The Hartford commercial auto insurance

Understanding commercial auto insurance

Commercial auto insurance covers claims involving company-owned vehicles, including cars, trucks and vans. Depending on the policy, it pays for injuries and damages to people and property, including your employees, passengers and business-owned vehicles. A personal insurance policy won’t cover claims for incidents that happen while the vehicle is operated for business purposes. 

A basic policy includes bodily injury liability and property damage liability, which pay for damage you or your drivers cause to others during an accident. Each state has different required liability limits, and your policy should have at least the limits required by state law. Consider higher limits for better protection.

Businesses can also sign on for additional coverage, such as comprehensive and collision insurance. Comprehensive covers damage to your vehicles from non-collision events, such as theft and natural disasters. Collision covers damage from impacts with other vehicles or objects.

Not only does commercial auto insurance provide financial protection for your business, but it can also be a legal requirement.

“If your business owns a car – or other vehicle used for commercial purposes – you almost certainly need commercial car insurance. Every state except New Hampshire requires some form of commercial auto insurance for business-owned vehicles,” says Jason Labat, a senior producer at Insureon, a small business insurance broker.

The Hartford commercial auto insurance coverage

The Hartford offers a variety of commercial auto insurance coverage options. There are five areas that most commercial car insurance policies cover:

• Liability: This pays for injuries to others as well as damage to other cars or property when your driver is at fault for the accident.
• Collision: This pays to repair or replace your vehicle if it strikes another object, overturns, rolls or is in a collision with another vehicle where your driver is at fault for the accident.
• Comprehensive: This pays to repair or replace the vehicle if it is damaged by something other than collision, such as vandalism, fire or storm damage. 
• Uninsured/underinsured motorist (UM/UIM): This helps pay for damage and injuries associated with an accident that wasn’t your fault when the other party doesn’t have insurance or lacks sufficient coverage to pay for the loss. 
• Medical payments: This protects your driver and passengers and helps pay for injuries they incur regardless of fault.

In addition to these basic coverages, The Hartford also offers several endorsements, or add-ons, such as rental car coverage, personal injury protection (PIP) and “drive other car” coverage, which covers business executives and their spouses if they drive vehicles that aren’t insured on your commercial auto insurance policy.

If your employees use their personal vehicles for business purposes, you can also purchase hired and non-owned insurance through The Hartford. Hired and non-owned insurance covers rented and leased vehicles as well as employees who use their own cars on work-related trips. 

Types of commercial vehicles The Hartford insures

The Hartford’s commercial auto insurance policy covers a wide range of vehicles, including:

• Business autos: This category includes all cars, cargo vans, SUVs and pickup trucks. 
• Trucks: The Hartford covers a variety of commercial trucks, including dump trucks, tow trucks, box trucks and service utility trucks.
• Trailers: This category includes utility trailers, dump body trailers and tractor trailers. 

The Hartford commercial auto insurance benefits

The Hartford offers a number of benefits to customers, including online claims and policy management tools. You can request a quote online, but you’ll need to work with an agent to purchase a policy.

Additionally, the company publishes average premiums online for many of its policies, so you can see how much you might pay for commercial auto insurance or other types of coverage before you buy.

How The Hartford stacks up against other commercial auto insurance companies

The Hartford is the tenth-largest commercial auto insurance company by market share. It controls 2% of the commercial auto insurance market, according to a March 2025 NAIC report. For comparison, the largest commercial auto insurer is Progressive, which controls 15% of the market.

A major criterion for judging insurance companies is the NAIC’s complaint index, which is based on the number of complaints filed against the company with state insurance regulators compared to that company’s market share. A score of 1.0 means it received a number of complaints proportionate to its market share, while a score higher than 1.0 means it received a higher-than-expected number of complaints for its market share. 

For 2024, The Hartford had an NAIC complaint index of 0.94, indicating it received fewer complaints than would be expected for a company its size.

Another consideration when selecting an insurer is its financial stability. AM Best, a ratings agency that measures insurers’ financial strength, gives The Hartford an A+ rating, which means it has a superior ability to meet policyholder obligations and pay claims.

How does The Hartford commercial auto insurance pricing compare with the competition?

According to The Hartford’s website, the average small business insurance customer pays $574 per month for commercial auto insurance. 

For comparison, small-business insurance broker Insureon says the average cost of commercial auto is $147 a month.

While that’s lower than The Hartford’s average rate, keep in mind that the cost of commercial car insurance is different for every business. Rates depend on many factors, such as location, coverage options, vehicle, driving history, industry and the company you choose.

For example, Progressive’s average commercial auto insurance premium ranges from $257 per month for contractor cars to $1,041 per month for for-hire transport trucks. 

Tips to save on The Hartford commercial auto insurance 

Here are some potential ways to save money on your commercial auto insurance policy:

• Bundling discount: Many insurers provide a discount for bundling commercial auto insurance with another policy, like general liability insurance.
• Paid-in-full discount: You can sometimes earn a small discount if you pay your annual premium upfront and in full at the start of the policy period. 
• Good driver discount: If your employees have clean driving records with no recent accidents or violations, The Hartford might give you a discount on your commercial auto insurance premium.

How to buy The Hartford commercial vehicle insurance

The Hartford partners with Tivly to provide online commercial auto insurance quotes. If you prefer to get a quote over the phone, you can call The Hartford at 855-559-1054.

To get a commercial auto insurance quote, you will need to submit some basic information about your business, such as the industry it’s in, number of employees and vehicle information. Be prepared with the year, make, model and VIN for all vehicles you want to insure. You might also need to submit the driver’s license numbers for the employees who will be driving the work vehicles.  

Once you complete the form, you will receive a follow-up call from The Hartford to discuss your quote. From there, you can complete the purchase process over the phone. Once you pay the initial premium, your coverage will take effect.

Bottom line: Why go with The Hartford for commercial auto insurance?

The Hartford can be a great commercial car insurance company for business owners who want the ability to manage their policies online. The Hartford offers self-service policy management tools, as well as online claim reporting. You can also request a quote online, but you can only purchase a policy over the phone. 

The Hartford is also an excellent commercial auto insurer for financial stability. The company has an A+ financial strength score from AM Best, which is the second-highest score possible. If you buy a policy, you’ll have peace of mind knowing that The Hartford is able to meet its contractual obligations and isn’t at risk of bankruptcy or other financial troubles.