General Rule

• At its most basic, the general rule for personal auto insurance is that business use of your vehicle is excluded. There are exceptions and qualifications to this rule, and not every insurer adheres to this rule in the same way. However, personal auto policies are not meant to cover business use, except for commuting to and from your workplace each day. Other uses of your vehicle increase the risk to the insurer, and therefore necessitate higher premiums.
  
  

Business Use Definition

• The exact definition of what constitutes business use varies between insurers. Some narrowly written policies will exclude all types of noncommuting business, no matter how small. This could include delivering a package or letter for your office on the way home from work. Other insurers may allow more latitude. Some offer partial business coverage for additional premiums that allow you to visit clients or travel to job sites in your private vehicle without risking your coverage.
  
  

Vehicle Types

• Some of the more broadly written policies will allow for business use if your vehicle falls into certain categories, like a private passenger automobile, pickup or van, or a trailer used with any of those vehicles. Some may restrict the weight of the vehicle you can use for these purposes, requiring a commercial insurance policy for trucks or vans over a certain weight. Speak with your agent and read your policy to determine if your vehicle type qualifies for an exception to the general business use exclusion.
  
  

Commercial Insurance

• In some cases, you will not have a choice except to buy a commercial auto insurance policy. If your vehicle is owned by a business of any kind, personal insurers won't want to cover it. Similarly, if your vehicle has a designer paint job or advertising decals, they will not be covered by your personal auto policy, nor will you have liability protection for lawsuits arising from those advertisements. Personal insurers also typically reject applications for vehicles with equipment permanently attached.