The comparison: car insurance commercial or private
If you use your vehicle for private and business purposes, you should know the advantages and disadvantages of taking out your car insurance commercially or privately.
beforehand: it is important that you declare the commercial use to the insurer. This is the only way to ensure that your insurance coverage for your private car is effective and will take effect in the event of a claim.
Why the type of use is important and how it is differentiated
the predominant type of use – for private or professional purposes – has an impact on the amount of the vehicle insurance premium and the range of benefits. The main use is taken into account and the deviating use is the exception. If money is earned from a vehicle, it falls under the protection of commercial motor vehicle insurance. If the vehicle to be insured is part of the business assets of a company (for example, the car of a sales company that is only used for business trips), it is used for commercial purposes. If a private individual’s vehicle is used for business travel (e.g.B. (e.g. delivery service of a pizzeria, trips of an architect) a business use is also given here. All private journeys, as well as journeys to the place of work and to business seminars or conferences, etc., fall under the private use of the vehicle to be insured.
Overall, however, the boundaries of the definition are very imprecise and vary from case to case. If you are concerned with the subject matter, you should ask yourself in advance how the general conditions for the new insurance coverage and which services important are.
Examples: motor vehicle insurance commercial or private?
Parcel services, such as dhl or deutsche post, earn their money with the help of yellow vans. the german post office uses vehicles commercially and is therefore also entitled to a commercial motor vehicle insurance tariff.
The situation is different, for example, for a freelance photographers from. The latter uses his vehicle to reach a destination, but earns his money primarily by taking and developing photographs. In this case, commercial vehicle insurance is not an option. Freelancers "drive" better if they take out private car insurance and increase the scope of benefits.
What is the difference?
As already mentioned in the previous questions, commercial vehicle insurance differs primarily in terms of usage rights. While private car insurance looks at both the car and the driver to calculate the policy, commercial car insurance focuses on the car and its use. For the insurance in this case it is important how many kilometers the car will run, where it will be used and how many drivers have access to the car.
Likewise, commercial vehicle insurance makes no distinction between the age structures of the drivers. While the age of the vehicle owner plays an important role in private car insurance, business insurance cannot define exactly how old the drivers will be and does not include this factor in the calculation. Instead, each vehicle is insured with a lump sum that covers damage caused by each driver.
While partially comprehensive insurance is often taken out for private vehicles, commercial motor vehicle insurance is almost exclusively based on fully comprehensive insurance. the background is clear: damage, theft and vandalism to company vehicles are compensated or paid for in full by the insurance company. the policyholder does not have to worry about possible financial expenses in the event of any damages. It should also be noted that fully comprehensive insurance is almost always worthwhile for new cars. Since leasing contracts are usually concluded for three years or primarily for new cars, it is advisable to take out the more cost-intensive comprehensive cover.
Advantages of commercial vehicle insurance: benefit from industry or small fleet tariffs
With a motor vehicle fleet insurance policy (also known as fleet insurance), a company’s various vehicles, from cars and vans to tractors, superstructures and trailers, can be covered by a single insurance policy. Possible are motor vehicle liability insurance or freely selectable comprehensive insurance variants.
A motor fleet insurance is basically for businessmen with an inventory of several vehicles attractive.
The advantages?
- Significant reduction of the administrative burden, as if a single car insurance is taken out for each vehicle
- Increased cost transparency
- More favorable conditions in the premium structure
Find out more about commercial fleet insurance here or contact us. We are happy to advise you on whether you should insure your vehicle commercially or privately and will find a suitable insurer for you.