Saving on Commercial Car Insurance in the Off Season
If your business uses a vehicle in its standard operation, you’re already familiar with commercial car insurance. As you’re aware, it can get expensive. Yet many business owners don’t look into possible ways of saving money on their insurance premiums. For example, if your business has an off-season in which the vehicle is used infrequently or not at all, there’s no reason that you shouldn’t save a bit of money on the insurance costs for that vehicle.
Some think that means just canceling your car insurance for the time that the vehicle’s not in use. But letting your car insurance coverage lapse is a bad idea. You shouldn’t consider going without car insurance just because a vehicle isn’t going to be driven for a few months — unless it’s in a secure storage facility. If you were closing your business’ office for a few months, you’d still want to have insurance in case something happened, and you shouldn’t treat your car any different. However, you certainly don’t need as much coverage on your vehicle. You’d be wasting money by paying for liability coverage or other coverages if the car’s just going to be sitting there. Comprehensive-only plans provide the minimum amount of car insurance, and they’re a good idea for business owners. These car insurance policies are very cheap, they provide some peace of mind, and they’re less of a hassle than canceling and restarting your car insurance coverage every year. Usually, you simply have to contact your insurer or visit their website to switch your coverage over to a comprehensive-only policy. It’s easy, and you begin to save money in your off season almost immediately.
Depending on what your business does, you may be able to get a special rate from your insurance company if you have an extended annual off-season. Call your insurer and speak to a representative about the situation. Explain your business, and listen to their advice. They’ll often have a special commercial car insurance plan that’s structured around the assumption that a vehicle won’t be operated during specific times each year. These car insurance plans are a good choice if the car is still going to be driven occasionally, too, as they can be set up to convert the policy to a personal use policy.
In any case, the worst option for commercial car insurance is to buy a new insurance plan every year. With the current economy, insurance costs are on the rise, and it’s unlikely that you’ll be able to lock in the same rate each time you look to buy. Plan ahead, and you’ll end up saving money on premiums.
