Your personal policy won't cover the vehicle that earns its keep.
The moment a vehicle starts working for the business, a personal auto policy stops backing it up — business use is exactly what personal policies exclude. Commercial auto covers the trucks and vans you own, hired and non-owned auto covers the ones you don't, and the covered-auto symbols on the policy quietly decide what's actually insured. Here's how it works, where the gaps hide, and why getting the setup right matters more than the price. Placed through an independent agency that represents Auto-Owners.
The short answer
Commercial auto covers the vehicles your business owns and uses for work — liability, physical damage, medical payments, and uninsured-motorist coverage — because a personal auto policy excludes business use and can deny a work-related claim. Hired & non-owned auto extends it to rented vehicles and employees' personal cars driven for the business. What's actually covered is set by the covered-auto symbols on the policy, which is where the setup makes or breaks a claim. Backed by an A+ (Superior) carrier and placed only through an independent agent like Cribb.
Coverage for the vehicles that do the work.
A commercial auto policy is built from familiar parts — sized and structured for a business instead of a household.
Auto liability
Pays for bodily injury and property damage your business vehicles cause to others, plus legal defense. The coverage the law requires and the one a serious accident leans on hardest.
Physical damage
Comprehensive and collision coverage for your vehicles — wrecks, theft, vandalism, and weather. Keeps a damaged or stolen work truck from becoming a business interruption.
Medical payments
Covers medical expenses for the driver and passengers of your vehicle after an accident, regardless of fault — a fast-acting layer alongside liability.
Uninsured / underinsured motorist
Protects your drivers when the at-fault party has no insurance or too little — a real risk in a state where many drivers carry only the minimum.
Hired & non-owned auto
Extends liability to rented or leased vehicles and to employees' personal cars driven for work — the exposure a standard policy leaves wide open.
Commercial umbrella-ready
A serious accident can blow past auto liability limits fast. Commercial auto is built to sit under a commercial umbrella when the operation needs limits in the millions.
A personal policy quits when the work starts.
Hauling equipment, making deliveries, transporting goods or crews — that's business use, and it's precisely what a personal auto policy is written to exclude. File that claim on a personal policy and it can be denied.
The vehicle didn't change — the use did.
The same pickup can be personal on Sunday and commercial on Monday. Once it's earning its keep — carrying tools, making runs, pulling a work trailer — a personal auto policy's business-use exclusion can leave you personally on the hook for an accident that happened on the job. Regular business use needs commercial auto, which is also required by law in most states for business-owned vehicles.
The trap is subtle because nothing about the truck looks different. That's why the honest question isn't "is it insured?" but "is it insured for what it's actually doing?" — and it's the first thing we sort out when a vehicle starts working for a business.
Covered-auto symbols run the whole policy.
Commercial auto uses numbered symbols to say which vehicles each coverage applies to. Get them wrong and a vehicle you thought was covered isn't — the most common way a commercial auto claim goes sideways.
A quiet code that makes or breaks coverage.
Each coverage on a commercial auto policy carries a covered-auto symbol. Symbol 1 means any auto — the broadest, often used for liability. Symbol 7 covers only the specifically described autos listed on the policy. Symbol 8 covers hired autos and symbol 9 covers non-owned autos like employees' cars. A policy can use different symbols for different coverages, so a truck can be covered for liability but not physical damage — or a vehicle you just bought can fall outside coverage if the symbols don't pick it up.
This is the part a business owner never sees until a claim, and it's exactly where an agent earns their keep. We set the symbols to how your business actually runs — including newly acquired vehicles — so the policy responds the way you expect it to.
Three things to get right on commercial auto.
First, set the covered-auto symbols to match how the business operates, so owned, hired, and newly bought vehicles are all picked up. Second, add hired & non-owned auto if anyone ever drives a rented or personal vehicle for work. Third, carry enough liability and pair it with a commercial umbrella — a work-vehicle accident is one of the fastest ways to a claim in the millions.
Your people, their cars, your liability.
Hired & non-owned auto is the coverage people forget.
When an employee runs to the supply store, drops off a delivery, or visits a client in their own car, and causes an accident, your business can be pulled into the claim even though it doesn't own the vehicle. The employee's personal policy is primary, but it may deny the claim because the driving was for business — and its limits may fall short. Hired & non-owned auto is what stands behind your business in that moment, and it also covers rented and leased vehicles you use. It's liability coverage, so it doesn't pay for damage to the employee's or rental vehicle itself — but for the liability exposure, it's inexpensive relative to the risk, and nearly every business has the exposure.
What commercial auto won't cover.
It's broad for the vehicles, but a few things need their own coverage.
The non-owned vehicle's own damage
Hired and non-owned auto is liability only — it doesn't pay to repair the employee's personal car or the rental vehicle itself. Physical damage to those stays with the owner or a rental agreement.
The goods you're hauling
Damage to the cargo or property being transported isn't covered by the auto policy — that needs motor truck cargo or an inland marine policy, which we can add for haulers and contractors.
Wear & mechanical breakdown
Ordinary wear, mechanical failure, and maintenance are the owner's responsibility, not a covered auto loss. The policy responds to accidents and sudden events, not upkeep.
Backed by an A+ (Superior) carrier.
AM Best rates the members of Auto-Owners Insurance Group — the companies behind your Arkansas commercial auto policy — with a Financial Strength Rating of A+ (Superior) and a Long-Term Issuer Credit Rating of "aa" (Superior), stable outlook, per its rating action dated October 31, 2024. A+ (Superior) is the second-highest of AM Best's rating levels and sits in its top "Superior" category. A financial strength rating is an opinion about an insurer's ability to pay claims — its solvency — not a grade of how a specific claim is handled, and not a recommendation. The current rating is at ambest.com.
Where we earn it on commercial auto.
The quiet commercial-auto mistakes are a work vehicle left on a personal policy, covered-auto symbols that don't match the operation, no hired & non-owned coverage when employees drive their own cars, and liability limits too low for a serious accident. We set the symbols correctly, add HNOA where it's needed, size the limits and pair an umbrella, and keep newly acquired vehicles covered. We don't adjust your claim and can't overrule an adjuster — but we build the policy to respond, and we quote Auto-Owners against our other commercial markets.
Priced to the fleet, not a sticker.
Commercial auto premiums span too wide a range for a single meaningful figure — a contractor's one work van and a regional delivery fleet aren't in the same universe. Price turns on the vehicles and their values, how and how far they're driven, what they carry, the drivers and their records, the coverages and limits, and the covered-auto symbols. That's why we price it to the operation rather than post a number. This isn't a quote or a guarantee. Tell us about the vehicles and we'll build the real figure with you, Auto-Owners against our other commercial markets.
The rest of the business's protection.
Auto-Owners commercial auto questions.
Does my personal auto policy cover my work vehicle?
Usually not, and this is the gap that surprises business owners. Personal auto policies generally exclude business use, so if you're using a vehicle to haul equipment, make deliveries, transport goods, or otherwise run your business and you have an accident, the personal insurer can deny the claim.
Occasional commuting is one thing, but regular business use is exactly what a personal policy is written to avoid. Vehicles used for business need commercial auto insurance, which is also required by law in most states for business-owned vehicles. If there's any question about how a vehicle is used, it's worth sorting out before a claim rather than after.
What does commercial auto insurance cover?
Commercial auto covers the vehicles your business owns and uses for work. It includes auto liability for bodily injury and property damage you cause to others, physical damage coverage (comprehensive and collision) for your own vehicles against wrecks, theft, vandalism, and weather, medical payments for injuries, and uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage for when the at-fault driver has little or no insurance.
It can be extended with hired and non-owned auto for vehicles you don't own, and paired with a commercial umbrella for higher liability limits. Exactly which vehicles are covered is defined by the covered-auto symbols on the policy, which is where getting the setup right matters.
What are covered auto symbols?
Covered auto symbols are the numbered codes on a commercial auto policy that define which vehicles a given coverage applies to — and they quietly decide whether a claim is paid. Symbol 1 means any auto, the broadest option often used for liability. Symbol 7 covers only specifically described autos listed on the policy. Symbol 8 covers hired autos, and symbol 9 covers non-owned autos such as employees' personal vehicles used for work.
A policy can use different symbols for different coverages, so a vehicle can be covered for liability but not physical damage, or a newly acquired truck can fall outside coverage if the symbols don't include it. Matching the symbols to how your business actually operates is a core part of setting the policy up correctly.
What is hired and non-owned auto (HNOA) coverage?
Hired and non-owned auto coverage protects your business for liability arising from vehicles it uses but doesn't own — rented or leased vehicles (hired) and employees' personal vehicles driven for work (non-owned). A standard commercial auto policy covers the vehicles you own; it does not automatically cover these. HNOA fills that gap.
It's important to understand it's primarily liability coverage: it does not pay for physical damage to the rented or employee vehicle itself, and for an employee's personal car their own policy is primary, with HNOA responding on a secondary basis. Almost any business whose people run errands, make deliveries, or rent vehicles for work has this exposure, which is why we recommend HNOA so often.
My employees run errands in their own cars — is my business covered?
Not automatically, and this is a common blind spot. When an employee drives their personal vehicle for business — a supply run, a delivery, a client visit — and causes an accident, your business can be pulled into the claim even though the vehicle isn't yours. The employee's personal auto policy is the primary coverage, but it may deny the claim because the driving was for business, and their limits may not be enough.
Hired and non-owned auto coverage is what protects your business in that situation. If anyone at your company ever drives a non-owned vehicle for work, it's worth adding, and it's usually inexpensive relative to the risk.
How do I get an Auto-Owners commercial auto quote in Northwest Arkansas?
Start at our commercial quote form or call (479) 286-1066. Tell us about the vehicles — what they are, how they're used, the radius you operate in, who drives them and their records, and whether anyone drives rented or personal vehicles for work — and we'll set the covered-auto symbols, coverages, and limits to match, add hired and non-owned where it fits, and consider a commercial umbrella over it.
We'll quote Auto-Owners against our other commercial markets. Because Auto-Owners only sells through independent agents, an agency like ours is the only way to buy it.
If our coverage explainers are useful, mark Cribb Insurance as a preferred source so more Northwest Arkansas business owners can find our local, plain-English guides.
Insure the vehicles the way they're actually used.
Tell us what you drive, how it's used, and who's behind the wheel, and we'll set the covered-auto symbols, add hired and non-owned where it fits, and size the liability — with a commercial umbrella over the top if the operation warrants it. If Auto-Owners is the right fit, we'll place it. If another of our commercial markets fits better, we'll tell you that too.
Cribb Insurance Group Inc. is an independent insurance agency licensed in Arkansas. We are not Auto-Owners, and this page is not endorsed, sponsored, reviewed, or approved by Auto-Owners. "Auto-Owners" and "Auto-Owners Insurance" are service marks or trademarks of Auto-Owners Insurance Company and its affiliates, used here nominatively to identify products we are appointed to place. Auto-Owners' Arkansas commercial auto policies are issued by Auto-Owners-affiliated underwriting companies.
This page describes commercial auto insurance in general, industry-standard terms for informational purposes only. It is not a policy, not an offer of insurance, and not a guarantee of coverage, availability, eligibility, or price. Auto liability, physical damage (comprehensive and collision), medical payments, uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage, hired and non-owned auto, covered-auto symbols, limits, deductibles, endorsements, and exclusions are set by the carrier, vary by state and by policy and over time, are subject to the carrier's underwriting approval and eligibility, and apply only as written in the policy actually issued to you. Personal auto policies generally exclude business use; whether any particular use is covered depends on the policy issued. Hired and non-owned auto is liability coverage and does not cover physical damage to the hired or non-owned vehicle; an employee's personal auto policy is generally primary. Cargo and property being transported, and mechanical breakdown and wear, are not covered by a commercial auto policy and may require separate coverage. Legal requirements to carry commercial auto insurance vary and are set by law, not by this agency.
Financial strength ratings are opinions of an insurer's ability to meet its ongoing insurance obligations, are subject to change, are not recommendations to purchase, hold or terminate any policy, and do not address an insurer's claims-handling practices; current ratings are at ambest.com. The A+ (Superior) rating referenced applies to the members of Auto-Owners Insurance Group. Any cost or coverage descriptions are general and illustrative, not a quote, and not a guarantee; your premium and coverage are determined at quote and by the policy issued.
Last reviewed July 2026.