Do your clients know the difference between garage liability and garagekeepers insurance? While they may sound similar, they can be wildly different from each other, making it more than important to know exactly what is covered and what is at risk.
To break it down easily, the difference in coverage is spelling out the difference between liability insurance and physical damage insurance. Garage liability covers the insured’s liability for operations and autos, while the latter covers damage to customers’ vehicles while on premises. No matter the circumstance or location, any and all garage risks need some form of coverage to protect against loss exposures. Here’s a breakdown of coverages that clients can use to assess which is best for them.
Garage Liability
Garage liability insurance is a policy that covers bodily injury or property damage caused by an incident out of garage operations. The policy refers to the ownership, maintenance or use of locations for garage business operations. This kind of coverage also includes the ownership and use of the autos, as well as maintenance. This kind of insurance is helpful to car dealerships who are looking to cover all autos on their lots, including cars being worked on in their mechanical garages.
Garagekeepers Insurance
This policy is outlined for clients who want to add an optional form of protection to their current coverage. Garagekeepers insurance is outfitted to protect a garage business for loss to a customer’s auto left in the care and supervision of the client. Think of this as a cushion for garages and dealerships looking to block more risk when it comes to attending, servicing, repairing or storing autos in their garages or on their premises.
A garagekeepers policy protects clients against damage to a customer’s vehicle including fire, theft, extreme weather, and vandalism. This policy, however, does not cover damage that occurs from things like faulty workmanship, parts or out-of-date warranties. The basic version of garagekeepers liability insurance excludes coverage for the contents of your client’s customers’ vehicles. Adding an endorsement to a policy to extend coverage to personal property–say, things in a glove box–doesn’t necessarily avoid any liability exposure, but does protect reputation.
It’s important to know exactly what’s needed when coverage is being looked over. There are a number of things that can go wrong with vehicles under the care and supervision of auto dealerships and garages, and taking measures to avoid exposures and claims will help to strengthen reputation, trust and overall bottom line.
