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Matching hired and non-owned auto: how the comparison works

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Hired and non-owned auto covers the business when an employee drives a personal car on company business, or when the business rents or borrows a vehicle, and someone is hurt. The employee's own policy pays first; this coverage protects the business above it. Carriers quote it on the number of employees who drive, how often and how far. CoverMatch compares the limits, the symbols on the policy and whether physical damage on rentals is included.

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Reviewed by Michael LaBarbera, Licensed property & casualty agent, Provident Financial Group · Reviewed Oct 12, 2026 Updated
Coverage scoreEvery policy in one wallet
Hired & Non-Owned AutoRenews in 47d
Workers' CompensationLive cert ✓
Business Owner's PolicyCan switch
CoverMatch Three employees deliver in their own cars. The comparison shows which quotes carry hired and non-owned auto at the limit your platform agreement names.
01 / WHAT UNDERWRITERS ASK
  • How many employees drive personal vehicles for work and how often
  • What they do: deliveries, client visits, errands, transporting clients or children
  • Whether the business rents vehicles and how often
  • Whether employees' own policies are verified and at what limits
  • Any accidents on company business in the last five years
02 / WHAT MOVES THE PRICE
  • Number of driversMore employees driving for work means more exposure.
  • UseDeliveries and client transport are rated higher than occasional errands.
  • LimitsContracts and platforms often set a floor.
  • Driver screeningMotor vehicle record checks and verified personal insurance lower the rated risk.
  • RentalsFrequent rentals add hired physical damage exposure.
Direction only — the carriers' quotes carry the figures.
03 / HAVE READY
  • A count of employees who drive for work and what for
  • Driver list for motor vehicle record checks
  • Proof of employees' personal auto insurance if the carrier asks
  • Any contract or platform agreement that names an auto limit
  • Your general liability or commercial auto declarations

What hired and non-owned auto responds to

Bodily injury and property damage to others caused by a vehicle the business does not own, used on its business: an employee's car on an errand or a delivery, a rented van, a borrowed truck. The coverage is excess over the vehicle owner's insurance and pays the business's share.

How CoverMatch compares the quotes

Limit, whether the coverage is an endorsement or auto symbols 8 and 9, hired physical damage, employees as insureds, and the driver conditions. The AI summary states the differences; a licensed agent is one tap away.

What to watch for

A limit below what a platform or client agreement requires, no hired physical damage for a business that rents vans, and a policy that covers the business but not the employee driving.

Questions people actually ask

My employees have their own car insurance. Why does the business need this?

Because the injured party sues the business too, and the employee's personal policy covers the employee, not you. Many personal policies also exclude business use such as deliveries. Hired and non-owned auto is what answers the claim against the business.

Does it cover the employee's car?

No. It covers the business's liability to others; damage to the employee's car is on their own policy. Some businesses reimburse the employee's deductible as a matter of policy.

Is it part of general liability or auto?

It can be endorsed onto a general liability or package policy when the business owns no vehicles, or added to a commercial auto policy with symbols 8 and 9. The comparison shows where each quote places it.

Does it cover rental cars?

Hired auto liability covers the business's liability in a rental; hired physical damage, an optional extension, covers damage to the rental itself.

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