About $54 a month
General liability
Insureon median for repair shops and mechanics, updated April 2025
Shops, services and offices
Auto repair shop insurance
For independent repair shops, transmission and brake specialists, quick-lube shops and mobile mechanics: the coverage for your work and customer cars, typical costs and the rules that apply.
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What similar businesses pay
- General liability
- About $54 a month
- Workers’ compensation
- About $150 a month
- Business owner’s policy
- About $149 a month
Published benchmarks, not quotes. Your price depends on underwriting.
Cost
What auto repair shop insurance costs
About $150 a month
Workers’ compensation
Insureon median for repair shops and mechanics, updated April 2025
About $149 a month
Business owner’s policy
Insureon median for repair shops and mechanics, updated April 2025
About $38 a month
Garagekeepers
Insureon average for auto service businesses
Insureon’s figures are medians for auto repair and mechanic businesses that apply for quotes through it, updated in April 2025; its garagekeepers figure is an average for auto service professionals. Insureon also reports about $103 a month for commercial auto and $101 a month for a commercial package policy. Workers’ comp is the largest single line in that data, reflecting the physical work technicians do around heavy vehicles. A shop that holds many high-value customer cars overnight, or does body and paint work, should expect its garagekeepers and property costs to run above these figures.
What moves your price
- The services you offer, from oil changes to transmissions, body and paint or towing
- The value of your building, lifts, diagnostic equipment and parts inventory
- The most customer vehicle value you hold at one time, indoors and outdoors
- Garagekeepers form, per-occurrence limit and per-vehicle deductible
- Location, revenue and employee count
- Liability limits, deductibles and claims history
Risks
The risks insurers price for
A customer car damaged or stolen in your care
On a busy day your bays and lot can hold dozens of customer cars. Each can be scraped by a lift arm, dented by a dropped tool, crashed on a test drive, stolen overnight or hit by hail while it waits for parts. General liability does not cover them.
A technician crushed under a lift or jack
OSHA’s Region VIII emphasis program for automotive services targets crushing from improperly used or maintained lifts and floor jacks, tire explosions, uncovered service pits, unguarded machines, noise and chemical exposure. The BLS reports 2.0 recordable injuries per 100 full-time workers in repair and maintenance in 2024 and 148 fatal injuries.
A repair that fails after the car leaves
A brake job that fails a week later or a wheel that comes loose after a tire change can injure the driver and others. Insureon notes garagekeepers excludes claims based on faulty repair work or defective parts, so these fall to your liability policy.
A customer hurt in the shop or waiting area
A customer trips over an air hose in the waiting area or slips near the service counter. Garage or general liability answers these claims.
Break-ins and stolen tools
The Hartford found burglary and theft made up 20% of its small-business claims in 2025. A repair shop’s tools, scanners, parts and customer cars sit on site after hours, so lighting, cameras, fencing and controlled entry matter.
Coverage
Coverage to consider
Garage liability or general liability
Covers customer injuries in the shop and damage your operations cause to others. Insureon notes it excludes vehicles in your care, custody and control.
How general liability works →Garagekeepers
Covers customer vehicles in your bays, on your lot or on a test drive. Legal liability pays only when you are at fault; direct primary pays regardless of fault; direct excess pays after the customer’s own insurance when you are not at fault. Personal items left in the car are not covered.
Business owner’s policy or commercial property
Covers the building or your improvements, lifts, diagnostic scanners, tire machines and parts inventory.
How commercial property works →Tools and equipment (inland marine)
Covers tools stolen or damaged in transit or at a customer’s site, which matters most for mobile mechanics.
Workers’ compensation
Pays medical bills and lost wages for technicians hurt by lifts, jacks, burns or lifting. Insureon says it is required in almost every state once a shop has employees.
How workers’ compensation works →Commercial auto
Covers your parts runner, shuttle van or service truck. Customer cars on a test drive fall under garagekeepers instead.
How commercial auto works →Umbrella
Adds liability limits above garage liability and commercial auto for a serious injury claim.
How umbrella / excess works →Rules
Requirements and filings
Several states license repair shops directly, federal rules govern air conditioning work and most states require workers’ comp once you hire. These rules were checked in October 2026; check your own state’s consumer protection agency.
| Requirement | Applies to | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| California repair dealer registration | Anyone operating as an automotive repair dealer in California | Current Bureau of Automotive Repair registration required (Cal. Bus. and Prof. Code 9884.6) |
| California written estimate | California automotive repair dealers | Written estimate and customer authorization before work begins (Cal. Bus. and Prof. Code 9884.9) |
| Florida Motor Vehicle Repair Act | Anyone paid to repair other people’s vehicles in Florida | Registration with the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services; final price may not exceed a written estimate by more than $10 or 10%, whichever is greater, without consent |
| Clean Air Act section 609 | Technicians paid to service motor vehicle air conditioning, nationwide | Training and certification through an EPA-approved program (EPA) |
| Florida workers’ compensation | Non-construction employers in Florida with 4 or more employees, counting corporate officers and LLC members | Coverage required (Florida Division of Workers’ Compensation) |
| Texas workers’ compensation | Most private employers in Texas | Coverage is optional, but employers without it must report that status and certain injuries to the state (Texas Department of Insurance) |
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Pay less
How to lower the cost
- Inspect and maintain lifts and jacks and train every technician on them, the measures OSHA’s automotive emphasis program checks.
- Park customer cars inside overnight where possible, light the lot and lock keys in a secured cabinet or key box.
- Photograph each car at drop-off so pre-existing damage is not blamed on the shop.
- Restrict test drives to experienced employees with clean driving records.
- Set the garagekeepers limit to the most customer vehicle value you actually hold at one time, with a per-vehicle deductible you can absorb.
- Use signed written estimates in every state, not only where the law requires them, to reduce workmanship disputes.
Before you start
What underwriters ask for
- Services you perform, such as general repair, transmissions, body and paint, tires or towing
- Whether you also sell cars
- The most customer vehicles you hold at one time and their highest values
- Number of bays and lifts, and how the building and lot are secured after hours
- Employees who test-drive cars, with license numbers and driving records
- Payroll by role
- State registration numbers and Section 609 certifications
- Loss runs from current and prior insurers
Common questions
Auto repair shop insurance: questions
Does general liability cover customer cars at my shop?
No. Insureon says general liability does not cover customer vehicles in your care, and garage liability also excludes them. Garagekeepers is the coverage that pays for a customer’s car damaged or stolen while you have it.
What is the difference between garage liability and garagekeepers?
Garage liability covers injuries and property damage your operations cause to others, such as a customer hurt in your waiting area. Garagekeepers covers the customer vehicles in your bays, on your lot or on a test drive.
Is a car damaged on a test drive covered?
Insureon lists a collision during a test drive among the losses garagekeepers can cover. Damage to the other driver’s car or injuries you cause fall under your liability coverage.
Does garagekeepers cover a bad repair?
No. Insureon says garagekeepers excludes claims based on faulty repair work or defective parts, so injury or damage from a failed repair is handled under your liability coverage, subject to its terms.
Do mobile mechanics need garagekeepers?
Ask whether a policy covers cars you work on at a customer’s location, since garagekeepers applies to vehicles in your care, custody and control. Mobile mechanics also need liability, commercial auto for the service vehicle and inland marine for tools.
Do I need a license to open a repair shop?
It depends on the state. California requires Bureau of Automotive Repair registration and Florida requires registration with its agriculture and consumer services department, and technicians doing paid A/C work need EPA Section 609 certification everywhere.
Where can I compare auto repair shop insurance quotes?
Florin is an independent broker that compares options from several insurers. Have your vehicle counts, garagekeepers limit and loss runs ready so each insurer quotes the same exposure.
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Sources (12)
- Insureon: auto repair shop and mechanic insurance cost (updated April 2025)
- Insureon: garage keepers insurance
- Insureon: insurance for auto repair shops and mechanics
- OSHA Region VIII: Local Emphasis Program for Automotive Services (CPL 04-05)
- Bureau of Labor Statistics: repair and maintenance (NAICS 811)
- The Hartford: top five small business claims (December 2025)
- California Business and Professions Code 9884.6
- California Business and Professions Code 9884.9
- Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services: motor vehicle repair
- EPA: Section 609 technician training and certification programs
- Florida Division of Workers’ Compensation: coverage requirements
- Texas Department of Insurance: employer workers’ compensation
Figures are published third-party estimates, not quotes. Coverage depends on policy terms and underwriting, and rules vary by state. Updated October 2026.