Garage & Dealers Insurance
Auto dealers, repair shops, body shops, and service stations have exposures that standard commercial auto and general liability policies weren't designed to handle. Garage insurance is built specifically for the automotive service and sales industry.
Customer vehicles in your care create liability that general and auto policies don't cover.
When a customer leaves their vehicle with your business — for service, repair, detailing, or storage — you take on legal liability for that vehicle. Garagekeepers legal liability is the coverage that protects you when a customer's vehicle is damaged or stolen while in your care, custody, or control. It's a specialty coverage that doesn't exist in standard commercial auto or GL policies.
Auto dealers face an additional layer of exposure: the vehicles on their lot before they're sold. Dealer open lot coverage (also called dealers' physical damage) insures the dealer's inventory of vehicles against physical damage — fire, wind, hail, flood, theft, and collision.
A complete garage program also includes garage liability (the equivalent of GL for auto businesses, covering bodily injury and property damage from garage operations), commercial auto for owned vehicles, and for dealers, false pretense coverage for vehicles taken in scams.
What this coverage does for you
- Garagekeepers legal liability for customer vehicles in your care
- Garage liability covering operations, premises, and completed work
- Dealer open lot (physical damage) for vehicle inventory
- Commercial auto for owned, leased, and loaner vehicles
- False pretense coverage for dealer fraud/theft exposures
- Covers repair shops, body shops, detailers, auto dealers, and service stations
What a garage program covers.
Each component addresses a specific exposure that's unique to automotive businesses.
Garagekeepers Legal Liability
Covers damage to or theft of customer vehicles while in your care, custody, or control — on your premises or while being test-driven. Two forms available: legal liability (covers only your legal obligation) and direct primary (covers regardless of fault).
Garage Liability
The GL equivalent for auto businesses. Covers bodily injury and property damage arising from garage operations — customer injuries on premises, damage caused during service work, and completed operations claims from prior repairs.
Dealer Open Lot
Physical damage coverage for dealer vehicle inventory — new, used, and floor-planned vehicles on the lot or at other locations. Covers fire, wind, hail, flood, theft, and collision damage to unsold inventory.
False Pretense Coverage
Covers dealers who release a vehicle to someone who obtained it through fraud or misrepresentation — including check fraud, title fraud, and spot delivery scams. A significant exposure for dealers that standard policies exclude.
Drive Other Car (DOC)
Extends personal auto liability coverage to dealership principals and employees who use their own vehicles or dealership vehicles for personal use — filling the gap that commercial auto leaves for non-business use.
Lenders & Floor Plan Protection
For dealers with floor plan financing, we coordinate with lender requirements and make sure the program satisfies the insurance obligations in your floor plan agreement — including proper loss payee endorsements.
Common questions.
Garage liability is a specialized form of GL designed for auto businesses. It covers the same categories as GL — bodily injury and property damage from operations — but is written on forms tailored to the automotive industry that address the unique exposures of working with customer vehicles, test drives, and service operations.
Yes — garagekeepers covers theft of customer vehicles in your care. Coverage can be written on a legal liability basis (you're covered only if you're legally liable for the theft) or direct primary basis (covered regardless of fault). Direct primary provides broader protection and is worth the additional premium for most shops.
If customer or consignment vehicles are ever in your care — whether for service, storage, or any other reason — garagekeepers is relevant. Dealers who take vehicles in on consignment or conduct pre-delivery inspections should also consider the exposure carefully.
False pretense covers the situation where a dealer releases a vehicle to someone who obtained it through fraud — bad checks, fraudulent financing, title fraud, or spot delivery scams where the customer returns the vehicle and claims the deal fell through. It's a real and growing exposure for dealers and is typically available as an endorsement.
Pricing is based on the average inventory value (typically reported monthly), vehicle types, location security features, prior loss history, and whether the lot is covered or open. We'll walk you through the reporting requirements to make sure the coverage amount is accurate throughout the policy term.
Coverage built for the automotive industry.
Whether you run a repair shop, body shop, auto dealership, or service station, we'll build a garage program that covers what standard policies miss.