Commercial Auto Liability Insurance — Business Car Coverage

Commercial auto liability insurance covers your business against financial losses when a company-owned or business-used vehicle causes bodily injury or property damage to a third party. It pays for medical expenses, legal defense costs, and settlements arising from at-fault accidents involving your business vehicles — protecting both your company assets and your drivers on the road.

A standard commercial auto policy typically covers third-party bodily injury liability, property damage liability, collision damage to your vehicles, comprehensive coverage for non-collision events like theft or weather, uninsured motorist protection, and medical payments. Depending on your industry and fleet type, it can also include hired and non-owned auto coverage for employees using personal or rented vehicles on business.

Generally, no. Personal auto policies typically exclude accidents that occur during business use of a vehicle. If you or your employees regularly drive personal vehicles for business purposes — deliveries, client visits, or job-site travel — you need either a commercial auto policy or hired and non-owned auto coverage to close that gap.

Commercial auto policies can cover a wide range of vehicles, including company cars, pickup trucks, vans, box trucks, service vehicles, and specialty equipment carriers. Soma also places coverage for harder-to-insure vehicles and fleets across industries like trucking, healthcare transport, construction, and hospitality with hired auto needs.

Premiums vary based on factors including the number of vehicles, vehicle type and value, driver history, annual mileage, industry, and coverage limits selected. A small business with one or two low-risk company cars may pay a few hundred dollars annually, while a large fleet with complex exposures will pay significantly more. Soma compares rates across hundreds of carriers to find the best price for your profile.

Yes — this is one of Soma's core specialties. We regularly place commercial auto coverage for businesses that standard brokers decline, including fleets with drivers who have violations, new ventures without prior coverage history, specialty commodity haulers, and industries with mixed-use vehicle exposures. Our carrier relationships include markets with strong appetite for complex commercial auto risks.

Soma is built for speed. Unlike traditional brokers that take weeks to respond, our Risk Management Team processes your application quickly and delivers competitive quotes without unnecessary delays. Most businesses receive quote options promptly after submitting a single application — no repeated follow-ups or chasing required.

Yes. If employees use personal vehicles for business tasks — even occasionally — your business can be held liable in the event of an accident. Hired and non-owned auto (HNOA) coverage addresses this exposure directly. It protects your company against liability claims when employees drive personal or rented vehicles on your behalf, filling a critical gap in most standard business insurance programs.