Garage liability, garagekeepers, and the shop and fleet exposure around them — reviewed and placed by an independent Rochester Hills commercial agency for repair shops, quick-service centers and used-car dealers across Metro Detroit and Michigan.
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A repair shop or dealer program is built around who is legally responsible for a customer's vehicle while it is on the property — a question ordinary general liability does not fully answer.
The general liability form written for the auto service and sales trade — premises and operations exposure, plus completed operations for work already finished. It is the base policy a shop or dealer is underwritten on, distinct from a standard BOP written for a non-automotive business.
Answers physical damage to a customer's vehicle while it is in the shop's care, custody or control — a fire, theft or collision in the lot or bay. It can be written legal liability (responds only if the shop is at fault) or direct primary (responds regardless of fault), and which basis applies changes who pays first after a loss.
Covers vehicles operated under dealer plates — test drives, transport between locations, and inventory on the lot. Personal auto and standard commercial auto forms are not built for this use, so it is written on its own terms tied to the dealer license.
Tow trucks, courtesy vehicles, parts runs and service calls made in shop-owned vehicles. Rated separately from the garage and dealer forms, and worth reviewing alongside them so a vehicle is not left covered by neither.
Technicians work with lifts, power tools and pressurized systems, which rates differently from clerical or sales staff at the same location. Michigan's statutory criteria determine when coverage is required; where it is, classification accuracy across a mixed shop-and-sales staff is worth checking.
Additional limit above the garage liability and commercial auto liability exposure — the shop's legal responsibility for injury or damage arising from its operations, not the garagekeepers coverage on customer vehicles themselves. Whether and how an umbrella responds over garagekeepers or other property coverage depends on the specific form and underlying schedule, and should be confirmed rather than assumed. A lot carrying higher-value vehicles is still a reason to review the liability limit, since a single serious incident can exceed a limit set for an average day.
Garage risks are underwritten on operations and vehicle values on the lot, not just years in business. These are the items that move the account.
General repair, collision, transmission, tire and quick-lube work all carry different loss profiles, and welding, painting or frame work in particular are rated apart from routine maintenance. What the shop actually does — not just its name — sets the classification.
Two figures matter here, not one: the highest-value individual vehicle the shop might have in for service, and the combined value of every customer vehicle that could realistically be on the lot or in the bays at the same time. A fire or a lot-wide loss exposes the second figure, not just the first. Garagekeepers limits and deductibles are commonly set per vehicle and separately per occurrence or location, so both numbers — and how the deductible applies — are worth confirming with the carrier rather than assumed from a single average.
Who is allowed to drive a customer's or dealer vehicle, and under what conditions, is a question carriers ask directly. Technicians test-driving on public roads, and dealer plates used off the lot, both extend the exposure past the physical premises.
Anyone who moves vehicles — technicians, porters, drivers on dealer plates — is effectively a rated driver for the operation, whether or not they are on a formal driver list. Motor vehicle records for that group are reviewed the same way a delivery fleet's drivers are.
Used oil, solvents, refrigerant and batteries create environmental exposure that a standard liability form addresses only in part. How these materials are stored and disposed of — and whether the shop uses a licensed hauler — is a underwriting question, not just a compliance one.
Lot lighting, fencing, alarm coverage and key control affect both the garagekeepers and dealer inventory exposure, since theft and vandalism are among the more frequent losses on a lot full of other people's vehicles or dealer stock.
Not every carrier asks for every item, but a garage or dealer submission moves faster when this is assembled up front.
Direct answers to what Michigan shop owners and dealers ask before moving a program.
Most Michigan repair shops carry garage liability, garagekeepers coverage for customer vehicles in their care, commercial auto for shop-owned vehicles, and workers' compensation once the statutory criteria are met. Shops handling dealer plates or inventory add coverage for that exposure separately. The right combination depends on the services performed and the vehicles regularly on site.
Garage liability is general liability for the auto service trade — injury or property damage arising from shop operations. Garagekeepers is a separate coverage for physical damage to a customer's own vehicle while it is in the shop's care, custody or control. A shop can carry one without the other, and a claim involving a customer's car specifically needs garagekeepers to respond.
Only if garagekeepers coverage is in place, and only on the basis it is written. A legal-liability form responds when the shop is at fault for the damage; a direct-primary form can respond regardless of fault, up to the policy terms. Which basis applies is worth confirming before a loss, not after.
Generally yes. Vehicles operated under dealer plates — for test drives, transport or lot use — fall outside standard personal and commercial auto forms, which are not written for that use. Dealer and road exposure is typically scoped and rated on its own terms tied to the dealer license.
Only if scheduled or covered by an inland marine or tools-and-equipment endorsement, which is separate from the garage and property forms. Technician-owned tools in particular are a common gap, since a shop's own property coverage does not automatically extend to equipment employees bring themselves.
At minimum: services performed, number of bays and technicians, the highest-value customer vehicle typically on site, dealer plate count if applicable, who is authorized to drive customer or dealer vehicles, hazardous-material handling, lot security, and currently valued loss runs. With those in hand most shops and dealers can be marketed to several carriers at once.
Titanium Shield Insurance Agency is an independent commercial agency in Rochester Hills. We review garage and dealer programs against what the operation actually does — services performed, vehicle values on the lot, and who drives what — and place garage liability, garagekeepers and dealer coverage across carriers rather than through one company.