Auto body shops repair cars that have been in fender benders and collisions. They make cars look as good as new so that it’s impossible to tell that the accident ever happened. The clients who entrust body shops with their vehicles rely on their advice and expertise, which is why auto body repair shops can be sued for fraud and negligence. And that’s why you need the right auto body shop insurance.
Here at Skyscraper insurance, we have experience helping businesses get auto body shop insurance, including:
- Antique and classic automobile restoration
- Automotive body shops
- Automotive interior shops
- Automotive paint shops
- Automotive tops (canvas or plastic), installation, repair, or sales and installation
- Automotive trim shops
- Bump shops
- Collision shops
- Customizing automobiles, trucks or vans: except on a factory basis
- Upholstery repair for vehicles
- Van conversions, except on a factory basis
Auto Body shops range in the services they provide from vehicle mechanical and electric repair to auto body repair services, such as dent and scratch removal. Most auto body shops employ auto mechanics and electricians to repair vehicles that need basic maintenance or heavy-duty repair work. They may also specialize in certain types of vehicles or repair work like transmissions, tires, or brakes. If you own and operate a auto body shop, you most likely know that you’re open to more than a fair share of risks. These involve liability risks from potential damage or theft of customer vehicles along with employee risks of working with the heavy and often dangerous equipment and tools. Protect these and other risks by obtaining auto body shops insurance.
Two key components of a collision repair shop’s insurance portfolio are garage keepers and garage liability insurance. Here’s a review for anyone who’s less familiar with them.
Garage keepers covers damage to the customer’s vehicle while it’s in your care. It doesn’t include the items inside the vehicle; that’s an additional cost. Three subsets of it are common:
- Direct primary, which costs more, covers a customer’s vehicle even if whatever happened wasn’t your fault. (A river nearby floods your storage lot. It’s good PR to pay for the damage to the customers’ cars even if it wasn’t your fault.)
- Excess covers whatever the customer’s comprehensive doesn’t.
- Legal liable, the most basic, covers everything that is your fault. (An employee whom you’ve now fired scratches an undamaged part of the car during the repair process.)
Garage liability covers everything else that happens to the customer or employee on the premises — slips and falls, discrimination, complaints with your work, etc.