Keep customers’ cars safe on your lot with Garage Insurance.
Customers have a reasonable expectation that their vehicle will remain safe while in your care. That said, accidents happen. No matter how careful you and your staff may be, there’s always a possibility that something could go wrong…and that your company could be held liable.
Garage Insurance protects the value of your customers’ vehicles while left in your care for servicing, repairs, storage or when otherwise attended to on your premises. It also provides coverage for accidental third-party bodily injury and property damage resulting from your garage operations.
The Benefits of Coverage
Make sure you’re protected. Garage insurance offers three coverage options:
- Collision coverage: pays for physical and mechanical damage to a customer’s vehicle if it hits or is hit by an object.
- Comprehensive coverage: provides coverage for all causes of loss not covered by collision coverage.
- Specified causes of loss coverage: a more limited form of comprehensive coverage.
A common claim for garage insurance is damage to a customer’s vehicle while it’s being operated by a dealership employee. Interestingly enough, the majority of these claims take place away from the garage facility itself. By and large, accidents tend to happen when a garage employee is test driving the vehicle to make sure repairs have been successfully completed and that the customer’s concerns have been addressed.
To help reduce these types of claims, it’s important to discuss safe driving tips with anyone on your staff who may operate a customer’s vehicle.
Road Tips For Employees: Many accidents in the United States deal with distracted driving, usually in the form of using a cell phone during the operation of a motor vehicle. In most states it is now illegal to use a cell phone while driving unless in hands-free mode; however, even that may cause distracted driving. To err on the side of caution, you can remind employees to either not answer a call or advise the caller that their call will be returned after they have completed their test drive.
While it should go without saying, no employee should be operating a customer’s vehicle, or any other vehicle, while under the influence of drugs or alcohol.
Unfortunately, road rage is also an ever-increasing phenomenon and should be addressed with employees along with ways to stay calm behind the wheel. Simply because another vehicle may cut you off does not make it okay to operate the customer’s vehicle in a dangerous manner.
In the event that the customer has a high-performance vehicle, employees should be advised to refrain from driving in an unsafe manner, particularly with excessive speed. Employees should stay focused on the road conditions, allow plenty of time to merge into the flow of traffic and allow a safe driving distance between the vehicle they are operating and the vehicle ahead of them. And of course, all drivers and passengers should mind the rules of the road, be courteous to other drivers and ALWAYS use their seatbelts.
Some accidents may be unavoidable, however with consistent communication and training, you can help to reduce the risk of traffic-related collisions.
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Inventory and Floorplan coverages are underwritten by Ally International Insurance Company or Motors Insurance Corporation. Workers’ Compensation insurance is underwritten by Service American. Garage coverage is underwritten by Falls Lake Insurance Company. The other listed coverages are underwritten by third-party insurers not affiliated with Ally Insurance Group of companies.