Does my business auto policy cover an employee driving their own car for work?

What this assumes

• The policy is written on the Business Auto Coverage Form CA 00 01, edition 10 13 as read here [1].

• Symbol 9 is actually shown against Covered Autos Liability Coverage in Item Two of the Declarations, since the symbols decide what each coverage reaches [1].

• The employee was using their own car in connection with the business rather than purely personally.

What changes the answer

• Whether symbol 9 appears against Covered Autos Liability Coverage at all, since without it the employee's car is not a covered auto [1].

• Who owns the vehicle. The Who Is An Insured exception turns on the auto being owned by the employee or a member of their household [1].

• Whether the vehicle was being used in connection with the business, which is how symbol 9 defines its scope [1].

• Whether the business instead borrows the vehicle from the employee, which symbol 8 expressly does not reach [1].

• What the employee's own personal auto policy says, since that is what stands behind them rather than the business policy.

Where it varies by state, form, carrier, or fact

• This reads one published edition of one form, CA 00 01 10 13. Other editions, and company or manuscript forms, may be worded differently.

• Whether a particular trip was in connection with the business is a question of fact that gets argued after an accident rather than settled in advance.

• An endorsement can name additional insureds for Covered Autos Liability Coverage, though the one in this corpus states in terms that it does not alter coverage provided in the Coverage Form [2].

Next actions

1. Check Item Two of the Declarations for symbol 9 against Covered Autos Liability Coverage before assuming the exposure is addressed [1].

2. Do not tell staff their own driving is covered by the business policy, because Who Is An Insured removes them for their own vehicle [1].

3. If employees drive their own cars for work, decide deliberately whether to require evidence of their personal auto cover, which is a policy decision rather than an insurance one.

4. Ask your broker to walk through the difference between symbols 8 and 9 for your actual vehicle use, since the two are complementary and the gap sits between them [1].

Source ledger

2 sources. Every citation number above resolves to a record below. Nothing here sits behind an account.

1. [1]

   Business Auto Coverage Form CA 00 01 10 13 (ISO)(opens the original record on Insurance Services Office, Inc. (page footers read "Insurance Services Office, Inc., 2011"); copy hosted by the Independent Insurance Agents of Texas)

   Insurance Services Office, Inc. (page footers read "Insurance Services Office, Inc., 2011"); copy hosted by the Independent Insurance Agents of TexasStandards bodyPrimaryJurisdiction USThird-party reproductionPublished October 2013Last checked September 2, 2026Updates: annuallyID iso-ca-00-01-10-13

   What this source supports (26)

   • Every page carries the form line CA 00 01 10 13, the title BUSINESS AUTO COVERAGE FORM, and the footer "Insurance Services Office, Inc., 2011"; the form runs 12 pages.
   • Section I Covered Autos states that Item Two of the Declarations shows the autos that are covered autos for each coverage, and that the symbols entered next to a coverage on the Declarations designate the only autos that are covered autos.
   • Symbol 1 is described as Any Auto.
   • Symbol 2 is Owned Autos Only: only those autos you own, and for Covered Autos Liability Coverage any trailers you do not own while attached to power units you own, including autos you acquire ownership of after the policy begins.
   • Symbol 3 is Owned Private Passenger Autos Only, and Symbol 4 is Owned Autos Other Than Private Passenger Autos Only.
   • Symbol 5 is Owned Autos Subject To No-fault: only those autos you own that are required to have no-fault benefits in the state where they are licensed or principally garaged.
   • Symbol 6 is Owned Autos Subject To A Compulsory Uninsured Motorists Law: only those autos you own that, because of the law in the state where they are licensed or principally garaged, are required to have and cannot reject Uninsured Motorists Coverage.
   • Symbol 7 is Specifically Described Autos: only those autos described in Item Three of the Declarations for which a premium charge is shown.
   • Symbol 8 is Hired Autos Only: only those autos you lease, hire, rent or borrow, and it does not include any auto you lease, hire, rent or borrow from any of your employees, partners if you are a partnership, members if you are a limited liability company, or members of their households.
   • Symbol 9 is Non-owned Autos Only: only those autos you do not own, lease, hire, rent or borrow that are used in connection with your business, and it includes autos owned by your employees, partners or members, or members of their households, but only while used in your business or your personal affairs.
   • The Covered Autos Liability Coverage insuring agreement states that the insurer will pay all sums an insured legally must pay as damages because of bodily injury or property damage to which the insurance applies, caused by an accident and resulting from the ownership, maintenance or use of a covered auto.
   • The same insuring agreement covers sums an insured legally must pay as a covered pollution cost or expense caused by an accident, but states that the insurer will only pay for the covered pollution cost or expense if there is also bodily injury or property damage to which the insurance applies caused by the same accident.
   • The form states that the insurer has no duty to defend any insured against a suit seeking damages for bodily injury, property damage or a covered pollution cost or expense to which the insurance does not apply.
   • The form states that the duty to defend or settle ends when the Covered Autos Liability Coverage Limit of Insurance has been exhausted by payment of judgments or settlements.
   • Who Is An Insured at Paragraph A.1. lists as insureds: you for any covered auto; and anyone else while using with your permission a covered auto you own, hire or borrow, subject to five stated exceptions.
   • The first exception to Who Is An Insured removes the owner or anyone else from whom you hire or borrow a covered auto, and states that the exception does not apply if the covered auto is a trailer connected to a covered auto you own.
   • The second exception removes your employee if the covered auto is owned by that employee or a member of his or her household.
   • The third exception removes someone using a covered auto while he or she is working in a business of selling, servicing, repairing, parking or storing autos, unless that business is yours.
   • The fifth exception removes a partner, if you are a partnership, or a member, if you are a limited liability company, for a covered auto owned by him or her or a member of his or her household.
   • Who Is An Insured also includes anyone liable for the conduct of an insured described above, but only to the extent of that liability.
   • Exclusion 2 Contractual removes liability assumed under any contract or agreement, but states the exclusion does not apply to liability for damages assumed in a contract or agreement that is an insured contract, provided the bodily injury or property damage occurs subsequent to the execution of the contract, or that the insured would have in the absence of the contract.
   • Exclusion 3 Workers' Compensation removes any obligation for which the insured or the insured's insurer may be held liable under any workers' compensation, disability benefits or unemployment compensation law or any similar law.
   • Exclusion 4 Employee Indemnification And Employer's Liability removes bodily injury to an employee of the insured arising out of and in the course of employment by the insured or performing duties related to the conduct of the insured's business, and to the spouse, child, parent, brother or sister of that employee as a consequence.
   • Exclusion 4 states that it applies whether the insured may be liable as an employer or in any other capacity, and to any obligation to share damages with or repay someone else who must pay damages because of the injury.
   • Exclusion 1 Expected Or Intended Injury removes bodily injury or property damage expected or intended from the standpoint of the insured.
   • Supplementary Payments include all expenses the insurer incurs and up to $2,000 for the cost of bail bonds, including bonds for related traffic law violations, required because of an accident the insurer covers, and the form states the insurer does not have to furnish these bonds.

   ActiveReproduction
2. [2]

   Designated Insured For Covered Autos Liability Coverage, endorsement CA 20 48 10 13 (ISO)(opens the original record on Insurance Services Office, Inc. (page footer reads "Insurance Services Office, Inc., 2011"); copy hosted by the New York State Office of General Services)

   Insurance Services Office, Inc. (page footer reads "Insurance Services Office, Inc., 2011"); copy hosted by the New York State Office of General ServicesStandards bodyPrimaryJurisdiction USThird-party reproductionPublished October 2013Last checked September 2, 2026Updates: annuallyID iso-ca-20-48-10-13

   What this source supports (7)

   • The form carries the designation CA 20 48 10 13, the title DESIGNATED INSURED FOR COVERED AUTOS LIABILITY COVERAGE, and the footer "Insurance Services Office, Inc., 2011"; it is one page.
   • The endorsement states that it modifies insurance provided under the Auto Dealers Coverage Form, the Business Auto Coverage Form, and the Motor Carrier Coverage Form.
   • The endorsement states in terms: "This endorsement does not alter coverage provided in the Coverage Form."
   • The endorsement states that it identifies persons or organizations who are insureds for Covered Autos Liability Coverage under the Who Is An Insured provision of the Coverage Form.
   • The operative paragraph provides that each person or organization shown in the Schedule is an insured for Covered Autos Liability Coverage, but only to the extent that person or organization qualifies as an insured under the Who Is An Insured provision contained in Paragraph A.1. of Section II Covered Autos Liability Coverage in the Business Auto and Motor Carrier Coverage Forms, and Paragraph D.2. of Section I Covered Autos Coverages of the Auto Dealers Coverage Form.
   • The Schedule has one heading, Name Of Person(s) Or Organization(s), and the form states that information required to complete the Schedule, if not shown in the endorsement, will be shown in the Declarations.
   • The endorsement states that it changes the policy effective on the inception date of the policy unless another date is indicated on it.

   ActiveReproduction

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