Customer vehicles
Vehicles in your care at the premises, on the lot or in the workshop.
Business Insurance
Garage keepers for cars that are not yours.
The moment a customer hands you their keys, their vehicle becomes your exposure. Your property policy does not cover it and neither does theirs, reliably.
Garage keepers cover exists for one situation: customer vehicles in your care, custody and control. Repair shops, body shops, dealerships, valet operations, storage lots and detailers all hold vehicles they do not own, sometimes many at once, and a single hail event or fire can affect every one of them simultaneously.
Legal liability, direct primary, direct excess
Garage keepers comes in three forms and the difference is significant. Legal liability only pays when you were legally at fault for the damage. Direct primary pays regardless of fault, ahead of the customer's own policy. Direct excess pays regardless of fault but sits behind the customer's cover.
Legal liability is the cheapest and the most likely to disappoint. Hail damages twenty cars on your lot through nobody's fault, and a legal liability form may respond to none of them. Knowing which form you have bought is the whole point.
Setting the limit for the whole lot
The limit needs to contemplate a loss affecting everything on site at once, not the most valuable single vehicle. Hail, fire and flood do not damage one car politely.
Count the maximum vehicles you hold at peak, apply a realistic average value, and set the limit against that. It is a five-minute exercise that prevents the discovery that your limit covers a quarter of the lot.
What it covers
The parts of a garage keepers insurance policy
Comprehensive perils
Hail, fire, theft and vandalism affecting stored vehicles.
Collision
Damage caused while a vehicle is being moved or road tested.
Form selection
Legal liability, direct primary or direct excess — the choice that decides whether hail pays.
Off-premises
Vehicles taken off site for parts, paint or test drives, where the form permits.
Dealer requirements
Wording and limits required by dealer agreements and lenders.
Working with us
What we do differently
We are an independent agency, so we place your garage keepers insurance across several carriers rather than fitting you to one company's product. That means a genuine comparison, and someone to call who is not a call centre.
- Find out which of the three forms your policy uses before a hail event does it for you
- Set the limit against a full-lot loss, not the most expensive single vehicle
- Confirm cover for vehicles taken off site for test drives or subcontracted work
- Review the limit whenever your peak vehicle count changes
Common questions
Garage Keepers Insurance, answered
What is the difference between the three garage keepers forms?
Legal liability pays only where you were at fault. Direct primary pays regardless of fault and ahead of the customer's policy. Direct excess pays regardless of fault but behind theirs. For weather losses, legal liability frequently pays nothing.
Does hail damage to customer cars get covered?
Under direct primary or direct excess, generally yes. Under legal liability, often not, because hail is nobody's fault. In North Texas that distinction is the single most important thing about this policy.
How much cover should I carry?
Enough for a loss affecting every vehicle on the lot at once. Take your peak vehicle count and a realistic average value — most shops find the figure is well above the limit they currently hold.
Am I covered during a test drive?
Usually, but confirm it, particularly for vehicles taken off site to a subcontractor for paint or specialist work. Some forms restrict cover away from the premises.
Is this the same as my commercial property policy?
No. Property covers your building and your own contents. Vehicles belonging to customers are specifically excluded, which is exactly the gap garage keepers fills.
Related cover
Often arranged alongside this
Auto Repair Shop Insurance
Your building, your tools, your customers' cars and the work you performed on them. A repair shop needs four things covered, not one.
Read moreTow Truck Insurance
Two customer vehicles are at risk at once: the one behind you, and every one sitting in your yard. Different policies cover each.
Read moreCommercial Property Insurance
Property cover repairs the building and replaces the contents. Business interruption replaces what you could not earn while that happened — and it is usually the larger number.
Read moreReady for a garage keepers insurance quote?
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