Monday, May 5, 2014

Use your car for business? Are you sure it’s covered by your current insurance?

One of my newest customers is an real estate agent, spending much of his days driving clients around Brentwood, Franklin and Spring Hill looking at homes, and visiting with prospective home sellers at their homes. When he originally came in to see me, one of the first things I asked him was whether he had business usage coverage on his current policy. He said he didn't know. Careful review showed he had none.

Look at yours or ANY personal auto policy. It will specifically state it only insures only for personal use, and not “business usage”. If you use your personal car for your occupation or business, and regularly do more than just commute back and forth, you may be at risk. I'm talking about salespeople, home physical therapists, delivery drivers, etc..

There is help available. Some insurers (including Farmers Insurance) offer their customers a “Business Usage endorsement”, which changes the policy to extend coverage for when you use your car for business.

Not every occupation will be acceptable. Insurance companies will not extend this extra coverage for vehicles used for potentially more dangerous occupations like a pizza delivery driver or taxi service.

My client said his previous insurance agent of over ten years never inquired about his occupation nor periodically reviewed his coverage with him, so this gap was never discovered. Rest assured he has this coverage now through my Franklin TN agency and Farmers Insurance.

The topping on the cake for my customer? Not only did I add the business usage coverage, but also doubled his overall liability protection, and saved him $138 for the year, compared to his previous (and lacking) auto insurance!

This is the type of result I am proud of achieving quite often for my clients. Does your insurance agent KNOW you? Or is it time to come see me?

David Yates Insurance Agency
1881 General George Patton Dr., Suite 103
Franklin, TN 37067
Phone 615-778-1816  Fax 615-778-1817
dyates1@farmersagent.com

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