Car Detailing Insurance

There’s nothing you love better than the look on your customers’ faces when you transform their so-so cars into gleaming, practically-brand-new vehicles. In just the span of a few hours, your auto detailing business can make customers fall in love with their cars again.

That’s exactly why your detail shop deserves great business insurance.

Enter Simply Business. We’re an online insurance platform that makes it surprisingly easy to compare affordable policy options from insurers that specialize in covering car detailing businesses like yours.

Just answer a few questions about your business, click on a policy coverage option you like, and relax — you just got insured.

Ready to get covered?

• General liability
• Tools & equipment
• Workers compensation

Benefits:

• It can potentially protect your car detailing business from certain claims.
• It can help cover damages caused by your work.
• Proof of insurance can meet requirements for leases and licensing.
• Business insurance may be legally required where you live.

What Types of Insurance Do I Need for My Auto Detailing Business?

As someone who works with customers and their most prized possessions — their cars — it’s safe to say that your business is likely exposed to plenty of (expensive) risks.

That’s why you should consider the following policies:

General Liability Insurance

General liability insurance — also known as GL insurance, or commercial general liability insurance — is coverage that can protect your business from claims involving third-party accidents, property damage, bodily injury, and more.

Let’s break down what those terms mean, so you can get a better idea of how this essential policy can cover you:

• Third-party accidents: General liability coverage can come in handy if you have customers, vendors, and other visitors to your business’s property. That’s because it offers protection in accident cases — and let’s face it, accidents can happen to the best of us.

  For example, let’s say a vendor is delivering cleaning supplies to your shop. One of your employees is just finishing up washing the exterior of a customer’s car, but doesn’t have a “wet floor” sign posted in the working area. Your vendor slips on a puddle and falls, resulting in a hurt back and crushed finger.

  Without a GL policy, you could be on the hook financially for the vendor’s medical bills, plus any resulting lawsuit. But with a policy, your insurer would pay out claims involving the vendor’s medical expenses, as well as your legal costs (up to your policy limit).

And that’s a good thing. In fact, did you know that the average cost of a customer injury claim is a whopping $30,000?

• Third-party property damage: You know your customers love their cars — that’s why they take them to be detailed, after all! But detailing your customers’ vehicles does come with risks — what happens if you accidentally ruin a car’s interior or you damage the vehicle in another way?

  That’s where property damage coverage comes into play. With general liability insurance, your policy can cover the cost to repair or replace property that was accidentally damaged by you or one of your employees.

  Keep in mind that if you damage a customer’s vehicle while moving it, this coverage would not apply.

• Legal Fees: Let’s face it — even if you didn’t damage a customer’s car, they could still claim you did. In cases where your business has been sued by a customer for an approved claim (more on this in a bit), your general liability policy would cover the cost of an attorney to defend you, plus any monetary damages you’re ordered to pay for.

General liability coverage is a foundational policy for businesses, precisely because it protects so many of the risks you may face as a business owner. And even if you’re extremely careful, accidents can happen.

For example, did you know that there’s a 40% likelihood that your business will experience a property or liability claim within the next 10 years?

That’s too high a likelihood to risk leaving your business exposed.

That’s why we specialize in helping auto detailers find affordable general liability policies. With policies starting as low as $19.58/month* — and many policies available with a $0 deductible — it’s no wonder more small businesses trust us to help keep their businesses protected.

To summarize, general liability can typically cover:

• Bodily injury to another person
• Third-party property damage
• Personal and advertising injury
• Medical expenses
• And more

Here’s what GL insurance typically doesn’t cover:

• Damage to your personal property
• Professional services
• Workers compensation or injury to your employees
• Damage to your work
• Damage caused while operating a motor vehicle
• Motor vehicles while in business use
• Intentional injury or damage
• And more

Tools & Equipment Insurance

Tools and equipment insurance — or “inland marine insurance,” as it’s more formally called — is coverage that protects your small tools and equipment while you’re in transit or storing your tools and equipment off-site.

Let’s say you’re a mobile detailing service that travels directly to your customers’ homes. While working on a customer’s vehicle, the customer’s child plays around with your steam cleaner and extractor (unbeknownst to you!) and breaks it.

If you have an inland marine policy, it can help cover the cost of repairing your equipment, as it was damaged while you were on the job.

For clarity, “tools” is defined as any small tool under $1,000 in value, while “equipment” is defined as having value over $1,000.

Workers Compensation Insurance

If you have employees — even if they’re part-time — you may be required by your state to have a workers compensation insurance policy.

Workers compensation insurance covers an employee’s medical bills, lost wages, and possibly even rehabilitation costs if they get injured or sick while on the job. Workers compensation coverage can even pay certain death benefits should the worst ever happen.

In summary, workers compensation for auto detailer business owners can cover:

• Medical payments
• Lost wages
• Rehabilitation expenses
• Death benefits

Why Should I Insure My Business?

As the owner of an auto detail shop, it’s safe to say you’re involved in every component of running your business. From administrative work to meeting with customers and training employees, you’re directly responsible for growing your business to where it is today.

But what are you doing to protect all that hard work and money you’ve sunk into your business?

That’s where business insurance comes in. Similar to car or health insurance, business insurance helps protect you from catastrophic financial costs should the worst happen to your auto detailing service.

And with many of those costs in the tens of thousands of dollars, it makes sense to protect your bottom line — and your personal finances — from a devastating accident or mistake.

The good news is that you can select business policies that are customized to your specific risks, so you don’t have to pay for what you don’t need. When you buy a policy from Simply Business, you can feel good, knowing your policy is protecting your hard work.

Ready to get started? Use our free online auto detailing insurance quote tool to see policy options from the nation’s top insurers — all in under 10 minutes.

Car Detailing Insurance FAQs

Finding the right policy doesn’t have to be a headache, especially when Simply Business is here to help you. Take a look at our answers to your most common FAQs.

Why Simply Business?

Simply Business is an online business insurance platform that makes it easy to compare and buy policies from top insurers. We have over a decade of experience in making business insurance clear and simple for our customers.

We pride ourselves on making business insurance:

• Fast and Affordable: You have better things to focus on, like running your business. Our policies are fast, affordable, and ready when you are.

• Tailored to You: Forget one-size-fits-all insurance. Get the protection your business needs, when you need it.

• Flexible with Coverage: Whether you need increased coverage for a new employee or you’re getting a lease for a new detailing shop, Simply Business can help.

After all, you’ve worked hard to grow your auto detailing business, and we offer the best coverage to protect it.

*Displayed price is an estimate based on the 10th percentile of General Liability policies sold by Simply Business between January-June 2024, divided evenly across a 12 month policy term. Actual price and payment terms, including an initial down payment, may vary based on your state, insurance provider, and business.

This content is intended to be used for informational purposes only. It is not intended to provide legal, tax, accounting, investment, or any other form of professional advice.