Food and beverage wholesalers face unique risks when running their businesses due to buying, selling, and storing food products in bulk. These risks include theft, damage from natural disasters, and even lawsuits. Having the right insurance policies is essential when disaster strikes. If your food or beverage wholesale business owns or operates any vehicles, your company needs a commercial auto insurance policy. In 2019, there were over 510,000 crashes involving large trucks. In 2022, the commercial fleet accident rate was nearly 20%. Even if your drivers are the safest motorists on the road, it is important to have the right auto insurance. In this article, we will discuss the purpose and benefits of commercial auto insurance for food and beverage wholesalers.
What is Commercial Auto Insurance?
Commercial auto insurance protects the vehicles and drivers your food and beverage wholesale business relies on. This type of policy protects your company from financial loss when a vehicle is damaged, or a driver is injured. It covers any trucks, cars, or vans used in operating your business.
Additionally, most states require businesses that operate vehicles to have a commercial auto insurance policy with a certain amount of coverage. For example, New York state requires baseline commercial auto policies to have a minimum liability of $25,000 per person and $50,000 per accident for bodily injury. The amount of coverage you need depends primarily on the type of vehicles your company operates.
Why Do Food & Beverage Wholesalers Need Commercial Auto Insurance?
If your food and beverage wholesaler company operates any vehicles for delivery, storage, or transportation, auto insurance provides your business with essential protection. Even if all of your drivers have personal auto insurance, commercial auto insurance includes coverages that are typically excluded from personal rates. Commercial auto insurance protects your business from costs associated with medical care, auto repair, and potential lawsuits. This protection is essential to operating your wholesale business effectively.
What Coverage Can Commercial Auto Insurance Provide?
Commercial auto insurance provides protection beyond personal auto insurance policies. This type of insurance compensates your business for the cost of possible litigation, property damage, medical expenses, and other expenses, regardless of who is at fault.
Commercial auto insurance kicks in when damage has been done to your company vehicles. The policy has collision coverage, which covers the cost of repairing a damaged vehicle regardless of who is at fault. This auto policy can also cover medical expenses for any drivers, victims, or passengers who were injured in the collision. If your company faces a lawsuit after a vehicular accident, your auto policy can cover any legal defense fees. Commercial auto insurance also provides coverage to motorists that do not have a personal auto insurance policy. Finally, this policy covers non-collision vehicle damage like vandalism, theft, fire, and some natural disasters. Auto insurance protects your food and beverage wholesale business from facing unexpected expenses when operating vehicles.
Other Policies for Food & Beverage Wholesalers
Food and beverage wholesalers face many risks. On top of auto insurance, there are several other essential policies that every food and beverage company should have. Here are some of the most important policies for the food and beverage industry:
- Product recall coverage protects companies from financial loss due to a product recall.
- Surety bonds guarantee performance in the face of risk and provide customers with a guarantee that work will be completed.
- Ocean cargo and stock throughput coverage protect your products through the importing and exporting process.
- Product liability insurance protects against financial loss from a lawsuit if your product causes harm to users.
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At Coughlin Insurance Services, we believe our customers should be valued and cared for to the best of our ability. We aim to provide quality service and meet the needs of our clients by providing businesses, including those in the food industry, with the insurance they need to protect their assets. If you are a business looking for insurance, don’t hesitate to reach out for a free insurance quote today!