Who asks a driving school for what
| Who | What they usually want to see |
|---|---|
| Cities, counties & permits | General liability, auto and workers' compensation at the limits in the permit or contract |
| Banks, lenders & SBA loans | Property or auto physical damage with the lender as loss payee, and liability proof at closing and every renewal |
| Landlords & commercial leases | General liability with the landlord as additional insured, property coverage on tenant improvements and workers' compensation |
Each of them wants a certificate, and most want it again at every renewal. A live certificate link from the wallet shows today's coverage to every holder and tells them when it changes.
How to check what you already have
- Auto schedule. Every vehicle listed with the right garaging address and use; symbols that include hired and non-owned auto; physical damage with the lender as loss payee where the vehicle is financed.
- General liability declarations page. Three liability numbers matter: each occurrence, general aggregate and the products–completed operations aggregate. Then the forms list: blanket additional insured, waiver of subrogation and primary and non-contributory wording satisfy every contract; scheduled forms satisfy one.
- Professional liability declarations. Claims-made or occurrence, the retroactive date (it should not have moved), the limit per claim and aggregate, the deductible, and whether defence costs sit inside or outside the limit.
- Workers' compensation information page. Item 3.A must list every state you work in, item 4 must carry the right class codes, and the employers' liability limits should meet what contracts ask. Check that the estimated payroll is close to this year's.
- Abuse and molestation. A separate limit, not a sublimit of general liability; whether it is occurrence or claims-made; and whether the organisation and the individual are both covered.
- Bonds. The obligee (board, municipality or owner), the penal sum and the expiry date; a bond is renewed with the licence or the job, not with the policy year.
- Hired and non-owned auto. Look for the symbols 8 and 9 or an endorsement by that name on the auto or general liability policy; without it, staff in their own cars are uninsured on company business.
- Employment practices declarations. Limit and retention, third-party coverage for claims by customers, and whether wage-and-hour claims carry any defence sublimit.
What usually goes wrong for driving schools
- Training vehicles insured as ordinary commercial autos without the instruction endorsement.
- Instructors alone with minors for hours with no background checks.
- A personal auto policy on a truck with the company name on the door.
- Employees using their own cars for deliveries or errands with no hired and non-owned coverage.
- One-on-one lessons with minors under a policy that excludes abuse claims entirely.
- A retroactive date that moved when you switched carriers, cutting off earlier work.
What underwriters will ask a driving school
- Vehicles and instructors, students by age, licence and bond status, and instructor screening
- Each vehicle, its garaging address, radius and who drives it
- Driver list with licence states and dates of birth for motor vehicle records
- Ages taught, one-on-one versus group lessons and background-check practice
- Services, largest engagement size and the contracts you sign
- Claims-made retroactive date and any prior claims or circumstances
Have the answers in the wallet before the renewal and the quote request fills itself in; CoverMatch sends one application to every eligible carrier and lines the quotes up against what you have.
Renewal timing
Workers' compensation is audited on actual payroll and liability on sales, so a busy year ends with a bill unless the estimates were kept honest; pay-as-you-go billing through your payroll company removes most of that. Renewal autopilot starts the comparison sixty days out, prefilled from the wallet.