It can be challenging to deal with all of your different insurance policies and assets that you have between your business and personal life. From business insurance to home insurance, life insurance to auto insurance for your personal and business vehicles the perfect balance of personal and business coverage can be hard to manage. Although a lot of these complex insurance arrangements cannot be simplified, the one involving your business and personal car insurance can be.

When you buy a business auto policy to cover your company car you can choose the Drive-Other-Car endorsement to cover your driving activities with a personal vehicle rather than buying a separate policy for personal use. 

What is included in this endorsement?

The coverage provided under this endorsement is similar to that of conventional, personal auto insurance but only one bill payment is necessary—to your business auto policy. This makes paperwork easier for you and lessens the risk of one of your policies being interrupted due to nonpayment. The Drive-Other-Car endorsement can also be used to provide coverage to employees who are provided with a company car to take home.

The Drive-Other-Car endorsement can also provide bodily injury and property damage liability coverage as well as uninsured or underinsured motorist coverage. Whatever limits and deductibles you choose for the business auto insurance policy are extended to the endorsement.

Critical Factors to Consider

The Drive-Other-Car endorsement does not just cover you when you drive personal vehicles, it can also cover claims resulting from accidents that occur while you, or a covered employee, are driving a rental vehicle or a friend’s car. That helps to make this extremely flexible endorsement extremely comprehensive.

This endorsement can cover other drivers in the employee or business owner’s household too—but you must read your policy before you assume that this is the case. If your policy does cover household members then they will be protected whether driving a rental car, borrowed car or their own personal vehicle. However, this does not mean that they are covered under the business portion of your policy if they use your company vehicle.

In order to qualify for this endorsement, the business vehicle you use and insure must be owned by your business and not by you, a spouse or a member of your family. When looking for ways to buy insurance policies that protect you against financial risks and simplify your life, additional endorsements like the Drive-Other-Car endorsement are important and valuable tools to consider.

Contact us at (800) 212-2641 for a free company car insurance quote or visit our office.

Your car is vulnerable to attack every day. Whether you are at the grocery store, the mall, or your neighborhood salon, someone could break into your vehicle and take whatever valuable possessions you have inside.

Many people make sure to lock their car doors and close their windows when they are out of their own neighborhood safe zone so they aren’t giving potential car thieves an open invitation to their stuff. But once they get home, to their tree-lined street filled with neighbors that they trust, all their safety activities go out the window. They leave their windows down enough to snake an arm through, leave doors unlocked and use their car like it’s another room of their home with expensive MP3 players, laptops, clothes and other items inside.

No matter where you live you should never take the safety of your surroundings for granted. Crime happens everywhere, and even the most secured and safe-seeming areas can play host to criminal activity.

Your vehicle is one of the most vulnerable places to store or leave valuable possessions and it is the last place you should leave unlocked at the mercy of vandals and thieves. No matter how safe you think it might be wherever you have it parked, you should always lock your car and remove any expensive items that don’t really need to be in the car. If you aren’t able to take out your valuables, you can always leave them in your trunk. While a super determined burglar could still break into your trunk, it’s not likely they will go to the trouble and risk when they don’t even know if there is anything worth stealing within it. If you leave items in view however, you can be sure that a passing thief will recognize the potential value and break in. Tinted windows can help reduce visibility from the outside at night, but rather than risk your possessions it is best just to remove them from the car and bring them into your home or work each time.

You never know when you could experience this kind of event. That’s why you bought Texas car insurance in the first place. But the more you do to prevent insurable events from occurring, the less expensive your premiums will be and the less stress you will have in replacing the valuable items you lose.

To learn more about Texas car insurance contact us at (800) 212-2641 or get a free car insurance quote.

Insurance companies have to regulate their liability in a practical manner. This is why there are suicide exclusions on life insurance policies, pre-existing condition exclusions in health insurance policies, and certain pollution exclusions in company car policies. But insurance companies can also offer unmatched coverage that protects you from certain hazards to your business—which is why there is also specific pollution coverages that you can add to your company car policy. Let’s explore the differences between the exclusions and the coverages.

The Pollution Exclusion
Your business car policy covers bodily injuries that your employees may sustain in a collision unless the injuries are a result of the release, seepage, dispersal or escape of pollutants from your company vehicle. In general, your employees should not be handling pollutants in any form unless you have the suitable coverage for this business activity. When you are handling and getting rid of pollutants in the proper manner, then obtaining coverage for these essential activities is easy and affordable. For most businesses, this is not an issue. Only select companies need to deal with waste and storage of pollutants. But it is crucial to understand what is considered a pollutant before you verify whether or not the exclusion will impact your business. Common items like paint, oil and industrial solvents may be considered pollutants so even something as simple as an office renovation could result in the transportation of pollutants.

Optional Pollution Coverage
There are periods when your company may need to be involved in the haulage and removal of pollutants. If you have pollutant coverage in your business auto policy and you are handling the pollutants in the proper way, when an incident takes place then your insurance company will usually not exclude the claim. When you are regularly involved in the disposal, storage or transportation of pollutants, this is coverage you should definitely have. Not only can it help you manage claims of injured parties and workers but it can also take care of any fines imposed by the government as a consequence of the accident and any ensuing spill of pollutants.

So before you decide whether or not to add pollution coverage to your company car policy or to accept the exclusion, try to evaluate the daily, weekly and monthly activities of your business to determine just how feasible that coverage would be for you—and just how risky it might be to go without.

Contact us at (800) 212-2641 for a free company car insurance quote or visit our office.

Auto Insurance

Why do you need auto insurance?
It's really all about protecting yourself financially.

• If you're in an accident or your car is stolen, it costs money, often a lot of money, to fix or replace it.
• If you or any passengers are injured in an accident, medical costs can be extremely expensive.
• If you or your car is responsible for damage or injury to others, you may be sued for much more than you're worth.
• Not only is having insurance a prudent financial decision, many states require you to have at least some coverage.

Questions to ask your agent
Your Independent Agent is an advocate for finding auto insurance that meets your specific needs. Here are a few things to consider as you prepare for the discussion:

• How much can you afford to pay if you get in an accident? (To keep premiums low you may want to have a higher deductible and be willing to pay more for repairs.)
• What is the insurance company's level of service and ability to pay claims?
• What discounts are available? (Ask about good driver, multiple policy and student discounts.)
• What's the procedure for filing and settling a claim? (Ask who to call and what happens after you file a claim.)

Texas

Texas is the second-largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state in the contiguous United States. The name, meaning "friends" or "allies" in Caddo, was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in East Texas. Located in the South Central United States, Texas is bordered by Mexico to the south, New Mexico to the west, Oklahoma to the north, Arkansas to the northeast, and Louisiana to the east. Texas has an area of 268,820 square miles, and a growing population of 25.1 million residents.

Due to its size and geologic features such as the Balcones Fault, Texas contains diverse landscapes that resemble both the American South and Southwest. Although Texas is popularly associated with the Southwestern deserts, less than 10% of the land area is desert. Most of the population centers are located in areas of former prairies, grasslands, forests, and the coastline. Traveling from east to west, one can observe terrain that ranges from coastal swamps and piney woods, to rolling plains and rugged hills, and finally the desert and mountains of the Big Bend.

At Shawn Camp Insurance Agency, a family-owned-and-operated business since 1976, we pride ourselves on helping you protect your home, automobile and business by offering exceptional service, quality products and unparalleled customer support. Contact us at (800) 212-2641 for a free Texas auto insurance quote or visit our office.