Insurance For Party Buses & Limos

A party bus business involves a lot of moving parts (literally): vehicles, staff, passengers, equipment and refreshments. With so many moving parts, a lot can potentially go wrong. In order to protect your business, you will need to shop for insurance for party buses.

Why You Need Party Bus Insurance Coverage

There are two main reasons you need party bus insurance: to operate your business legally, and to protect your business in case something goes awry.

Legal Considerations

From a legal standpoint, you need to insure your buses in order to even drive them. Additionally, if you have employees, they will also need workers’ comp in order to satisfy the law.

Protect Your Business

Here are some scenarios where party bus insurance could come to the rescue for your business:

• You get into a traffic accident, causing damage to your bus and an injury to one of your passengers. Your insurance can help cover both.

• One of your passengers assaults another while drunk; your liquor liability insurance can help protect you.

• A passenger damages your equipment; your insurance can help pay for a repair or replacement.

How Much is Party Bus Insurance?

You can expect to pay anywhere from around $300 to $500 a month for party bus insurance. Here are some factors that can impact what you pay:

• Types of insurance: The more types of insurance you need to purchase for your party bus insurance, the more your costs will add up to.

• Policy and deductible amounts: If you purchase a policy with a higher coverage amount and/or a lower deductible, it will be more expensive than a corresponding policy with a lower coverage amount and/or a higher deductible.

• The types of vehicles: The specific makes and models of buses you are driving as well as their age and condition will impact the amount you need to pay for your bus party insurance.

• How many seats the buses contain: The number of passengers that each bus accommodates can also have an influence on the cost of insurance.

• Driving record: With a good driving record, it will cost less to insure a party bus business because of the lower associated risk.

• Location: This can be a big factor when it comes to insurance costs in this industry. A party bus that is driving on relatively open roads on the edges of a city will face fewer risks than one that is driving in the heart of downtown where the roads are clogged with traffic even at night. Some cities also have higher traffic accident stats than others, and may be more expensive to insure a party bus company in.

• Mileage: The more actual miles you drive your party buses around, the more expensive your insurance may be. The amount of hours you spend on the road could have an impact as well.

• Payroll: If you have employees, then you have to get them workers’ comp, as already discussed. This is more expensive the higher your payroll is.

• Past claims: Past claims on your insurance record can cause insurance costs to go up. But if you maintain a clean record for a long time, your rates can be lower. After a certain number of years with the same company and no claims, you might qualify for added discounts.

• Discounts: Speaking of discounts, you might be able to save by bundling insurance policies with the same company. You could also get discounts for taking certain safety measures while you drive.

Party Bus Coverage Options

Here are the most common types of insurance for the owners of party bus companies. Keep in mind that there may be other types of insurance policies that you also might want to get.

• General liability insurance: This is the type of insurance that covers you if there is damage to other persons or their property. It is one of the most important types of insurance anyone can apply for, regardless of what type of business they are in. So, it is a necessity if you are operating party buses.

• Workers’ comp insurance: If you have employees, it is a legal mandate that you purchase workers’ compensation. It will cover your employees if they get sick or injured on the job by helping to cover medical expenses as well as lost wages.

• Commercial auto insurance: You need to purchase commercial auto insurance to protect your buses (and any other vehicles you use for business). One thing to be aware of is that a lot of commercial auto policies do not apply in situations where customers are inside of your work vehicles. So, you specifically need a policy that does apply in this circumstance.

• Property insurance: Get this type of insurance to protect your commercial property. Note that for items in transit, you might need inland marine coverage.

• Liquor liability insurance: Drunk passengers can sometimes harm themselves, other people, or property. When that happens, liquor liability insurance is your best friend.

• Garage keepers liability insurance: You would only need this type of coverage if together with running party buses, you also repair them. If it is your own party buses you are repairing, you are fine without it. But if you sometimes repair other businesses’ party buses, then you will need this type of insurance.

Let’s come back to talking about commercial auto insurance policies for a moment.

These policies are complex, and may involve a number of different types of coverages. We recommend that you get a policy that includes the following:

• Commercial auto liability
• Personal Injury Protection (PIP)
• Third party bodily injury & property damage
• Collision coverage
• Comprehensive coverage
• Uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage

Again, your policy must apply when customers are in your bus. Otherwise, it is not going to protect you when you need it to the most.

Get the Coverage You Need for Your Party Bus Business

Party bus insurance coverage can protect your business from expenses related to injuries, accidents and more. To cover your vehicles, employees, property and business now, click on any of the links below for quotes from our recommended carriers.