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We serve clients across Florida and work with multiple insurance carriers to help individuals, families, and business owners compare coverage options that fit their state and industry requirements.
We serve clients across Florida and work with multiple insurance carriers to help individuals, families, and business owners compare coverage options that fit their state and industry requirements.
7 months ago
Excellent service and very professional staff. They made the process easy, answered all my questions, and helped me find the right coverage. Highly recommended!
3 months ago
I’ve worked with Ray for years and he’s always reliable and has been able to help my clients in need! I can always count on him to provide the best insurance advice and service
7 months ago
Great service, and always looking out for my commercial insurance. Thank you Ray
3 months ago
Great insurance agent to work with. Ray is the best!
3 months ago
Reviews reflect individual customer opinions and experiences. They do not guarantee specific coverage, pricing, service timing, or claim outcomes.
If your home health or home care agency has aides driving clients to doctor visits, picking up prescriptions and groceries, or running errands between shifts, you have an auto exposure, even if the agency owns no vehicles. The car is usually the aide’s own, insured under a personal policy, and the trip happens because your agency assigned it.
Why agencies carry auto exposure without owning a vehicle
A home care agency’s whole service model depends on staff driving, often several times a day and often with an older or frail client in the passenger seat. A retail shop might send someone to the bank once a week. A home care agency sends aides out every shift. When an accident happens on an assigned trip, the agency can be named in the claim no matter whose name is on the title.
The vehicle mix most agencies use
A typical agency has a supervisor or scheduler in a company car, several aides using their own cars, and now and then a rented or borrowed car when someone’s regular car is in the shop. Some agencies also run a company van or SUV for clients with wheelchairs or walkers; our passenger van and shuttle insurance page covers how those vans are written. Each of these needs to be matched to the right coverage:
- Agency-owned vehicles go on a commercial auto policy with liability and physical damage.
- Aides’ own cars are handled with non-owned auto coverage on the agency’s policy.
- Rentals, like a van rented for a group outing, are handled with hired auto coverage.
- Borrowed cars, like an aide driving a family member’s car for a week, should be reported to us so we can confirm how they are treated.
Where the aide’s personal policy stops
The aide’s personal auto policy is usually the primary policy for the aide’s own car. It may exclude or limit some business use, especially carrying a client as part of paid work, and its limits may be too low for a claim involving an injured client. Even when it responds, it protects the aide, not the agency.
Setting expectations with aides
Keep a list of which aides drive for work, collect proof of their personal auto insurance when they are hired and at each renewal, and decide in writing whether aides may carry clients in their own cars. Tell aides plainly that damage to their own car is handled by their own policy. That conversation at onboarding prevents hard feelings after a fender bender.
What non-owned auto coverage does and does not do
Non-owned auto coverage protects the agency when an aide causes an accident while driving a car the agency does not own for agency work. It sits behind the aide’s personal policy and responds to the agency’s liability, subject to its terms and limits. An agency with no vehicles of its own can still buy it, often as a standalone policy or with general liability.
It does not:
- Replace the aide’s personal auto policy
- Pay to repair the aide’s car, which falls to the aide’s own collision coverage if carried
- Cover the aide’s own injuries, which are generally a workers’ compensation matter when the aide is hurt while working
- Cover client belongings or medical equipment in the car
For more detail, see non-owned auto without company vehicles.
Wheelchairs, walkers and client belongings
Aides often carry a folding wheelchair, a walker, medical supplies or a client’s groceries and purse. Auto liability covers injury and damage to others, not the things in the trunk. Agency-owned medical equipment can be covered with inland marine or a scheduled equipment endorsement. If aides regularly handle client property, tell us, because auto and general liability may not extend to someone else’s belongings.
How to describe client transportation to your insurer
Driving a client to one appointment now and then is different from scheduled rides built into a care plan, and picking up prescriptions is different again from carrying the client. Some insurers are comfortable with occasional errands but price or decline regular client transport. Give an accurate picture of how often each happens. Overstating it costs money, and understating it can cause trouble when a claim comes in.
What underwriters and contracts ask for
Underwriters want to know how many employees drive for work, whether they use personal or agency vehicles, their driving records, how often clients ride along, and whether any clients use wheelchairs or other mobility equipment. Contracts with hospital systems, referral sources or managed care organizations often set minimum limits and ask to be named as an additional insured on the agency’s policy or to receive a certificate of insurance. Send us those contracts before you bind the policy.
New agencies and what we need for a quote
A newly licensed agency with no prior commercial auto history can generally still get coverage. Insurers look at the owners’ experience, the services offered, the drivers and how vehicles are used. To quote, we need any agency-owned vehicles, a list of aides who drive for work with basic driving history, a description of client transport and errands and how often they happen, and any contract that requires specific coverage.
Other coverages to review alongside auto
- General liability for injury to a client or damage in the client’s home that is not auto related
- Professional liability for claims about the care itself
- Workers’ compensation, since an aide hurt in a crash while working may have a workers’ comp claim. Florida requires it for non-construction employers with four or more employees, counting owners who are corporate officers or LLC members (Florida Division of Workers’ Compensation coverage requirements).
- An employee dishonesty or fidelity bond, common in home care because aides work alone in clients’ homes
None of these replace auto or non-owned auto coverage, and auto does not replace them.
Does an aide's personal auto insurance cover an accident that happens while driving a client to an appointment?
It may not. Many personal auto policies exclude or limit coverage for business use, and even when the aide’s own coverage responds, it generally doesn’t protect the agency’s separate liability. This is why non-owned auto coverage on the agency’s policy is often recommended.
Do I need commercial auto insurance if my agency doesn't own any vehicles?
You may still have auto exposure through employees driving their own cars for work, which is typically addressed with non-owned auto coverage rather than a traditional commercial auto policy built around owned vehicles.
Will my agency's insurance pay to repair an aide's car if it's damaged on the job?
Generally not. Non-owned auto coverage is usually a liability coverage, so damage to the aide’s own vehicle typically falls to that individual’s personal auto policy and its collision or comprehensive coverage, if carried.
Can a client's family member's requirement for proof of insurance affect my policy?
It can. Contracts and referral agreements sometimes require specific liability limits or additional insured status, so identify them before the policy is finalized.
Is there a minimum number of aides needed before commercial auto coverage makes sense?
No set threshold applies. Even a single aide transporting clients or running work errands in a personal vehicle can create exposure, so the right coverage depends on how aides drive for work.
What if some aides drive personal cars and others use an agency vehicle?
That mixed situation is common and can generally be handled within one program, with company-owned vehicles covered on a commercial auto policy and personal vehicle use addressed through non-owned auto coverage.
About the Author
Raymundo Guzman
I’m Raymundo Guzman, an independent insurance agent and the owner of Covered by Guzman. I help business owners across Tampa Bay and central Florida find commercial auto, general liability, workers’ compensation, and related business coverage that matches how they actually operate, comparing options across the carriers available to me rather than selling one company’s product.
Independent Insurance Agent · License #W512374 | NPN #18906048 · 813-302-7151
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