Using Your Car For Business or Personal
There are not many people that would argue that business use is different than personal use. The thing that most people struggle with is the difference between the two. Being that car insurance is a very important aspect in our lives; we need to know what constitutes business use and what determines personal use.
When a business chooses to get a car insurance policy, they need to look at a few things. First, they need to address who will be on the policy. For example, in a personal policy, you have the responsibility of your family. Your family is a lot less liable than your business, even if you have a teenager. The best thing a business can do is retrieve the applicants driving record before they hire them on as an employee. By doing this, you are ensuring your insurance premiums to not skyrocket as well as the fact that you would even be able to add them on.
Business insurance versus personal car insurance varies by what you are going to be using your vehicle for. An example of business use would be transmitting items or hauling items to a different location that you would not be doing personally. In fact, this is business activity. There are business polices that directly deal with this type of situation; thereby making it more flexible of a policy.
Keeping track of gas and miles seems like a daunting task, however, it is a business necessity. It is very important that you distinguish which miles were used for personal use and which were used for business use. This helps on all fronts and is often tracked using a computer based model.
Keeping business use and personal use separate is always the recommended path. Most people find that their business use is very limited and do not see the reason why they should take out a separate business insurance policy. Although this may be logical, you need to make sure your bases are covered. This means that if you choose to use your personal car insurance policy for business use that is limited, you will need to inform your car insurance agent of this change so they can adjust your policy to cover it. They can find cause to deny your claim if you are found to be using your vehicle for business purposes that were not defined in your policy.
As stated above, you rate will increase because your usage has increased. Understand the usage for business is anything that is defined out of your daily use. In other words, driving to a conference is business use. This even applies if they reimburse you for miles and gas. If you transport goods or deliver items, you are using your personal vehicle for business use and it has to be documented. Sometimes we do not view things as business use because we consistently do them without even thinking. . Always keep everything in check because there are certain ramifications for not complying.
Never be challenged later down the road with not having adequate coverage or being denied a claim because you did not inform the insurance company of your situation. Talk to an agent and get the best deal.
Graham McKenzie is the content syndication coordinator for Carinsurancesa.co.za. South Arica?s leading Car Insurance portal, which helps people save on their Car Insurance.
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