Commercial Auto Insurance: Best Options for Small Businesses
You need commercial car insurance if your business owns vehicles or you employees drive as part of their work.
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Senior Writer Commercial auto insurance covers the vehicles your company owns or frequently uses. You should have it if you:
- Drive to work sites.
- Deliver goods.
- Haul tools or supplies.
- Have employees who drive their own vehicles for work.
Commercial car insurance is separate from rideshare insurance and personal auto insurance. You may be able to bundle these policies to save money, though.
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Best commercial car insurance companies
The NerdWallet editorial team chooses the best business insurance based on many factors. For commercial auto policies, we focused on companies that:
- Get relatively few complaints to state regulators about their commercial auto coverage.
- Get high financial strength ratings from credit rating agencies, which should mean they have enough money to pay out all their claims.
- Offer comprehensive commercial auto policies for multiple types of vehicles or situations, like hired and non-owned auto coverage.
While commercial auto insurance is common, not all major business insurers offer it. (Chubb doesn’t, for instance.) Because of that, we don’t factor complaints about commercial auto insurance into our star ratings.
We do include complaint data for general liability and commercial property insurance, though, as those policies are more universal. That’s why some companies, like Progressive, have low star ratings even though they see fewer complaints about commercial auto insurance.
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Progressive
Progressive is the largest commercial auto insurer in the U.S., according to the most recent data from the Insurance Information Institute . It also got fewer than expected complaints about commercial auto insurance filed with state regulators between 2022 and 2024 given its market share. Progressive offers a range of discounts to help you lower your premium, including a multi-policy discount
You can get a quote and purchase a policy online from Progressive. Read NerdWallet’s review of Progressive business insurance.
Cincinnati Insurance
Cincinnati Insurance offers a variety of endorsements you can use to customize your commercial auto policy — from loan or lease gap coverage to a waiver for your deductible when you need to repair your auto glass. That lets you tailor your policy to your fleet and its needs without paying for coverage that doesn’t apply to you.
The company also had far fewer complaints than we’d expect about its commercial auto insurance between 2022 and 2024 and placed second in J.D. Power’s annual small-business insurance customer satisfaction survey .
You can’t buy a Cincinnati policy online. But if your independent agent suggests it, Cincinnati is probably a good choice. We haven’t written a review of this company yet.
American Family Insurance
We give American Family high marks for its customer service: It had far fewer complaints about commercial auto insurance than we’d expect between 2022 and 2024. The company had an above-average rating in J.D. Power’s annual survey, too.
You can get a quote from American Family Insurance online in just a few minutes, the company says, but you’ll work with an independent agent to finalize and buy a policy. In addition to the basics, you may be able to add coverage for attached equipment and hired and non-owned autos.
We haven’t written a review of American Family business insurance yet, but here’s NerdWallet’s review of its consumer car insurance.
Auto-Owners Insurance
Auto-Owners Insurance impressed us with its financial strength and customer complaint ratios. Its commercial auto insurance policies automatically cover new vehicles your company buys, and policyholders get 24/7 roadside assistance. You can add loan or lease gap insurance and hired and non-owned auto coverage.
You’ll have to work with an independent agent to get a quote and buy a policy. But once you do, you can request roadside assistance through your Auto-Owners app and save proof of insurance to your Apple Wallet. We haven’t written a review of Auto-Owners business insurance yet, but here’s NerdWallet’s review of its consumer car insurance.
Travelers
Travelers follows Progressive as the second-largest commercial auto insurance underwriter in the country, according to the Insurance Information Institute. This company received far fewer complaints than we’d expect about commercial auto insurance between 2022 and 2024.
In addition to typical auto insurance protections, Travelers offers coverage for vehicles leased by your employees and gap coverage in case of a total loss. You can also add a blanket additional insured endorsement for companies you contract with. Read NerdWallet’s review of Travelers business insurance.
What about Allstate, Geico and State Farm?
You're likely familiar with these big-name brands. These insurers (and their parent companies) dominate the personal auto insurance space, alongside Progressive. But owning that market doesn't mean they're also good for commercial coverage.
All three of these companies saw more complaints filed with state regulators than we’d expect given their market share. That means commercial auto insurance customers were so disappointed in their experience that they filed a complaint with their state Department of Insurance. We treat that as a disqualifying factor on this page.
Your mileage will vary, of course. These companies collect billions of dollars in premiums every year; surely many of their customers have perfectly good experiences. And if you use one of these companies for your personal insurance, get a quote to see if you get a loyalty discount. But if not, consider looking elsewhere.
Save up to 30% on business insurance
NerdWallet Small Business helps you get real-time quotes from 30+ insurers, and instant access to your Certificate of Insurance (COI) through our partner, Coverdash.
What is commercial auto insurance?
Commercial auto insurance covers vehicles you use for business purposes. That can include vehicles your business owns or leases, along with cars or trucks you and your employees own and drive for work.
In general, commercial car insurance works just like personal car insurance. Policies cover liability-related legal costs, medical payments and repairing or replacing damaged vehicles.
What does commercial auto insurance cover?
A commercial auto insurance policy typically includes:
- Liability coverage, including bodily injury and property damage liability, to pay for injuries, deaths or property damage if a driver causes an accident while working. This coverage may also cover legal fees.
- Medical payments, no-fault or personal injury protection, to pay for the medical expenses of the driver and any passengers in an accident, regardless of fault.
- Uninsured motorist coverage to pay for injuries and sometimes property damage caused by an uninsured or hit-and-run driver. This coverage may also include underinsured motorist coverage if the at-fault driver doesn’t have enough car insurance coverage to cover all expenses.
- Comprehensive and collision coverage to pay for vehicle damage from theft, vandalism, flood, fire and damage if a work vehicle is hit by an object or another car.
When you buy a policy, you can list vehicles to cover. These can include:
- Autos your business owns. This is the narrowest kind of commercial auto insurance coverage. It would only cover vehicles owned by your company, not you as an individual or your employees.
- Other autos your business frequently uses. This extends your coverage to personal vehicles that you often use for business purposes, like the truck that you use to take your tools to job sites.
What is hired and non-owned auto insurance?
Hired and non-owned auto insurance (HNOA) extends your liability coverage to vehicles that your business uses sometimes, but not often enough to name specifically in your policy. You can usually add it when you buy a commercial auto insurance policy.
HNOA can cover vehicles like:
- Your personal car that you occasionally use to make deliveries or pick up supplies.
- A car one of your employees rents when they’re traveling for a conference.
- A van you rent while moving into a new office.
HNOA does not cover repairs to your employees’ vehicles. Their personal policies should provide some coverage for that.
You should consider hired and non-owned auto coverage if your employees might make deliveries, visit clients or travel for work.
What does commercial auto insurance exclude?
Commercial auto policies generally don’t cover items you carry in the vehicle, like tools. A business owner’s policy — which contains commercial property insurance protections — can cover tools a company owns. Your home or renters insurance policy should cover any personal belongings in your vehicle.
Commercial auto insurance doesn’t cover your personal car. Similarly, your personal auto policy generally doesn't cover your car when you’re using it for a business purpose.
Do you need commercial auto insurance?
If you use your car for work purposes, consider buying commercial car insurance. That includes business owners, independent contractors and self-employed workers who:
- Drive for cash. Driving friends to a concert or grabbing food for a co-worker is covered by a personal policy. Transporting people or goods for money is not. (See more about rideshare insurance below.)
- Log high mileage for work. Examples could include regularly visiting store locations or job sites.
- Have employees driving on your behalf. It’s your responsibility to insure work-related driving, whether or not you own the vehicle.
If you only use your car to commute to and from work, you probably don’t need a commercial auto policy.
Commercial vs. personal auto insurance
Here are some scenarios for when you may need a commercial policy and when a personal policy is sufficient.
| Personal auto insurance | Commercial auto insurance |
|---|---|
| Grabbing morning donuts for your crew. | Delivering pizzas to paying customers. |
| Driving your co-workers to a concert outside work hours. | Driving clients to a work event. |
| Driving to a conference in a different city. | Driving to multiple job sites a day. |
| Commuting to the construction site where you're working. | Hauling tools and equipment to the construction site where you're working. |
Another big difference? Commercial auto policies usually come with higher liability limits because business vehicles need more protection.
Rideshare insurance is a middle ground between your personal auto policy and a full commercial insurance policy. It covers you while you’re making deliveries or waiting to pick up a rideshare passenger. (Uber and Lyft usually provide some minimal coverage while a passenger is in your vehicle.)
Rideshare insurance is important because personal auto policies generally won’t cover you while you’re using your vehicle to make money for yourself.
You may be able to add rideshare insurance to your personal auto policy. State Farm estimates that rideshare coverage ups its premiums by 15% to 20%. That’s likely much cheaper than buying a commercial auto insurance policy.
How much does commercial car insurance cost?
The average cost of commercial auto insurance is $147 per month, according to Insureon, an online marketplace for small-business insurance.
The cost of your policy will depend on the types of vehicles you insure, how they’re used, whether your drivers have claims histories and how high your limits are.
How to get commercial auto insurance
Follow these steps to get commercial auto insurance.
- Decide which vehicles and drivers you need to insure. You’ll probably need vehicle identification numbers for each vehicle and driver’s license information for each driver to get quotes.
- Determine how much coverage you need. Insurers typically recommend carrying $1 million in liability protection, according to the Insurance Information Institute. How much collision and comprehensive coverage you need depends on the size of your fleet and how much it would cost to repair or replace your vehicles.
- Get multiple quotes. Comparing business insurance quotes can help you ensure you’re getting the coverage you need for the best price. You can get quotes online in minutes from Progressive or online business insurance companies.
- Buy a policy. Some providers will connect you with an agent to complete your purchase. In other cases, you may be able to buy your policy online on your own.
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- 1. Insurance Information Institute. Facts + Statistics: Insurance company rankings. Accessed Feb 26, 2026.
- 2. J.D. Power. JD Power 2025 U.S. Small Commercial Insurance Study. Accessed Feb 26, 2026.
Methodology
Business insurance ratings methodology
NerdWallet’s business insurance ratings reward companies that offer small-business owners reliability and ease of use. Ratings are based on weighted averages of scores in several categories, including financial strength, customer complaint data, shopping experience and customer service. Learn more about how we rate small-business insurance companies.
Our editorial team regularly reviews and updates our data to ensure consistency and accuracy. We also update our scoring on an ongoing basis to reflect changing industry norms and business owner needs. For instance, in 2026, we began evaluating how easy insurers make it to add an additional insured.
These ratings are a guide, but insurance policy details and prices can vary widely from business to business and provider to provider. We encourage you to shop around and compare several insurance quotes.
NerdWallet does not receive compensation for any reviews. Read our editorial guidelines.
Insurer complaints methodology
NerdWallet examined complaints received by state insurance regulators and reported to the National Association of Insurance Commissioners. We use the most recent three years of data, which is currently 2022-2024.
To assess how insurers compare to one another, the NAIC calculates a complaint index each year for each subsidiary, measuring its share of total complaints relative to its size, or share of total premiums in the industry. To evaluate a company’s complaint history, NerdWallet calculated a similar index for each insurer, weighted by market shares of each subsidiary, over the three-year period.
Our star ratings consider ratios for both general liability insurance and commercial property insurance. When an insurer sells policies that are underwritten by several different insurance companies, we consider the NAIC complaint ratios of all the underwriters.
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