Hired & Non-Owned Auto Insurance for South Carolina Home Care Agencies

Few South Carolina agencies give this risk the attention it deserves. Caregivers drive their personal cars as part of the job: between client homes, on errands for clients, and sometimes to and from their shifts. If a caregiver is in a serious accident while working, the injured party's lawyer may look past the caregiver's own policy and toward your agency.

The Limits of a Caregiver’s Auto Policy

A caregiver's personal auto coverage responds first in an accident. Because caregiver wages are modest, though, most carry limits at or near what South Carolina requires and little more: $25,000 per injured person and $50,000 per accident. Those limits could be gone early in a serious claim, and the attorney may then look for the next source of payment, which is your agency. Hired and non-owned auto is the coverage there to meet that claim.

What Hired & Non-Owned Auto Covers

• Agency liability when an employee drives a personal vehicle for work, whether between clients, on errands, transporting clients if you offer it, or in some cases commuting.
• The cost to defend your agency when it is named in an auto suit, which often happens in serious accidents.

When You Also Need Commercial Auto

Commercial auto covers vehicles titled to the agency, such as a car an owner buys through the business or one provided to a key manager. Hired and non-owned auto covers the vehicles you do not own but may still answer for. For most home care agencies, the non-owned side is the bigger risk by far, since it includes every caregiver who drives to work.

Practical Steps That Reduce the Risk

We pair this coverage with sensible practices for South Carolina agencies: checking that caregivers keep their own coverage at reasonable limits, reviewing motor vehicle records when you hire, and writing clear rules for transporting clients. Across every line we write, the approach is the same. Lower the risk first, insure the rest, and make the policy fit how your agency actually operates. Request a South Carolina quote, and we will walk through your exposure together.