What type of business insurance do automobile dealers have?

February 28, 2007 2:32 PM

I'll spare the details, but I am looking for insurance for a used car dealership. I have googled "automobile dealer insurance" and many variations of that phrase, and have come up with nothing. What companies do used car dealers use for their insurance. Thanks.
posted by mjger to Work & Money (8 answers total)

Best answer: What kind of insurance? You'll want to contact an agent that specializes in business insurance. Primarily, I THINK you're looking for an 'umbrella liability' and 'contract' insurance; the first pays for liability if your employee runs over someone while driving a car around the block, the second has various subtypes and all the terminology is different, but basically covers losses from any broken contracts to you or by you.

I'm not an insurance agent, and you really need to talk to one that specializes in business insurance.
posted by SpecialK at 2:49 PM on February 28, 2007

(Oh, and you'll of course want worker's comp and unemployment insurance.)
posted by SpecialK at 2:49 PM on February 28, 2007

I got these results by Googling for "automobile dealer" + "business insurance"... Hope that gives you a start.
posted by amyms at 3:28 PM on February 28, 2007

Special K knows the deal, you are going to need an business insurance policy. From there, based on the type of business you are in and the amount of coverage you want, the insurer will draft a policy for you. I don't think there is a specific group that exclusively writes policies for used car dealers.
posted by bkeene12 at 5:39 PM on February 28, 2007

I worked in a large insurance company, and the department that handled this was called commercial auto.
posted by Partial Law at 6:46 PM on February 28, 2007

Response by poster: Thank you all so much for the information.
posted by mjger at 10:05 AM on March 1, 2007

My father's automobile business (6 new car franchises and 1 used car lot in NH) used Universal Underwriters for years. They may still, but I'm not in the business anymore.
posted by greggrappone at 10:25 AM on March 1, 2007

I'm a commerical insurance broker, happy to help. Used car dealerships have the need for multiple lines of insurance (as stated by SpecialK), work comp, liability property etc. In addition, perhaps the most important coverage is called "Garagekeepers Liability" if you're doing any kind of service work on cars.

There are an array of markets that write this, many in special programs. Universal Underwriters (also referenced) is one, we access a few others. I can discuss further and/or quote if you like. Feel free to contact if you need anything else.
posted by DavidatWestland at 3:39 PM on April 10, 2007