The moment a vehicle is used for work, a personal auto policy can deny the claim. Commercial auto covers your trucks, vans and cars — plus the employee running a deposit to the bank in their own vehicle.
Owned coverage protects vehicles titled to the business. Hired auto covers rentals your team picks up for a job. Non-owned auto — the coverage most often missing — protects the business when an employee causes an accident while driving their personal car on company errands. All three belong on a California commercial policy.
Combined single limits of $1 million are standard for contractors and anyone entering a commercial site. If you haul tools, materials or customer property, add motor truck cargo and installation floater coverage; a truck-mounted crane, lift gate or service body should be scheduled so it is valued correctly after a loss rather than treated as a stock vehicle.
Carriers price commercial auto heavily on driver MVRs. Pulling records before hiring, enrolling in the California DMV employer pull-notice program, setting a written vehicle-use policy and adding telematics can meaningfully lower renewal pricing. For growing fleets we compare scheduled-vehicle programs against fleet-rated ones.