knowledgeable about the specifics of your business so that they can find you the best coverages at the most affordable prices.
>>MORE: Top 10 Commercial Auto Insurance Companies for Small Businesses
Why Should Companies Get Commercial Auto Insurance in Florida?
It’s important to get commercial auto insurance for your company as an accident can cost you a lot of money. If you don’t have insurance, you’ll be the one who ends up being responsible for any medical bills and property damage repairs. It’s also likely that you will face fines, loss of your license, and potential jail time for not having required commercial car insurance.
Also, a recent study by the Insurance Research Council found that just over 20% of Florida’s drivers aren’t covered by insurance. That means 1 in 5 people on the road with you don’t have coverage to pay for damage to your vehicle and your bodily injury costs! So, it also pays to have additional commercial auto insurance that protects you in case of an uninsured driver. These coverages can include:
- Uninsured motorist coverage
- Collision insurance
>>MORE: Commercial Auto Insurance: Coverage, Costs, and Quotes
What Isn’t Covered By Commercial Auto Insurance in Florida?
A basic car insurance policy doesn’t cover everything. So, be sure to read your policy before any accidents happen to thoroughly understand what your insurance will cover in an accident. Generally, commercial auto insurance policies won’t cover:
- Intentional Damage or Bodily Damage: Your policy won’t cover any damage that was caused on purpose, such as ramming into another person’s car when they steal your parking spot.
- Medical Payments Covered by Workers’ Compensation: If your company delivers gravel and a worker is injured when a driver accidentally drives over his foot, this would most likely be covered by workers comp.
- Cargo Damage: Most policies don’t cover the costs of replacing or cleaning up lost or damaged cargo your company carries. For instance, if you are a moving company and a customer’s dining room table is scratched up during transport, this is more likely to be covered by household goods moving insurance.
Is Commercial Auto Insurance Required in Florida?
Companies are required to carry commercial auto insurance on their vehicles in Florida. Every state has certain minimum coverage requirements that companies must carry for bodily injury and property damage. Florida’s insurance minimums are lower than many other states, which can give companies a bit of a break on premiums.
There are lots of different kinds of commercial vehicles, so let’s take a look at some minimums required for everyone and a few additional coverages depending on your industry.
All drivers in Florida are required to carry:
- $10,000 bodily injury coverage per person
- $20,000 bodily injury per accident
- $10,000 for property damage
If you are driving a vehicle registered as a taxi, you must carry much higher coverage of:
- $125,000 bodily injury liability per person
- $250,000 bodily injury liability per occurrence
- $50,000 property damage liability coverage
Also, the state of Florida and the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) have additional coverage requirements for cargo and shipping vehicles. If you are only transporting goods in Florida, minimums for commercial trucking insurance are:
- $300,000 minimum liability insurance for household goods
- $750,000 minimum liability insurance for general freight
- $1,000,000 liability for oil transport
- $5,000,000 liability for hazardous materials
Commercial trucks that haul cargo across state lines will need even more coverage to meet FMCSA minimum coverage requirements, which can range between $300,000 to $5,000,000 liability.
Should Delivery Drivers Carry Commercial Auto Insurance in Florida
It’s definitely a good idea to look into commercial auto insurance if you work as an independent delivery driver. Many people are delivering orders for companies, like DoorDash and GrubHub, full-time these days. If you are using your personal vehicle for this kind of work, you’ll likely also be expected to provide your own auto insurance.
Although some companies, like DoorDash, PostMates, and UberEats, do provide a commercial auto insurance policy for drivers, these policies are typically ‘excess’ policies that only kick in when the driver’s personal auto insurance maxes out of its limits. Also, if you don’t carry personal insurance, the company’s auto insurance won’t cover you either.
Other delivery services, like GrubHub and Instacart, don’t provide commercial auto insurance for their drivers. So, make sure you get some additional auto insurance to protect yourself. In such case, you would need to have your own commercial auto insurance or an attached rider to your personal auto insurance to cover your commercial use of your car.
>>MORE: Best Delivery Driver Insurance Companies
What Factors Affect the Premiums for Commercial Auto Insurance in Florida?
Not all companies will pay the same amount for their commercial auto insurance. There are different factors that will affect your insurance premiums, such as your previous auto claims history and driving record.
Here are some factors your insurance company will take into account when calculating a commercial auto insurance quote in 2021:
- Vehicle Use, such as taxi service, cargo shipment, or simply providing a company car to an accountant on staff.
- Distance Driven, such as how far you drive every day or how frequently the vehicle is used.
- Vehicle Location, like where the vehicle is stored when not in use and where you drive it.
- Claims History; can include any previous accidents, and settlements.
- Cargo Type; if you transport hazardous materials, you’ll pay a lot more for insurance.
- Coverage Limits: the higher your coverage amount, the more your premium will cost.
- Deductibles; if you opt for a lower deductible, you’ll also end up paying more for insurance.
How Much does Commercial Auto Insurance Cost in Florida?
As you see above, commercial auto insurance costs depend on several factors. However, on average, a commercial auto insurance policy in Florida costs about $2,565 and $3,370 in one of our studies.
To get cheap commercial auto insurance, be sure to shop around with a few insurance companies or with a digital broker like Simply Business, commercialinsurance.net, or CoverWallet and Smart Financial to compare several quotes to find the cheapest one for you. You can also get a fast quote online from insurance companies. However, Progressive is the only carrier offering commercial auto insurance quotes online. It shouldn’t take you more than 10 minutes to get a quote on their website, so it may be worth it.
>>MORE: How Much does Commercial Auto Insurance Cost by States?
How to Find Cheap Commercial Auto Insurance in Florida?
Commercial auto insurance is required legally in Florida. Not having it might put you in a difficult position when accidents happen. In some cases, your company might be bankrupt and you might be jailed as a result.
The good news is that it is possible to find cheap commercial auto insurance by following the tips below:
- Always shop around with at least 3-5 providers or a digital broker such as as CoverWallet to compare several quotes before deciding on the final carrier
- Maintain a good driving record and credit score, that will help decrease your commercial auto premiums
- Maintaining your commercial auto insurance coverage steadily. If you have gaps in your commercial auto insurance coverage, your premiums might increase as a result
- Lastly, if the carrier offers telematics monitoring to reduce the premium as a result of your good driving record, you might want to opt in that program.
>>MORE: How to Find Cheap Commercial Auto Insurance?
Final Thoughts
- Many insurance companies offer commercial auto insurance, such as Farmers Insurance, Geico, and Travelers Insurance. If you like to compare several online quotes conveniently, you might consider Simply Business.
- Florida does require companies to carry commercial auto insurance for all of their vehicles.
- Florida also has different minimum coverage requirements for vehicles in different industries, from taxis to cargo shipping.
- Commercial insurance doesn’t cover intentional acts or damage, damage to cargo, and payments that would be covered by workers’ compensation.
- Different factors also affect the cost of commercial auto insurance, such as coverage limits, deductibles, and claim history.
