Commercial Auto and Garage Coverages
Covered-auto symbols
Business auto coverage uses numbered symbols: 1 any auto, 2 owned autos, 3 owned private passenger, 4 owned autos other than private passenger, 5 owned autos subject to no-fault, 6 owned autos subject to compulsory uninsured motorist, 7 specifically described, 8 hired, 9 nonowned. Symbol 1 is broad but still has limits; employee-owned autos used in the business are a classic trap unless properly covered. Hired and nonowned coverage protects the business when employees drive rentals or their own cars on company business.
Coverages
Liability, physical damage (comprehensive and collision, sometimes specified causes), medical payments, uninsured motorists, and cargo. The truckers form adds trailer interchange and motor carrier endorsements such as the MCS-90. Drive-other-car endorsements extend coverage to borrowed autos.
Garage coverage
Garage liability covers the insured's operations, including auto-related liability. Garagekeepers coverage protects customers' vehicles in the insured's care, written as legal liability, direct primary, or direct excess - which determines whether the garage pays before the customer's own insurer. Dealers coverage applies to inventory; false pretense and drive-away endorsements handle specific exposures.
Traps
Care, custody, and control excludes customer-vehicle damage from general liability. Fuel-spill pollution needs an endorsement. Physical damage deductibles and the definition of comprehensive vary by form. Personal errands in an employee's own car are often excluded.
Rule of thumb: read the covered-auto symbol first - it answers more commercial auto questions than any other single item.