Auto body shop insurance.

Cover customer vehicles, repair bays, and specialized equipment with body shop insurance.

Customer cars in your bays. Paint booths, lifts, frame machines. A parking lot full of vehicles that aren’t yours. A body shop carries more of other people’s property than almost any business we insure — and that shapes everything about how the policy should be built.

Auto body shop insurance is built around two coverages: garage liability, which covers injury and property damage arising from your operations, and garagekeepers, which covers damage to customer vehicles in your care, custody, and control. Most shops add commercial property for the building and equipment, and workers’ comp for employees.

The Coverage a Body Shop Actually Needs

Garagekeepers. For a body shop, this is the one that matters most. Every vehicle in your bays, on your lot, or on your lift is your responsibility while you have it. Garagekeepers covers fire, theft, vandalism, and collision damage to customer vehicles in your care.

One thing shops get wrong: garagekeepers comes in two forms. Legal liability only pays when the damage is your fault. Direct primary pays regardless of fault — which matters when a storm hits a lot full of customer cars.

Most clients think legal liability is sufficient and all they need since they should only be responsible for damage they cause. We had a body shop that had a lot full of vehicles that were awaiting repair, and some completed awaiting pick up. One night some mischievous kids rode their bikes along the fence, shooting the cars with BB guns. The next day our customer arrived to find the damage and called to file a claim. We had to explain that this wasn’t his fault; the vehicles were secured behind a locked fence as required by the policy. The acts of the kids were illegal, but out of his control, and therefore the legal liability garagekeepers would not provide coverage. Had he opted for direct primary, the policy would have provided coverage for the damage caused.

Garage liability. Covers bodily injury and property damage from your operations — a customer hurt in your office, a tech test-driving a repaired vehicle, and — once completed operations has been added, which isn’t automatic on most garage policies — damage your work causes after the car leaves.

Commercial property. Paint booths and frame machines are expensive to replace and slow to reorder. Property coverage should reflect actual replacement cost, not what you paid years ago.

Business personal property covers the contents such as tools — these items add up quickly. Many of your technicians may have an entire tool box full of their own tools; that can be scheduled on the property policy as well to extend protection to those items.

Workers’ comp. Required in most states once you pass the employee threshold, and body shop class codes carry real risk — grinding, welding, and paint exposure are priced in.

What Does Body Shop Insurance Cost?

A small or newer operation with midrange liability and covering both garage liability and garagekeepers can expect to pay between $2,000 and $5,000 a year, and can go up from there as operations expand.

What moves your premium:

Call us with your numbers and we’ll give you real ones back: .

Do You Need Direct Primary Garagekeepers?

If your lot holds customer vehicles overnight — and almost every body shop’s does — direct primary is worth the premium difference. Hail, falling limbs, and vandalism don’t check whose fault it is.

If you are dealing in lower value vehicles, always keeping them inside, and you are having your customers sign off acknowledging you are not responsible for vehicle damage, then you may opt for legal liability. I always encourage customers to at least consider the price difference, because it is often less expensive than you might think. This is an area we spend a lot of time on with customers to make sure they are understanding the options, and often clients still choose the legal liability option. Give us a call — it’s a conversation we would love to walk through with you.

State Requirements

Body shops aren’t licensed like dealerships, but registration and insurance expectations vary by state — and if you sell vehicles on the side or hold dealer plates, dealer requirements apply on top. We’re licensed in 30 states.

Why Body Shops Choose Us

We’re a garage-niche agency. Licensed in 30 states. When you call, you get an agent who knows the difference between legal liability and direct primary before you ask — not a call center reading a script.

FAQ

Does garage liability cover customer cars in my shop?
No. Customer vehicles in your care need garagekeepers coverage. This is the most common gap we see in body shop policies.

What’s the difference between legal liability and direct primary garagekeepers?
Legal liability pays only when the damage is your fault. Direct primary pays for covered damage regardless of fault. Shops holding customer vehicles overnight usually want direct primary.

Does my policy cover a customer’s car on a test drive after repair?
If you have a properly rated garage liability policy, it should provide protection. Don’t assume, let us review your coverage and confirm you are protected.

Do I need workers’ comp for part-time helpers?
Every state sets its own threshold, and repair operations often hit it faster than owners expect. Even if it isn’t required by your state, with one employee workers’ comp is always recommended. Call us and we’ll check your state and situation.

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