Valet services insurance checklist: what a valet service should carry

The valet service insurance checklist

QUICK ANSWER

Valet services usually carry garage liability, workers' compensation and general liability. Valet companies drive and park other people's cars at restaurants, hospitals and events, hold the keys, and are liable for every scrape, theft and joyride until the owner drives away. The venue and the client's vendor desk ask for proof of each. The checklist below says what every item does, who requires it and how to check it on the policies you already have.

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

Who asks a valet service for what

Who	What they usually want to see
Event venues & caterers' clients	General liability naming the venue, and liquor liability where you pour
Enterprise clients & vendor onboarding	General liability, professional or cyber liability, workers' compensation and often an umbrella
Property managers & HOAs	General liability with the manager and owner as additional insureds, 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

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.
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.
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.
Umbrella schedule of underlying insurance. Each primary policy listed with the limits the umbrella expects; a gap between the two is uninsured.
Crime declarations. Employee theft, forgery, funds-transfer fraud and social engineering each have their own limit; third-party coverage if you work in clients' premises.
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.
Special events coverage. Whether the annual policy already covers your events or each needs a separate policy, and the additional-insured wording venues ask for.
Employment practices declarations. Limit and retention, third-party coverage for claims by customers, and whether wage-and-hour claims carry any defence sublimit.
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.

What usually goes wrong for valet services

Garagekeepers written on a legal-liability basis when the client expects every dent paid.
Young drivers with no motor vehicle record checks.
Garagekeepers written on a legal-liability basis when customers expect direct primary coverage.
Every venue wanting its own certificate with different wording, on a deadline.
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.
A workers' compensation estimate set low in January and settled with a large audit bill in the spring.

What underwriters will ask a valet service

Locations served and vehicles parked per night, driver screening, garagekeepers basis and limits, and the client contracts' terms
Number of vehicles on the lot overnight and their typical value
Whether you store, tow or drive customers' vehicles off premises
Attendance, alcohol, amusement devices and whether events are indoors or out
Residential versus commercial split of the work
Whether any work is done above three stories or below grade

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

What coverage does a valet company actually need?

Garage liability with garagekeepers for the customers' cars, on a direct primary basis if the client contract expects it; workers' compensation for the runners; and crime for the keys and the cash. General liability alone covers none of the cars.

Do our client contracts matter to the policy?

They decide who pays for damage and theft and whether the client's lot or garage is your responsibility. Carriers read them; a hold-harmless that makes you responsible for the whole garage needs limits to match.

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.

Why does every venue want a different certificate?

Because each has its own insurance exhibit: a limit, an additional insured, sometimes a waiver. Live certificates from the wallet are issued per holder with the endorsements they ask for, so a valet service stops rebuilding the same PDF for every booking.

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 valet service 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.