Tire Shop Insurance
A successful tire shop must have coverage against possible losses due to fire damage, lawsuits, faulty products, and other risks.
Written by
Christine Lacagnina has written thousands of insurance-based articles for TrustedChoice.com by authoring consumable, understandable content.
Reviewed by
Cara Carlone is a licensed P&C agent with 20 years of experience. She has her P&C license in RI and TX and holds CPCU, API, and AINS designations.
Tire shops sell new or used tires, sometimes in combination with other automotive repair services. All retail establishments need the right kind of business insurance to protect their assets, and tire shops are no different. Business insurance for all kinds of retail establishments can cover property and liability concerns, but owners of tire shops need to make sure that their insurance policies are customized to their specific needs. If you change or install new tires or offer additional auto repair services, you’ll need some additional coverage.
A local independent insurance agent can help you get the tire shop business insurance you need to address all of your risks. They'll get you matched to the right amount of coverage for your unique tire shop. But first, here's an overview of tire shop insurance, what it covers, and why it's necessary.
What Is Tire Shop Insurance?
Tire shop insurance is just a special form of business insurance designed to meet the needs of tire shops. These policies consider each angle of a tire shop and the various exposures that can arise. Like many other types of retail businesses, tire shops can face lawsuits, property damage, crimes like vandalism, and more.
Why Do You Need Tire Shop Insurance?
It can be helpful to review a few specific instances in which having the right kind of insurance for tire shops would be critical. Tire shops must invest in insurance policies to protect their business assets from the following potential risks:
- Accidents such as slips and falls in the store or parking lot
- Damage to your inventory due to a catastrophic or unexpected event (e.g., fire, smoke, weather, vandalism, etc.)
- Loss of income due to a catastrophic or unexpected event that leads to a temporary closure
- Equipment damage
- Employee theft of cash or inventory
- Company vehicle accidents
- Lawsuits related to selling faulty products that cause harm to the public
- Employee lawsuits related to discrimination or other claims
- Cyber-attacks or data breaches
An independent insurance agent can help you find the right used tire shop insurance and other coverage to protect you against these possible risks and more.
What Does Tire Shop Insurance Cover?
Tire shop insurance consists of several types of business insurance coverage essential for any type of retail establishment. If you're a tire retailer, you’ll likely choose from the following types of coverage to go into your policy:
- Commercial general liability insurance: This coverage protects you from costs related to bodily injury or property damage that you or your employees cause to third parties by reimbursing your defense costs, court costs, and any court-ordered judgments you must pay.
- Commercial property insurance: This coverage reimburses you if a fire, vandalism, smoke, theft, or another covered peril damages your property, like inventory, office equipment, computers, and more.
- Business interruption insurance: This coverage pays for rent, employee salaries, lost income, relocation fees, and more if your business cannot operate because of damage caused by a disruption (e.g., fire, hail, wind, equipment breakdown, etc.).
- Commercial vehicle insurance: This covers incidents related to company vehicles, including accidents, theft, lawsuits, and more.
- Product liability insurance: This covers a business’s financial responsibility for losses or injuries to a user, buyer, or bystander caused by a defect or malfunction of a product it sells. In some instances, product liability insurance may also cover the manufacturer or seller of the product for defective design and failing to warn a buyer of a particular danger.
- Employee dishonesty and crime insurance: This coverage can protect your business from the costs of theft, dishonesty, and fraudulent acts committed by an individual employee or a group of employees or other acts of crime committed by anyone.
- Workers’ compensation insurance: This coverage can pay for medical treatments, rehabilitation, and a portion of lost wages for employees who get injured or ill due to their job duties or workplace.
- Employment practices liability insurance: This coverage can pay for expenses related to employee lawsuits filed against your business over claims of wrongful termination, sexual harassment, or another illegal practice.
- Cyber liability insurance: This coverage can reimburse your business for expenses related to data breaches and cyber-attacks that can expose, distribute, or sell private or sensitive data like employee records or customer credit card information and result in lawsuits.
An independent insurance agent can help you build the right tire shop insurance policy for your unique business.
Why Your Tire Shop May Need Garagekeepers Liability Insurance
If you also offer tire installation or certain types of auto repairs along with your retail business, you’ll need some additional liability protection for when customers’ vehicles are left in your care. Garagekeepers liability insurance is specialty business insurance coverage designed for auto repair shops as well as service stations, auto body shops, detail shops, vehicle electrical and repair shops, auto glass installers, oil change and lube shops, emissions testing sites, and just about any other type of establishment that provides parts or service for vehicles and temporarily stores those vehicles onsite.
Garagekeepers liability insurance protects you if a customer’s vehicle gets damaged due to your negligence or another disaster while it's in your care, custody, or control. Customer vehicle damage could occur due to a number of different incidents, such as fire, theft, weather events, vandalism, employee test drives, and lift accidents. Keep in mind, however, that garagekeepers liability insurance does not cover the contents of a customer’s vehicle, nor does it cover damage that occurs as a result of faulty workmanship, parts, or insufficient warranties.
How Much Does Tire Shop Insurance Cost?
The cost of your tire shop insurance policy can vary based on a number of different factors. These may include:
- The size and annual revenue of your business
- The location of your business
- The number of employees you have
- The value of your business's property, inventory, etc.
- The types of services you offer in addition to retailing tires
- The types and amounts of coverage you need
If you are a sole proprietor with just a few employees, you can expect to pay far less for your business insurance than a multi-location business with numerous employees. Ultimately, the types and amounts of coverage you need to adequately cover your risks can dictate the cost of your coverage.
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The Benefits of Working with an Independent Insurance Agent
Independent insurance agents help simplify the process of finding the right tire shop insurance. After they shop and compare policies from several different carriers, they’ll walk you through some handpicked policy options and explain the details. Most importantly, they’ll be there for you when claim time comes. They know the ins and outs of the process and will make sure your claim is handled appropriately.