If you use a vehicle for commercial purposes, you understand how important it is to have it insured to help protect you from unexpected accidents or damage that could impact your livelihood. However, if you’re a business owner that has vehicles for any length of time, you’ve probably also experienced consistent increases in the cost of your commercial auto insurance. While it may feel like these rate increases are out of your control, there are steps you can take to help reduce the cost of your commercial vehicle insurance.
In this article, we’ll cover the different actions you can take to reduce the cost of your commercial vehicle insurance. Keep reading to learn more!
Top Tips for Reducing Your Commercial Vehicle Insurance
Choose Your Drivers Carefully – How well do you know your drivers? A large part of how your insurance provider will determine your commercial auto insurance rate is based on the combined driving records of all your employees who are driving for you on behalf of your business. The more you can employ safe drivers with clean records, the better rate you will get for your commercial vehicle insurance.
Making your drivers safer and purchasing dependable vehicles can help reduce the frequency and severity of accidents, ultimately lowering your premiums. You will also see your insurance rates improve the longer you and your employees keep your driving records free of traffic violations and accidents.
Ask About Discounts – Every insurance services provider is different and will offer different discounts. Still, it’s always worth asking them if there are any discounts you can take advantage of to help lower your costs. Below we’ve listed some of the most common discounts offered:
- Paid in full discount
- Business owner’s discount
- Multi-policy discount
- Prior insurance discount
- Discount for having a commercial driver’s license
If you can afford to pay your commercial vehicle insurance in full instead of monthly, this is one of the best ways to reduce your rate; sometimes by as much as 15%. Another standard discount is signing up for EFT (electronic funds transfer) when paying for your insurance, reducing administrative fees.
Raise Your Deductible – What is a deductible? This is the price you pay towards your commercial car insurance claim. Essentially, this is what you will be responsible for paying before your insurance kicks in. If you choose to pay a higher deductible, this could result in saving on your insurance premium. Please note this does come with some risk but could be beneficial for your company in the long run.
Shop Around
Like more other insurance policies, we recommend that you shop around as much as possible to find the best price. This can be a tedious and time-consuming task but will often prove valuable for your business. We would recommend obtaining at least three different commercial vehicle insurance quotes before making a final decision. However, always make sure that your policy has the coverage you need and does not cut corners. Cheaper insurance may be good in the short term but could end up costing you thousands when an unforeseen accident occurs.
If you’re looking to insure your commercial vehicles or are interested in lowering your commercial vehicle insurance rates, it’s best to speak to an experienced insurance provider. At Dunham Insurance, no matter what type of insurance coverage you need, we take the extra time to ensure that you completely understand your coverage and that it fits your needs perfectly. Get in touch with us today for a free quote and discuss your business’ insurance coverage needs.