Hopefully this will offer some guidance
on the various covers and options available to help you with the decision on
what is most appropriate for your business. Seek the advice of a qualified insurance broker
to ensure you are covered for the risks inherent in your detailing business,
General Liability Insurance
To protect you from the inherent risks
of liabilities imposed by lawsuits and similar claims, this coverage protects
your auto detailing customers in the event one of them is injured by a piece of
equipment on your property or even in the case that a customer trips on a cord
or hose and falls down and is injured while you’re doing work for them. You
should look for coverage quotes in the $500,000 to $1 million range, which
covers general liability in those amounts for your shop and/or mobile
operation.
Garage Keepers Legal Liability Insurance
Fixed-location auto detailing business,
you should look for coverage in the $50,000 to $100,000 range for damage to
your customer’s vehicles during the time they are in your possession. In
addition, coverage should include theft, fire and movement of the vehicles
and/or delivery.
Note -turning small claims in to your
insurance carrier may result in a higher premium.
If your operation provides pick-up and
delivery of customer’s vehicles, a clean driving record keeps premiums low.
Same thing goes for your employees. Before hiring anyone, make sure their
driver’s license isn’t suspended, revoked or chock full of points.
This can
also affect your insurance rates.
If you are going to use your personal
vehicle as your “mobile rig,” you may have to have your policy upgraded to a
Commercial policy and that is where “umbrella” coverage could help defray the
costs.
Business Interruption Insurance
Business interruption insurance would
cover any loss of income that a business may suffer after a disaster while its
facility is being rebuilt. If you carry this type of insurance and your auto
detailing location is hit by flood, fire or other event that prevents you from
working out of the insured location, your expenses are typically for 60 to 90
days.
Workman’s Compensation Insurance
Workers’ compensation is a form of
insurance providing wage replacement and medical benefits to employees injured
in the course of employment in exchange for mandatory relinquishment of the
employee’s right to sue you for negligence. While the cost of workman’s
compensation insurance is based on the type of business you run and the number
of people you employ, it’s wise to budget on average of $50-$100 per employee
per month for coverage.
Workman’s comp can typically be purchased from the
state in which you do business. And if your business is primarily detailing
cars, your business should be rated under the classification of “auto laundry.”
Just make sure the insurance doesn’t rate you as “auto service,” because your
premium will typically be much higher under that type of classification. And as
with all other forms of insurance, any claims made could increase the premium.
One final recommendation: Regardless of
which type insurance you carry for your auto detailing business, be sure seek
the advice of a qualified insurance broker, one that is a “rated” carrier by a
credit rating agency dedicated to serving the insurance industry.
I hope the above article was informative. By having some
understanding of the ‘What’ and ‘Why’ as well as the ‘How’ along with a little
science to help you understand how the chemicals we use react, you can achieve
the results you desire.
Questions and/ or constructive comments are always
appreciated
Copyright © 2002 - 2012 TOGWT® (Established
1980) all rights reserved
No comments:
Post a Comment