Your Employee Hit a Pedestrian: Commercial Auto Insurance Covers Losses

Commercial auto insurance is one of the most valuable types of business insurance you can have if your company operates any business out of a vehicle. This includes delivery services, transportation services, sales, and much more. It protects your business specifically from claims made against it as the result of operation of a covered vehicle. This may include helping to cover the losses in the event that your employee, while driving your company insured vehicle, causes an accident including high-risk accidents such as striking a pedestrian.

Who Is Responsible?

A key term you may hear in such an accident is respondent superior. This term simply states that employers are held liable and legally responsible for the actions that their employees take while they are operating a vehicle within the scope of their employment. What does that mean? In short, it means that, as the employer, you are responsible for the accidents and damages that your employee causes while he or she is working for you. This includes paying for the injuries a person may receive or covering the cost of damages caused.

Will Insurance Help You?

If you have a commercial auto insurance plan in place, it will provide you with financial protection from these types of losses. There are some limitations. First, you’ll need to have a policy that includes your vehicles. A basic business insurance plan may not apply. Second, the individual must be engaged in activities related to the business. If, for example, your employee is driving to and from work using a company car, it may not be covered.

If and when the commercial auto insurance applies, it will indemnify the employee against any types of personal claims made against them. That means your policy will cover any losses related to the incident and the employee is not considered personally liable, in most cases. Your coverage should include out-of-pocket costs, medical bills, lost wages, as well as pain and suffering.

Because this type of accident can be very costly in terms of the losses experienced, it’s important to have commercial auto insurance that offers enough financial protection from the losses. This should be a high level of liability insurance in most cases. Work with your business insurance provider to ensure you have comprehensive protection against such incidents.