About $38 a month
Garagekeepers
Insureon median for auto service customers, $500 deductible, updated March 2025
Coverage guide
Garage liability and garagekeepers insurance
For repair shops, body shops, dealers, detailers, tow operators and parking garages: what each policy covers, what it costs and what to have ready for a quote.
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Get garage liability and garagekeepers insurance quotes
What similar businesses pay
- Garagekeepers
- About $38 a month
- General liability, auto services
- About $54 a month
- Standalone general liability, garages
- About $68 a month
Published benchmarks, not quotes. Your price depends on underwriting.
Cost
What garage liability and garagekeepers insurance costs
About $54 a month
General liability, auto services
Insureon median for auto service customers, updated March 2025
About $68 a month
Standalone general liability, garages
The Hartford average for its garage business customers, updated April 2025
About $145 a month
Business owner’s policy
Insureon median for auto service customers, updated March 2025
Insureon’s medians for auto service businesses that buy through it come to about $458 a year for garagekeepers, with a $500 deductible, and $650 a year for general liability. Most of those buyers (97%) choose a $1 million per-occurrence and $2 million aggregate limit, and 76% pay less than $100 a month. The Hartford reports higher averages for its garage customers: $810 a year for standalone general liability and $1,687 for a business owner’s policy. A small shop with a few customer cars on site usually lands near these figures; a dealer, body shop or tow lot holding many vehicles, or buying direct primary garagekeepers, should expect more.
What moves your price
- The services you perform, from oil changes to body work, towing or vehicle sales
- The kinds of vehicles you work on and their value, which sets your garagekeepers limit
- How many service or storage locations you have
- Whether you buy legal liability, direct excess or the costlier direct primary form
- Your revenue, number of employees and claims history
- The liability limits and deductibles you choose
Who it’s for
Who needs garage liability and garagekeepers insurance
A customer slips in a service bay
Oil, coolant and hoses on the floor make waiting customers and visitors easy to hurt. Garage liability pays their medical bills and your defense if they sue. The Hartford puts the average slip-and-fall settlement at $10,000 to $50,000.
Thieves break in and damage cars left overnight
A break-in at your shop or lot can damage several customer cars at once. Insureon and Progressive both use this as the example garagekeepers claim: the policy pays repairs up to your limit and defends you if the owner sues.
An employee dents or crashes a customer’s car
A tech backs a car into a post or a porter scrapes it parking. Insureon says garagekeepers applies while the vehicle is parked, being serviced or out on a test drive.
A faulty repair causes harm after the car leaves
A brake job or a defective part fails weeks later and someone is hurt. Insureon lists products-completed operations as part of garage liability, which answers claims that a bad repair or part caused the injury or damage.
The customer’s insurer comes after you
Even when the owner claims on their own comprehensive coverage, Insureon notes their insurer could blame your business and expect you to pay. Garagekeepers is what answers that demand.
You sell vehicles in Florida
Florida will not license a motor vehicle dealer without proof of garage liability, or general liability plus a business auto policy, with at least $25,000 combined single limit and $10,000 personal injury protection under Florida Statutes 320.27.
Coverage
What garage liability and garagekeepers insurance covers
Injuries at your premises
Garage liability pays customer medical bills and lawsuits when someone is hurt at your shop, lot or showroom. It is the auto-business version of general liability.
Damage to customer property other than the car
Covers property you damage at your business, such as a phone or trailer, but not the customer’s vehicle itself, according to Insureon.
Products and completed operations
Responds when a customer says a defective part you installed or a faulty repair caused bodily injury or damage after the job was done.
Defense, settlements and judgments
Pays legal defense for covered liability claims, plus a settlement or court-ordered judgment up to your limits.
Garagekeepers legal liability
Pays for customer cars damaged or stolen in your care when you are legally responsible. IRMI notes non-dealer auto businesses buy it as the Garagekeepers Coverage endorsement, CA 99 37, and that it depends on proving your liability.
Direct primary garagekeepers
Pays for covered damage to customer cars regardless of who was at fault. Insureon says it costs more but settles claims faster, without arguing over fault.
Direct excess garagekeepers
Pays regardless of fault, but only after the customer’s own auto insurance reaches its limit, according to Insureon.
Dealer’s open lot
Covers a dealer’s own inventory of vehicles for sale, which garagekeepers does not. Insureon also calls it dealer’s physical damage coverage.
What it doesn’t cover
- Customer vehicles under garage liability alone; they need garagekeepers
- Personal items left inside a customer’s car, which Progressive says fall to the customer’s auto insurance
- Your own business vehicles, which need commercial auto
- Your own inventory of cars for sale, unless you add dealer’s open lot coverage
- Customer car losses you are not legally liable for, under the legal liability form
- Injuries to your own mechanics, which need workers’ comp; The Hartford cites nearly 18,000 nonfatal injuries and illnesses in auto repair in 2022
- Damage to your building, lifts, tools and parts, which need commercial property
Rules
Requirements and filings
No federal law requires garage liability or garagekeepers. The rules come from state dealer licensing laws, such as Florida’s, and from your lease and insurer’s terms. Check with your state’s dealer or towing licensing agency for your exact situation.
| Requirement | Applies to | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| Florida dealer license insurance | Motor vehicle dealer license applicants in Florida | Garage liability, or general liability plus a business auto policy, with at least $25,000 combined single limit for bodily injury and property damage and $10,000 personal injury protection, under Florida Statutes 320.27. |
| Franchise dealer policy type | Franchised new-car dealers in Florida | Must submit a garage liability policy; independent dealers may instead submit general liability coupled with a business auto policy, per Florida Statutes 320.27. |
| Salvage dealer exemption | Florida salvage motor vehicle dealers | Exempt from the garage liability and personal injury protection requirement for vehicles that cannot legally be driven on Florida roads, per Florida Statutes 320.27. |
| Continuous proof | Licensed Florida dealers | The policy must run for the license period, and evidence of a new or continued policy goes to the state at the start of each license period, per Florida Statutes 320.27. |
| Garage or lot lease | Tenants who store or service customer vehicles | Progressive says most landlords expect garagekeepers coverage for customer cars stored or serviced on the property. Read the insurance clause before you sign. |
| Each location insured | Businesses with more than one garage, lot or storage yard | Progressive requires each location to have its own garagekeepers coverage, so list every address on the application. |
Compare garage liability and garagekeepers insurance options.
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Pay less
How to lower the cost
- Choose legal liability garagekeepers if budget comes first; Insureon says direct primary costs more, though it keeps customers happier when a car is damaged.
- Set a deductible you can carry per vehicle; Insureon’s median garagekeepers policy uses $500, which Progressive also calls typical.
- Ask about a business owner’s policy or package policy; Insureon says a BOP typically costs less than buying each policy separately.
- Size the garagekeepers limit to the most customer car value you hold at one location, so you neither overpay nor fall short.
- Keep customer cars and keys locked inside overnight, since break-ins are the claim insurers cite most.
- Compare quotes at renewal; Florin is an independent broker that compares options from several insurers.
Before you start
What underwriters ask for
- The services you perform: repair, body work, towing, detailing, parking or sales
- Every garage, lot and storage address
- The kinds of vehicles you work on and the most customer car value on site at once
- Where cars are kept overnight and your security: fencing, cameras, key control
- Annual revenue, payroll and number of employees
- Loss runs from your current and prior insurers
- Your dealer license number and the state’s insurance minimums, if you sell vehicles
- The insurance clause from your lease
Common questions
Garage liability and garagekeepers insurance: questions
Is garage liability the same as general liability?
It is a type of general liability built for businesses that sell, store or service vehicles, according to Insureon. It covers customer injuries, damage to customer property other than vehicles and claims from faulty repairs or parts.
Does garage liability cover a customer’s car?
No. Damage to or theft of a customer’s vehicle in your care is covered by garagekeepers, which Insureon says you can often add to a garage liability policy as an endorsement.
Do I need garagekeepers if the customer has full coverage?
Usually yes. Insureon notes that even when the customer claims on their own comprehensive coverage, their insurer could blame your business and expect you to pay.
What is the difference between legal liability and direct primary?
Legal liability pays only when you are found responsible for the loss. Direct primary pays regardless of fault and costs more, while direct excess pays after the customer’s own auto insurance is used up.
Does garagekeepers cover cars on a test drive?
Insureon says garagekeepers applies while a customer vehicle is parked, being serviced or out on a test drive. Forms differ by insurer, so confirm the wording.
Are belongings left in the car covered?
Not under garagekeepers. Progressive says personal items inside the vehicle are excluded and fall to the customer’s own auto insurance.
What is storage location insurance?
It is the name Progressive uses in Texas and Virginia for garagekeepers. There, asking Progressive for garagekeepers gets you on-hook towing coverage, which applies only while a car is being towed.
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Sources (6)
- Insureon: auto services business insurance costs (updated March 27, 2025)
- Insureon: garage keepers vs. garage liability insurance (updated May 22, 2024)
- Progressive Commercial: garagekeepers legal liability insurance
- The Hartford: garage keepers insurance (updated April 9, 2025)
- IRMI: garagekeepers coverage definition
- Florida Statutes 320.27, motor vehicle dealers (2025)
Figures are published third-party estimates, not quotes. Coverage depends on policy terms and underwriting, and rules vary by state. Updated October 2026.