If anyone drives for your business, your firm has an auto exposure even with no company vehicles. Personal auto policies cover the driver, not your firm, and general liability excludes auto entirely. Hired and non owned auto liability closes that gap for a few hundred dollars a year. Who this is for: Staffing firms whose staff drive their own or rented cars for work.
The short version
- General liability excludes auto claims. There is no accidental coverage here.
- An employee's personal policy protects the employee, not the firm that gets sued alongside them.
- Hired and non owned auto usually costs $250 to $750 a year.
- Renting cars on business travel creates the same exposure as employee vehicles.
- An umbrella matters most here, because auto claims are what exhaust primary limits.
The gap in one paragraph
Your personal auto policy covers you driving for personal reasons and, on most forms, ordinary commuting. It gets shakier the moment the driving is business use, and it does nothing for the firm. If an employee causes a serious accident while driving to a client, the injured party sues both the driver and your firm, and only the driver has a policy.
Hired and non owned auto, and who needs it
Hired and non owned auto liability covers the firm's liability for vehicles it does not own: employee personal cars used for business and rented vehicles. For staffing firms it is the single most under-bought coverage, because recruiters driving to client sites and transporting workers, which is a common and expensive gap.
| Your situation | What you need | Typical annual cost |
|---|---|---|
| Nobody drives for work, ever | Nothing, but confirm nobody runs errands or visits clients | Not applicable |
| Staff drive their own cars to client sites | Hired and non owned auto liability | $250 to $750 |
| Staff rent cars while traveling | Hired auto liability and physical damage | $300 to $900 |
| The firm owns or leases a vehicle | A commercial auto policy | $1,500 to $3,500 per vehicle |
| Staff drive clients in their cars | Hired and non owned auto plus higher umbrella limits | $500 to $1,200 plus umbrella |
Why it is cheap and why it gets missed
Hired and non owned auto is usually a few hundred dollars added to a general liability or business owners policy. It gets missed because nobody thinks of themselves as running a fleet. The claim that finds it is always the same shape: one employee, one ordinary trip, one serious injury, and a plaintiff lawyer who names the employer because the employer has the assets.
What to do
- Add hired and non owned auto to your general liability or business owners policy. It is inexpensive and it closes the biggest gap most professional firms have.
- Require staff who drive for work to carry personal auto limits of at least $100,000 per person and $300,000 per accident, and check it annually.
- Put an umbrella over the top. Auto claims are the most common reason a professional firm exhausts a primary limit.
- Write a short policy on personal vehicle use, including whether staff may transport clients.
Related reading: hired and non owned auto.
What this looks like in practice
Illustrative example. Numbers are typical of claims we see and are not a promise of how any specific claim would be handled.
The setup: A staffing firm whose staff regularly drove to client sites in personal vehicles, with no hired and non owned auto endorsement.
The claim: The matter started with a misclassified group of light industrial workers. A collective action sought $380,000 in unpaid overtime across 40 workers.
The cost: $110,000 in defense costs and $260,000 in settlement, $370,000 in total, paid inside the policy limit after the retention.
The lesson: The firm was named alongside the employee and had to fund its own defense until coverage was sorted out. A few hundred dollars of hired and non owned auto would have put an insurer on the file from day one.
Frequently asked questions
Q: Do I need commercial auto if the business does not own a car?
Not a full commercial auto policy, but you likely need hired and non owned auto liability. It covers the firm when employees drive their own or rented cars for business.
Q: Will my employee's personal auto policy protect my firm?
It protects the employee up to their limits. It does not name your firm, so a plaintiff suing the business has nothing to reach except your general liability policy, which excludes auto.
Q: How much does hired and non owned auto cost?
Usually $250 to $750 a year added to an existing general liability or business owners policy. It is one of the cheapest meaningful coverages you can buy.
Q: Does my general liability policy cover auto accidents?
No. General liability forms exclude automobile liability. That is exactly the gap hired and non owned auto fills.
Q: What if staff drive clients in their own cars?
Buy hired and non owned auto and add an umbrella. Carrying passengers materially raises the severity of any accident, and personal auto limits are rarely enough.
Q: Do I need to check employee driving records?
It is good practice for anyone who drives for work regularly, and some carriers ask about it. A short written policy on personal vehicle use costs nothing and helps at claim time.
How Morrow helps staffing firms
Morrow is a licensed independent commercial insurance brokerage that specializes in staffing & recruiting firms. Closing the non owned auto gap before it is tested is exactly the kind of question we answer every week, and because we place this coverage every day we know which carriers write it well, which forms are broad, and which contract language actually needs an endorsement behind it.
- We read the contract clause and tell you what your current policy already does and does not do.
- We market your account to carriers that have real appetite for staffing firms rather than whoever answers first.
- We issue certificates the same day a client asks, with the endorsements listed correctly.
- We stay on the file at renewal so limits, retroactive dates, and contract requirements do not quietly drift.
Get in touch and we will see how we can help. Tell us what you do, send over any contract that is driving the requirement, and send us the question and we will tell you where you stand. Start at morrowinsure.com or reach the team through the contact options on that page.
One more thing. This article is general information for staffing firms and is not legal advice, tax advice, or a statement of coverage. Policy wording controls in every case, and forms vary by carrier and by state. Have a licensed advisor review your own policy and your own contract before you rely on any of it.
Last updated: Reviewed by the Morrow commercial lines team. Last updated August 2026.