Can You Get Auto Insurance Through Your Employer?

Last Updated on June 19, 2020

Can you get car insurance through work? In some cases, it’s possible to get auto insurance through an employer. In most cases, however, employers do not offer auto insurance like they offer health insurance, and you must buy car insurance on your own.

Depending on where you work, you might get car insurance discounts because of your employer. Nurses, firefighters, and teachers receive car insurance discounts from some insurers, for example.

Alternatively, some workplaces that require employees to drive may extend car insurance automatically. If you are driving for work-related reasons for your employer, then you may receive car insurance through your employer.

Keep reading to discover everything you need to know about getting auto insurance through your employer.

Most Employers Do Not Directly Offer Auto Insurance to Employees

As an employee, it’s unlikely that you can get auto insurance directly through your employer. Yes, most employers provide health insurance – but most employers do not have a similar system for auto insurance.

Instead, you must get auto insurance through a separate company – just like everybody else.

The rules change, however, if you drive a company car or drive your own vehicle for work purposes. If you make deliveries for work, for example, or if your company owns the vehicle you drive, then you might get car insurance through your employer.

How Business Car Insurance Works

If your company owns a vehicle, then your company needs commercial vehicle insurance. Commercial vehicle insurance covers any cars owned by the company.

If you have three work trucks in your construction company, for example, then your commercial vehicle insurance policy will cover these three tricks. This policy protects these three trucks from damage. It also covers the liability of anyone driving the truck. As long as the policy remains active, anyone driving that truck will have insurance coverage.

Lines can get blurry, however, when employees drive their own vehicles for work-related purposes.

Employee-Owned Vehicles & Car Insurance

Some businesses do not own their own vehicles. Instead, they let employees drive their own vehicles.

A pizza company, for example, has a fleet of delivery drivers working for the company – yet the pizza company does not own any vehicles itself.

In this situation, the company might have a different type of commercial vehicle insurance. Some commercial vehicle insurance plans extend coverage to employees who are working for the company.

Let’s say you own your own vehicle. You periodically drive your vehicle for work purposes – like picking up clients or delivering pizzas. If you get into an accident on a work-related trip, then your ordinary car insurance will not cover you. You have an ordinary car insurance policy – not a business insurance policy.

However, your employer’s commercial vehicle insurance could cover you. Your employer might have commercial vehicle insurance that extends coverage to employees even when those employees are driving their own vehicles.

A pizza company like Domino’s, for example, has an insurance policy that protects delivery drivers. These delivery drivers have their own vehicles with their own insurance policies, although an ordinary policy does not cover work-related trips – like delivering pizzas. The Domino’s commercial insurance policy, however, does extend coverage to drivers delivering pizzas. That means delivery drivers are protected by car insurance whether driving for business trips or personal reasons.

Uber and other rideshare companies have similar insurance. Uber does not own any vehicles, but Uber still has insurance that protects drivers who are driving their own vehicles on Uber rides.

With some insurers, this is called a non-owned vehicle policy. The business does not own the vehicle, but the business still wants to extend coverage to that vehicle.

Car Insurance Discounts Available to Employees

As an employee, you may be eligible for certain car insurance discounts. Depending on where you work, some insurers offer discounts to employers or professions.

GEICO, for example, has always offered discounts to government employees – like federal government workers. In fact, GEICO stands for ‘Government Employees Insurance Company’. As a government employee, you may still get a discount through GEICO today.

Other insurers offer discounts to first responders, police officers, firefighters, paramedics, teachers, doctors, nurses, and similar professions.

Alternatively, other insurers offer group discounts to certain types of employees or groups. You might get a discount for being part of a union, alumni group, professional association, or similar group, for example.

Talk to your Employer

Your employer might automatically extend car insurance coverage to your vehicle during work trips – or they might not. To verify coverage, contact your employer.

Too many drivers leave this until it’s too late: they drive for work frequently, then cause an accident, then realize they don’t have insurance coverage. The employer has no insurance coverage for the employee’s vehicle, and the employee’s own insurance company denies the claim because it was a work trip.

Because of this issue, a single accident could leave you with enormous out of pocket expenses. Talk to your employer or your HR department to verify if you are covered by insurance during work trips.

If you are not covered by your employer’s car insurance but want to be covered during work trips, then speak with your insurance company about adding business coverage to your plan. Some companies offer rideshare insurance that fills gaps in Uber or Lyft’s insurance coverage, for example. For a few extra dollars per month, you can avoid leaving a dangerous gap in your car insurance.

Request a Car Insurance Quote Today

As an employee, you are not eligible for special car insurance through your employer. Most employers do not provide special car insurance coverage plans, nor can employers purchase car insurance through their employer.

Instead, as an employee, you must buy car insurance through the marketplace like the rest of us.

Compare car insurance quotes online today by entering your ZIP code. You can instantly view rates for dozens of car insurance companies in your area. You can pay cheap car insurance rates as an employee regardless of your employer.

Final Word on Getting Auto Insurance Through Your Employer

Most employers in the United States do not provide car insurance to employees, and employees cannot buy car insurance through most employers.

However, if you drive your vehicle for work, or if your employer owns your vehicle, then you might be covered by your employer’s commercial vehicle insurance policy. This policy extends coverage to company-owned vehicles. It could also extend coverage to non-owned vehicles.

Contact your employer to verify coverage. In most cases, however, employees need to buy insurance through third party companies like any other driver.