You drive your car mainly for personal purposes, so you don't need commercial auto insurance....or do you? Sometimes people are surprised to discover they actually need a commercial auto insurance policy on a car they consider a personal one. There is often a fine line between what you consider personal driving and what the law considers business driving, however. Don't get caught without a commercial policy like one from Metropolitan Insurance Service Consultants if you need one. Here's how to know for sure if you have the right type of coverage.

1. Do You Ever Charge to Transport Anything?

Maybe you use your car to make a little bit of extra cash on the side. There's nothing wrong with that, of course. However, according to Business.com, if you do it more than three times in a one month period on a regular basis, you probably need at least some basic commercial auto insurance coverage.

This is true whether you are charging to transport goods or people. Anytime money exchanges hands in return for you taking something or someone from one location to another in your car, even if it is primarily a personal vehicle, you are performing a commercial service.

If you were to get into an accident while transporting your cargo, it could become an issue if you didn't have the right type of coverage. Play it safe and be sure you do.

2. Do You Run Errands for Your Boss or Other People at Work Using Your Own Car?

If you are expected to transport things for your boss, other people at work, and you have to use your own car, you should get commercial auto insurance. Ideally, your employer should either give you a company car to do this kind of work or pay for the commercial policy for your car. The proper type of commercial policy for your employer to purchase in this case is called "non-owned auto" coverage.

If you are expected to pay for the policy yourself, ask human resources for reimbursement. If no one has brought up commercial auto insurance to you at all, bring it up yourself, and explain that you need it because you are using your personal car for a business purpose on a regular basis.

3. Do You Own a Small Business and Let Employees Drive Your Car?

If you own a small business with even just one employee, you must get commercial auto insurance if you let that employee drive your car during business hours for business purposes. Even if your car is registered personally to you and not to the business, it is being used for business purposes any time an employee is driving it as part of their work duties.

It may seem like you are saving money by just having your employee drive your car rather than their own. That way, you are only paying for gas for your own car, and avoiding having to cover the employee's car under a commercial policy.

However, you won't save any money at all if that employee gets into an accident in your car that only has personal insurance coverage. You may end up paying a lot of money in fines, in fact. It's far easier to just get a commercial policy for your car, or cover your employee's car with a non-owned auto policy.

Conclusion

Cars are used for commercial purposes quite often. Usually, the responsible person doesn't even realize the way their car is being driven is technically considered "commercial." If you have any doubts at all about what type of coverage you should have for your car, contact a car insurance agent today. You'll be glad you have the right type of coverage if you ever need to use it.