Garage Insurance – Division I or Division II?

It is often said that the garage insurance policy is one of the most misunderstood forms of insurance. The problem is that this form of insurance essentially is a hybrid of a general liability insurance policy and a business auto insurance policy. More than that though, this form is a specialized form, used only for auto body and repair shops and auto dealers. Given that, many agents, who don’t specialize in helping these specific industries with their insurance needs, don’t really understand the ins and outs of the garage insurance policy and as a result they may issue a policy to you under the wrong form. So how do you know if you have the right protection?

First of all, understand that although the garage liability policy is appropriate for both an automotive repair shop and an auto dealer, within that group, you need to have the correct classification on your garage insurance policy. There are 2 different divisions of coverage on the garage policy, Division I and Division II. These divisions not only affect the policy form itself, but they also impact on the rating structure and how your final premium is determined. For these reasons, it is important that you have your policy set up correctly in the first place whether you are buying auto dealers insurance or automotive repair insurance.

Division I is the division that should be used if your business is an auto dealership. If however, your business is automotive repair or body work, then your garage liability policy should be written as a division II garage insurance policy. If you are unsure whether or not your policy is set up correctly, you can check to see which division your policy is written on by checking the declarations page of your garage insurance policy.

What happens if you are involved in auto sales and auto repair? If that is the case, then your policy should be written on the Division I form.

As you can see, there are a lot of tripwires out there for business who repair or sale cars who are looking for a garage insurance policy. You need an insurance agent who specializes in the garage insurance policy and helping both car dealers and automotive repair shops with their insurance needs. At Clinard Insurance Group in Winston Salem, NC, we are that specialist. Our used car dealer clients and our auto and body repair shop clients are located all over NC, SC, GA, TN and Va. If we can help you with your garage insurance questions, or if you would like a quote on your current insurance program, please give us a call, toll free, at 877-687-7557 or visit us our auto repair and body shop web page or our used car dealers insurance help site.

The information used for this article can be found in its entirety at www.InsuranceAnswerGuy.com.