Tips to Minimize Auto Insurance Costs for Your Limousine Business

Hire Safe Drivers

Your insurance company will evaluate your drivers’ histories to calculate their risks of accidents. Safe drivers — those with low risks of accidents — will attract the lowest rates. Thus, you should vet all applicants and hire the safest ones. Specifically, your drivers should:

• Have accident-free driving histories or as few accidents as possible
• Not have drunk driving convictions in their histories
• Have adequate driving experience

Your insurance agent can furnish you with further information on driver profiles carriers consider safe.

Operate Safe Cars

Limousine cars, like other vehicles, have different safety profiles. Safe vehicles have low risks of accidents and attract low insurance rates. Evaluate the candidate cars for your business and choose those with excellent safety ratings. You can talk to experienced limousine operators and insurance agents for help. Online safety ratings of your target cars can also give you relevant information.

Operate Affordable Cars

Limousine cars widely differ in cost. For example, a Bentley Mulsanne can cost over $300,000, while a Cadillac XTS Limousine can cost less than $50,000. In most cases, expensive cars are also expensive to repair and insure.

Commercial auto insurance covers both liability and property damage. The property damage portion of your coverage covers loss and damage of your vehicles, among other things. The more your insurance carrier might spend repairing or replacing your cars, the more you have to invest in your insurance coverage.

Minimize the Customizations

Many limousine companies do not operate their cars in their stock conditions. You may need to modify your cars a bit for branding, comfort, or other business purposes. Stick to the necessary modifications only to enjoy affordable insurance rates.

For one, some modifications increase the car’s value, and as mentioned above, expensive cars attract high insurance rates. After all, your insurance carrier may have to compensate you for the modifications, too, in case of damage or loss.

Secondly, some modifications can interfere with a car’s inherent safety. For example, modifications that increase ground clearance decrease stability and increase the risk of a rollover. Clear changes with your insurance company before extensive modifications of your cars.

Choose a Safe Base

Your base of operations affects the risks your cars face every day. For example, you can enjoy low rates if:

• You operate in an area with low traffic and low accident incidents
• You operate in a safe area with low rates of property theft

Of course, you must balance your business needs with your need for a secure base of operations. Installation of anti-theft devices can also help you get affordable insurance.