Garage liability
Premises and operations liability written for the motor trade.
Business Insurance
Auto repair shop insurance for the workshop.
Your building, your tools, your customers' cars and the work you performed on them. A repair shop needs four things covered, not one.
Independent workshops carry a specific mix: premises with lifts and flammables, expensive diagnostic and hand tools, customer vehicles held on site, and liability for the repairs themselves. A general business policy addresses the first two and misses the rest, which is why this trade is written on a garage form rather than a standard package.
Faulty work and the products-completed operations question
If a brake job fails and causes an accident, the claim is about work you performed. Garage liability with products and completed operations cover responds to the resulting injury and damage. What it generally will not pay for is redoing the repair itself.
That boundary is consistent across trades but it lands harder here, because the consequence of defective work in this sector is a vehicle on a road. Keeping good job records and documenting parts sourcing matters at claim time.
Tools, lifts and the things that make the shop work
Diagnostic equipment, scanners, alignment machines and a technician's personal tool collection add up to serious money and are frequently underinsured. Employee-owned tools in particular sit in an awkward gap unless the policy addresses them.
Equipment breakdown is worth adding too. A lift or compressor failing is a mechanical breakdown rather than a property peril, and standard property cover will not respond to it.
What it covers
The parts of a auto repair shop insurance policy
Garage keepers
Customer vehicles in your care — check which of the three forms you hold.
Tools and equipment
Diagnostic gear, lifts, hand tools and employee-owned tools where included.
Completed operations
Claims arising from repairs after the vehicle has left the workshop.
Equipment breakdown
Mechanical failure of lifts, compressors and diagnostic equipment.
Business interruption
Lost income while the workshop cannot operate after a covered loss.
Working with us
What we do differently
We are an independent agency, so we place your auto repair shop insurance across several carriers rather than fitting you to one company's product. That means a genuine comparison, and someone to call who is not a call centre.
- Check which garage keepers form you have — it decides whether hail pays
- Insure employee-owned tools explicitly or confirm they are excluded
- Add equipment breakdown for lifts and compressors
- Keep job records and parts documentation; they matter on completed operations claims
Common questions
Auto Repair Shop Insurance, answered
What is garage liability?
A liability form written for the motor trade, covering premises and operations along with products and completed operations for the repairs you perform. It replaces a standard general liability policy for this sector.
Are customer cars covered while in my shop?
Only under garage keepers cover, and only to the extent the form allows. Legal liability forms may not respond to hail or fire, which affect every vehicle on the lot at once.
Am I liable if a repair fails and causes an accident?
Products and completed operations cover responds to resulting injury and damage. The cost of redoing the faulty repair itself is generally not covered — that boundary applies across all trades.
Are my technicians' own tools covered?
Not automatically. Employee-owned tools sit in a gap unless the policy specifically addresses them, and technicians often own several thousand dollars of equipment. Worth confirming either way.
Do I need cover for test drives?
Yes, and it is usually included, but confirm whether it extends to vehicles taken to a subcontractor off site for paint or specialist work.
Related cover
Often arranged alongside this
Garage Keepers Insurance
The moment a customer hands you their keys, their vehicle becomes your exposure. Your property policy does not cover it and neither does theirs, reliably.
Read moreTow Truck Insurance
Two customer vehicles are at risk at once: the one behind you, and every one sitting in your yard. Different policies cover each.
Read moreBusiness Insurance
A shop, a contractor and a software firm face entirely different risks. We place commercial cover across multiple carriers rather than fitting you to one company's template.
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