Why It Matters When You Don’t Own the Vehicle

Hired & Non-Owned Auto Insurance for Contractors

Not every contractor runs a full fleet of company-owned trucks. Sometimes, you rent a van for a big job or send a foreman to grab materials in their own pickup. But if there’s an accident while they’re on company business, your business could be held liable — even if the vehicle wasn’t yours. That’s where Hired & Non-Owned Auto Insurance (HNOA) steps in. It fills the gap and protects contractors when vehicles outside their fleet are used for work.

What Is Hired & Non-Owned Auto (HNOA) Coverage?

HNOA insurance protects your business from liability when an accident occurs involving a vehicle your company doesn’t own. It comes in two parts:

Hired Auto: Covers rented or leased vehicles used temporarily for business purposes.

Non-Owned Auto: Covers personal vehicles (typically employee-owned) being used for company work.

Think of it as a backstop for your business — it won’t cover damage to the vehicle itself, but it will cover your company if someone gets hurt or property is damaged and your business is named in a lawsuit.

Why Arizona Contractors Might Need HNOA

This coverage is especially important for trades that run lean or outsource their driving. Common examples:

• An employee runs to the supply yard in their own truck and causes a wreck. Their personal policy may not cover the business use — and your company could be sued.
• You rent a cargo van for a large installation project in Phoenix or Tempe. The rental company’s insurance is minimal — if someone gets hurt, your business is exposed.
• A project manager drives their personal SUV to check job sites across the Valley. If they rear-end someone in traffic, your business could be on the hook.

Without HNOA, your general liability policy won’t help — and you could be facing a serious legal and financial mess.

Adding HNOA to Your Policy

If your contracting business doesn’t own vehicles, HNOA can often be added as an endorsement to your General Liability policy. If you do have a commercial auto policy, this coverage may already be included — or we can add it. At JP Insurance Group, we’ll review your operations and make sure this important gap is filled based on how your business actually works.

What HNOA Covers (and Doesn’t Cover)

Hired & Non-Owned Auto coverage is designed to protect the business from liability — meaning:

• Bodily injury to others
• Property damage caused by the driver
•  What it doesn’t cover:
• Physical damage to the hired or non-owned vehicle itself
• Injuries to the employee driver

The driver’s personal auto policy or rental insurance handles their own vehicle — HNOA exists to shield your business from lawsuits tied to their actions.

The Risk of Going Without

Here’s the hard truth: if one of your employees causes a serious accident in their personal vehicle while doing something for work, your company could be targeted in a lawsuit — especially if their policy has low limits or doesn’t cover business use. Without HNOA coverage, there’s no insurance to step in on your behalf. This kind of gap is easy to fix — and very affordable — but expensive to ignore.

Which Contractors Need HNOA Coverage?

• You don’t own company vehicles, but employees drive their own vehicles for work tasks
  
• You rent vehicles occasionally for hauling, transport, or special jobs
• You think of your business as “too small” to need auto coverage — but still rely on vehicles to get work done

Contractors in trades like plumbing, HVAC, drywall, electrical, or landscaping often overlook this coverage until it’s too late. Even a solo contractor who rents a pickup for occasional projects could benefit.