Symbol 7, an Employee's Pickup and a Rented Box Truck
Hartwell Provisions runs a bakery and home delivery service. Its business auto policy, written on the standard ISO form, shows liability coverage for covered autos designated as symbol 7 - specifically described autos: a 2020 Ford Transit van. Physical damage (comprehensive and collision, $1,000 deductible) is also shown for symbol 7. No other symbols appear, and there is no drive-other-car endorsement. In June 2024 the Transit was in the shop for nine days of transmission work. Dana Reyes, a route salesperson, used her personal 2019 pickup, with her supervisor's verbal permission, to make deliveries. On June 18 she ran a red light and struck a cyclist, causing $150,000 of injuries; her pickup was totaled with an actual cash value of $22,000, and she carries no collision coverage. Separately, in May 2024, Hartwell's operations manager rented a 26-foot box truck for a week under an agreement signed in Hartwell's name, and the truck backed into a parked car, causing $18,000 of damage.
1. Does Hartwell's business auto policy respond to the cyclist's injury claim? What about Dana's personal auto policy?
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Hartwell's policy: no. Covered autos are designated by symbol 7, meaning only autos described in the declarations. Dana's pickup is not a described auto. The nonowned auto symbol (9), the hired auto symbol (8), or the any-auto symbol (1) would have reached it; none was purchased. Permission from a supervisor does not expand the policy - permissive use is a liability concept that governs who is an insured for a covered auto, not which autos are covered.
Dana's personal auto policy: probably yes. Her pickup is a described auto under her own policy, and it remains covered for liability while used for business errands. The familiar business-use exclusions are narrower than people assume: the exclusion for carrying persons or property for a fee, and the delivery exclusion, typically do not apply to a private passenger auto, pickup or van owned by an insured. Livery and public conveyance uses are the real bar.
Result. The cyclist's claim lands on Dana's personal policy and on Dana personally, not on Hartwell's business auto policy. Hartwell's exposure shifts to its own general liability policy, if the cyclist alleges negligence in Hartwell's routing or supervision, and to the question of whether Hartwell is vicariously liable for Dana.
2. Is the $22,000 physical damage to Dana's pickup covered anywhere in Hartwell's program?
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No coverage under the business auto policy. Physical damage coverage is designated symbol 7 for described autos only, and the only described auto is the Ford Transit. A nonowned auto is not a covered auto for physical damage under that designation.
Why a drive-other-car endorsement will not necessarily help. A drive-other-car endorsement is drafted to protect a named individual - typically an owner, officer or partner - for liability and sometimes physical damage on autos the individual does not own. It commonly requires that the individual have no owned auto covered by the policy, and it is not designed to cover a rank-and-file employee's personal vehicle. Adding it for Dana is not the fix.
Practical outcome. Dana's own policy would need collision coverage to respond, and she has none. Her out-of-pocket loss is a personal one, and Hartwell has no obligation to pay it unless a contract, a handbook promise, or a state law says otherwise.
Underwriting lesson: if a business routinely has employees drive their own vehicles, the correct structure is a hired and nonowned auto endorsement with property damage for hired autos, plus a written policy requiring employee-owned vehicles to carry their own physical damage coverage.
3. What happened with the rented box truck, and what single declaration change would have handled both the pickup and the rental?
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The rental. A rented truck is a hired auto. With only symbol 7 designated, Hartwell's policy affords no liability coverage for it. The rental company's own policy covers the owner, and Hartwell's driver is likely an insured there as a permissive user, so the parked car's owner may still be paid - but Hartwell is exposed to the rental agreement's indemnity and damage provisions and to any gap between the rental company's limits and the loss.
The single change. Adding symbol 1, any auto, to liability would have covered the described van, the rented box truck, and Dana's pickup in one stroke.
What symbol 1 would not fix. It would not provide physical damage for Dana's pickup or for the rented truck's cargo box. Physical damage for hired autos must be added separately, usually with a stated limit and deductible, and a nonowned pickup owned by an employee is generally outside physical damage coverage altogether without a targeted endorsement.
Other insurance note: for autos Hartwell does not own, its coverage is excess over other collectible insurance, so even with symbol 1 the rental company's policy responds first.