In the last video about Auto liability policy, we discussed what Auto Liability is and if it should be required from your vendors (link to the video). In this video we are diving a little deeper into the Auto Liability Policy to give you an even better understanding of it.
Just a reminder: The Automobile liability insurance protects the policyholder against claims from third parties who have suffered bodily injury or property damage due to an accident that happened during the use of a vehicle.
Not all auto liability policies offer complete coverage so it is very important to understand the different types of coverage.
A commercial automobile policy can provide coverage for different scenarios of vehicle usage, which are called “coverage auto symbols”. These are represented on an Accord 25 form with check boxes under the Auto Liability section.
We will see that there is “any auto” which means any vehicle that the company is legally liable for. You’ve got “all owned autos”, essentially vehicles of the company whether used by employees or by others with permission.
Then we have “scheduled autos”, these are the vehicles of the company specifically scheduled or in another words “listed on the policy”.
Then, the hired autos which are vehicles rented by the company and in most cases, vehicles rented by their employees for company use. And finally, non-owned autos or in other words, vehicles used on company business, but the company does not own. For example, when employees use their own vehicles on company business.
Each symbol represents the type of vehicle protected by the commercial automobile liability policy. The symbol may apply to the type of vehicle covered or the vehicle’s ownership status.
The ideal coverage is ANY AUTO – which basically means that regardless of what vehicle the vendor is driving they are covered.
If you have any follow up questions about auto symbols and COI, please contact us using the “comment form” below. Be sure to subscribe to BCS University and stay tuned.
