VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — Did you know that one of the singularly largest liability exposures to your company is your business auto exposure?
Think about it: You have various employees driving your vehicles when you are not around. They may be tired, driving distracted, impacted by weather conditions or countless other distractions.
However, if they cause an accident and cause injury to other people’s property, person, or vehicles, your drycleaning company could be directly in the line of fire for a liability suit.
As a business owner, you are juggling a lot of exposure to your business. Often it’s a struggle to master the balance between getting the coverage you need to protect your business and keeping your costs low.
So how can you master the balancing act of protecting your business, training your drivers, and keeping your costs low?
Check out these top tips to get the coverage you need to protect your fabricare business and help maximize the discounts on your cleaning business’ auto policy.
EMPLOYEE MANUALS AND TEXTING SAFETY
Across the board, without exceptions, all business owners that have a business auto component should have an employee safety manual that is reviewed and signed off on by all employees who will be driving.
Included in this manual should be a disclaimer that there is a zero tolerance rule for texting and driving.
Some businesses choose to install a mobile dead-zone device in all business vehicles. This ensures that while the vehicle is in drive, no texts messages are able to be received or sent and all calls are blocked.
The owner of the account is able to adjust security settings to accommodate the employee’s role with the company. Ask your insurance agent if discounts are given for mobile-blocking devices.
DO A BACKGROUND CHECK ON ALL NEW DRIVERS
All employees that are going to be driving should have a driving background check conducted before employment. If this is not part of the current hiring process, business owners should consider making this mandatory.
Insurance companies will do a driving background report on all drivers that are added to your policy. If you have hired and are utilizing drivers that have a poor driving history, this can drastically increase your auto insurance rates.
Some business owners even call their insurance company to get a price check on adding a particular driver before hiring is finalized. Check with your agent on what process works best for adding new hires to your business auto policy.
Check back Thursday for the conclusion.
Have a question or comment? E-mail our editor Dave Davis at [email protected].