Your fleet is on the road every day. Your program needs to be built for that exposure.
Commercial auto is one of the highest-frequency, highest-severity lines in commercial insurance. Verdicts have climbed dramatically in the last decade, and the cost of a single at-fault accident with a serious injury can move from a routine claim to a business-ending event in a matter of seconds.
Most commercial auto programs aren’t underpriced. They’re under-built. Hired and non-owned auto exposure missed entirely, inadequate limits for accident severity, missing MCS-90 endorsements where required, the wrong drive-other-car structure for owner-operators — these gaps are common, and they only surface when a claim has already been filed.
At Avanti Group, we run a Business Risk Diagnostic™ before we build any commercial auto submission. We map your fleet, your driver roster, your operations, and your contract requirements — and make sure your program reflects how your vehicles are actually used.
Who We Work With
We place commercial auto programs for businesses across Iowa and the Midwest, including:
- Contractors and trades businesses with service vehicles
- Trucking and transportation operators (covered separately on our Trucking page)
- Delivery, courier, and last-mile operations
- Sales and service fleets
- Restaurants and food service with delivery vehicles
- Property management and real estate companies
- Healthcare and home services with mobile staff
- Nonprofits, churches, and associations operating vehicles
The Coverage Lines That Matter Most
A complete commercial auto program is built from several interconnected lines and endorsements. The components we evaluate and place include:
- Auto Liability — bodily injury and property damage to third parties arising from your vehicles
- Hired & Non-Owned Auto — coverage when employees use personal vehicles for business or you rent vehicles; routinely missing on small business programs
- Physical Damage — collision and comprehensive coverage on owned vehicles, with replacement cost vs. actual cash value elections that matter on newer equipment
- Medical Payments / PIP — medical expenses for occupants of your vehicles
- Uninsured / Underinsured Motorist — coverage when an at-fault driver doesn’t carry adequate limits
- Drive-Other-Car — for owners and executives operating vehicles outside the fleet
- MCS-90 & Federal Filings — required for carriers crossing state lines under FMCSA authority
- Commercial Umbrella — additional limits above primary auto liability; verdicts have made minimum required limits insufficient for most operations
The Risks Most Commercial Auto Programs Miss
Hired and non-owned auto liability is the most commonly missed coverage. If an employee runs an errand or makes a delivery in their personal vehicle and causes an accident, your business may be liable — and their personal auto policy almost certainly won’t respond to a commercial use claim. We make sure HNOA is in the program.
Liability limits are routinely too low. Verdicts on commercial auto cases have climbed sharply, and the difference between a $1M and a $5M umbrella is often the difference between a covered claim and a personal asset exposure for the owner. We benchmark limits against your actual exposure, not what you carried five years ago.
Driver MVR monitoring is frequently informal. A driver with a recent violation history that the insured didn’t know about can create coverage disputes after a claim. We help you build proper MVR review and driver qualification practices into your fleet management.
Vehicle valuations are often outdated. Replacement cost on newer equipment vs. actual cash value on older vehicles requires a deliberate election. Many programs default to ACV across the fleet and leave significant value on the table after a total loss.
How to Get Started
Commercial auto isn’t a commodity product. The right program depends on your fleet, your drivers, your operations, and your contract requirements. We need to understand your business before we can build the right program for it.
Call our office or use the button below to start a conversation. We’ll review your current program, identify any gaps, and let you know exactly where you stand before we ever go to market.