Commercial auto insurance covers liability and physical damage for vehicles owned, leased, or used by your roofing business. If one of your trucks causes an accident, commercial auto pays for the other party's injuries and property damage, as well as damage to your own vehicle. For roofing contractors, commercial auto is not optional — it is required by state law for any vehicle registered to your business, and it is a standard requirement in every GC subcontract and commercial project bid.
What Commercial Auto Covers
A commercial auto policy has several coverage parts, and you need to understand each one because roofing operations create specific exposures that personal auto policies do not address.
Liability coverage pays for bodily injury and property damage you cause to others in an at-fault accident. Most states require minimum liability limits, but these minimums — often $30,000/$60,000 — are dangerously low for a roofing contractor towing heavy equipment. A serious accident involving a loaded roofing trailer can produce claims well over $500,000. Carry at least $1,000,000 in combined single limit (CSL) liability. Most GC contracts require $1,000,000 CSL as a minimum.
Physical damage coverage includes comprehensive (theft, hail, vandalism) and collision (accident damage) for your own vehicles. If your $65,000 F-350 is totaled in a wreck, collision pays to replace it. If tools and materials are stolen from the bed, comprehensive may cover them up to a sublimit — but for significant tool and equipment values, you need an inland marine policy.
Uninsured/underinsured motorist (UM/UIM) coverage pays when the at-fault driver has no insurance or insufficient limits. Given that roughly 13% of drivers nationally are uninsured according to the Insurance Research Council, this coverage protects your employees when someone else causes the accident.
Medical payments coverage pays medical expenses for your driver and passengers regardless of fault, up to a stated limit (typically $5,000 to $10,000).
Hired and Non-Owned Auto
This is a critical coverage endorsement for roofing contractors. Hired auto covers vehicles you rent or lease temporarily — for example, a rental truck during peak season when your fleet is fully deployed. Non-owned auto covers liability when employees use their personal vehicles for business purposes, such as driving to pick up materials or running to a supply house. If an employee causes an accident in their personal truck while on a company errand, your commercial auto's non-owned coverage responds. Without it, your business is exposed to a lawsuit with no policy to defend it.
Roofing-Specific Auto Exposures
Roofing contractors face auto exposures that most trades do not. Your trucks tow heavy trailers loaded with shingle bundles, rolls of membrane, or tear-off debris. A 10,000-pound loaded dump trailer that breaks loose on a highway is a catastrophic liability event. Make sure your policy covers trailer liability and that your trailer is scheduled on the policy.
Your crews often drive company vehicles to multiple jobsites per day, logging significant miles on congested roads. More miles means more exposure. Carriers evaluate your fleet's radius of operation, and contractors running crews across metro areas will pay more than those working a tight geographic radius.
Material delivery is another risk. Crews hauling unsecured loads — bundles of shingles, metal panels, scaffolding — create falling-object hazards for following vehicles. A single shingle bundle that slides off a truck bed and through a windshield can produce a $200,000 injury claim.
What It Costs
Commercial auto for roofing contractors typically costs $2,500 to $5,000 per vehicle per year for liability and physical damage. A five-truck fleet might run $12,000 to $25,000 annually depending on driver records, vehicle types, and claims history. Adding hired and non-owned auto is relatively inexpensive — usually $500 to $1,500 per year — and should always be included.