The Top Factors that Affect Commercial Vehicle Insurance

When you’re using vehicles for your business, it’s simply sensible to get insurance for all of them. After all, it’s the law. Also, medical bills and repairs can ruin you financially if you get into an accident. That’s why commercial vehicle insurance in North Carolina is crucial for any business.

Of course, it’s also important that you try to keep your insurance premiums at a reasonable level. You don’t want the insurance company siphoning too much money from your profits. But what factors affect the cost of your commercial insurance? The truth is that quite a lot of these considerations are factored in. Some factors, however, play a more important role in determining the size of the premium:

• The type of vehicles you’re using. Obviously, the more vehicles you have, the more you have to pay in premiums. But the gross vehicle weight will affect your payments as well.
• The coverage amount. The minimum coverage for larger commercial vehicles in North Carolina is $750,000. While vehicles lighter than 10,000 pounds generally don’t have a minimum liability requirement, it’s still important that you try to go for the higher limits you can afford to get. This will offer you a more secure financial protection for the stability of your enterprise.
• The driving record of your designated drivers. The driving history of your drivers will be checked assiduously. You will have to pay more if they have spotty records and driving infractions in their personal jackets. It will also increase the premiums if your drivers have had too many claims—that just proves they’re a bad risk for the insurance company.
• Instead, you can insist that your drivers also take up supplementary safety driving courses. It’s better if you ask the insurance company to furnish the educational institutions for this so it can help to reduce the premiums. There’s really no advantage if the courses taken by your drivers come from institutions that aren’t recognized by the insurance company.
• The safety features of the vehicles. Some brands simply have a better reputation for safety than others, so you may want to keep that in mind when you buy your fleet of vehicles. Keep in mind that when you get these vehicles, more than your business is at risk. This will also affect the health of your employees.
• The general rule here is that you can’t have too many safety features in your commercial vehicles. So look for good tests in safety features for the vehicles. Check for seat belts, large number of airbags, and a great safety reputation for the brand.
• The location of the garage. It will also help if you have a secure garage for your vehicles. It’s better than just putting them in the business parking lot, or worse, parking them right on the street. If you can demonstrate that your cars are safe in the garage, the premiums may be adjusted lower.