Increased excess liability limits.

Reviewing and updating liability insurance limits can be an area that is often overlooked, or an afterthought, by many dealers. Not updating excess liability limits regularly can cause major headaches and expenses in an increasingly litigious climate.

Most accidents at a dealership result in damages that are typically under the $1 million limit on your garage policy, but what about a catastrophic event where damages are upwards of $10 million? Human nature has many say, “this will never happen to me” or “what are the chances?” It is reasonable to think the chances of this happening are minimal, but the question you should be asking is when, not if, it could happen.

A few scenarios to consider: If a customer is out on a test drive and causes an accident, or the parts delivery driver is driving the parts truck and causes a serious injury. In these scenarios, the dealership will be liable for the damages caused by these accidents in many cases.

The cost of additional liability coverage typically will not increase the total cost of the insurance package by much. Ally Property & Casualty has many options that can work for you. For example, an average policy for an insured with a good loss record could increase to a band of $5 million to $10 million for as little as $1,000 per $1 million of coverage.Dealers do not need to wait for their renewal to discuss increasing their limits of excess liability coverage. If you have questions, ask your Ally representative the next time you meet with them. They will be able to provide specific examples of where higher limits helped a dealer sleep better at night knowing they have the coverage needed to help minimize potential business interruptions following an unfortunate accident.