Mobile car detailing insurance checklist: what a mobile detailer should carry

The mobile detailer insurance checklist

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Mobile car detailing usually carry garage liability, commercial auto and workers' compensation. Mobile detailers work in office parking lots and driveways from a van with water tanks and a generator, on cars that stay in their care for an hour, with runoff that property managers and towns increasingly police. The property manager and the client's vendor desk ask for proof of each. The checklist below covers who asks and how to check what you have.

Reviewed by Michael LaBarbera, Licensed property & casualty agent, Provident Financial Group · Reviewed Oct 12, 2026 Updated Oct 14, 2026

Who asks a mobile detailer for what

Who	What they usually want to see
Property managers & HOAs	General liability with the manager and owner as additional insureds, and workers' compensation
Enterprise clients & vendor onboarding	General liability, professional or cyber liability, workers' compensation and often an umbrella
Banks, lenders & SBA loans	Property or auto physical damage with the lender as loss payee, and liability proof at closing and every renewal

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

Garage declarations. Garage liability limits, then garagekeepers: the limit per location against the value of customers' vehicles on hand, and whether it is legal liability or direct primary.
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.
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.
Equipment schedule. Owned items scheduled above the per-item threshold, a blanket limit for small tools, leased or rented equipment included, and the valuation (replacement cost or actual cash value).
Pollution liability. Site-based or contractors form, claims-made or occurrence, the materials named (mold, asbestos, lead, fuels), and transport and disposal coverage.
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.
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 mobile car detailing businesses

Working in commercial lots without the property manager's certificate.
Wash runoff to a storm drain and a citation.
Damage to the exact thing you are working on is excluded on most general liability forms; installation floaters and care, custody and control endorsements fill that hole.
Garagekeepers written on a legal-liability basis when customers expect direct primary coverage.
A herbicide drift or fuel spill denied under the pollution exclusion.
A personal auto policy on a truck with the company name on the door.

What underwriters will ask a mobile detailer

Number of vans and detailers, where work is done and under whose permission, and how runoff is handled
Residential versus commercial split of the work
Whether any work is done above three stories or below grade
Number of vehicles on the lot overnight and their typical value
Whether you store, tow or drive customers' vehicles off premises
Products applied, applicator licences and how fuel and chemicals are stored

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

Audits at year end compare payroll, receipts and subcontractor costs with the estimate, so keep the wallet's size figures and the subcontractor certificates current. Start comparing sixty days before expiration, and ask for the limits the next contract will need rather than the ones the last one did.

Questions people actually ask

Do we need a garage policy for detailing in a parking lot?

Yes; the car is in your care while you work on it, and general liability excludes it. Garage liability with garagekeepers covers the scratch and the burn-through; property managers ask for it before letting you work in the lot.

Is runoff from mobile washing a problem?

In many jurisdictions, yes, and a citation is a pollution claim. Waterless or reclaim methods satisfy most property managers and towns; a pollution endorsement covers the one that cites you anyway.

Does general liability cover damage to a customer's property while I work on it?

It covers damage to the rest of their property, not usually the part in your hands. Many forms exclude property in your care, custody or control, so a mobile detailer that handles valuable items or systems needs an endorsement or an installation floater. The policy explainer in the wallet flags the exclusion when it reads your policy.

What is the difference between legal liability and direct primary garagekeepers?

Legal liability pays only when the damage is your fault. Direct primary pays for the customer's car in your care regardless of fault, which is what keeps a hail storm or a break-in from becoming a customer dispute. The declarations page says which you have.

Does general liability cover a chemical application that damages a neighbour's plants?

Most general liability forms exclude pollutants, and pesticides and fertilisers count. A pollution endorsement or a separate contractors pollution policy is what responds, and licensed applicators are often required by the state to carry it.