Trucking and transportation

Mobile mechanic insurance

For mobile mechanics who fix cars and trucks in driveways, parking lots and on the roadside: what coverage costs, which rules apply and what to have ready for a quote.

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What similar businesses pay

General liability: About $54 a month
Garagekeepers: About $38 a month
Commercial auto: About $103 a month

Published benchmarks, not quotes. Your price depends on underwriting.

Cost

What mobile mechanic insurance costs

About $54 a month

General liability

Insureon median for auto repair and mechanic businesses, updated April 2025

About $38 a month

Garagekeepers

Insureon median for auto service businesses, updated March 2025

About $103 a month

Commercial auto

Insureon median for auto repair and mechanic businesses, updated April 2025

About $207 a month

Business auto (cars, vans, small trucks)

Progressive Commercial median for business auto customers, 2025

None of these figures is specific to mobile work. Insureon’s medians come from auto repair and mechanic businesses that apply for quotes through it: about $54 a month for general liability, $103 for commercial auto and $150 for workers’ comp if you have staff, with garagekeepers at about $38. Progressive’s 2025 business auto median of $207 a month covers all work cars, vans and small trucks. Insureon says an independent mobile mechanic usually pays less than a large shop with employees, and Progressive notes a mobile mechanic is rated differently from a garage that stores customer cars.

What moves your price

The services you offer: oil changes and brakes rate differently from transmissions, diesel or roadside work
Whether you ever store customer vehicles or run a garage, which Insureon lists as cost factors
The value of the cars and trucks you work on and the garagekeepers limit that requires
Your service vehicle’s value, upfit and garaging address
Number of employees and every driver’s record
Revenue, limits, deductibles and claims history

Risks

The risks insurers price for

A car drops off a jack on a sloped driveway

Without a lift or shop floor, you jack cars on asphalt, gravel and apartment lots. A jack that sinks or a car that rolls can crush you, hurt a customer nearby or damage the car. A bystander’s injury goes to liability and the car to garagekeepers; your own injury is covered only if you insure yourself under workers’ comp.

Oil on the driveway, a cracked windshield

Conexion Insurance lists the everyday mobile losses: a customer trips over a tool bag in their own driveway, a fender gets scratched while a car is moved or a slipped wrench cracks a windshield. Oil that stains a customer’s pavers is a property damage claim on your liability policy.

The repair fails 100 miles down the road

ISE Insurance Services describes a bearing installed in a heavy truck’s transmission that failed less than 100 miles later, seizing the drivetrain and wrecking the engine. Towing, moving the load, repairs and downtime made it a six-figure claim, and liability typically won’t pay to redo your own work.

A test drive ends in a crash

Insureon’s example: a mechanic test drives a customer’s car to trace a fault and hits another vehicle. Garage liability answers for the other car and its driver, and garagekeepers pays to fix the customer’s car. Without both, one side of that claim is yours.

Working on the shoulder of a road

Roadside calls put you beside live traffic while you change a tire, jump a battery or diagnose a disabled truck. A passing car can hit you, your van or the customer’s vehicle. ISE warns that policies written as if you work from a fixed location can leave off-site work uncovered.

Tools stolen from the van overnight

Your van is your shop, so one break-in can take socket sets, a scan tool and a compressor at once. ISE points out that tools are not automatically covered under your auto policy, so they need their own tools and equipment coverage.

Coverage

Coverage to consider

General and garage liability

Covers injuries and damage to customers and bystanders, such as oil on a driveway or a tripped customer. Insureon notes standard general liability may not fit garage operations, and garage liability extends it. Confirm completed operations is included.

How general liability works →

Garagekeepers

Pays for damage to customer vehicles in your care, custody or control, which general liability excludes. Options run from legal liability to direct primary, which Insureon says pays regardless of fault. Confirm the form applies away from a garage.

Faulty work or errors and omissions

NEXT’s faulty work coverage helps pay to redo a job that wasn’t up to par and to defend claims, such as a transmission that doesn’t work after service. It fills the gap left by the “your work” exclusion in most liability policies.

How professional liability works →

Commercial auto

Progressive says a mobile mechanic will probably need a commercial auto policy for the work vehicle. List shelving, compressors and built-in toolboxes on the policy so the upfit is covered if the van is damaged or stolen.

How commercial auto works →

Tools and equipment (inland marine)

Insureon describes it as covering a mobile mechanic’s socket sets, air compressors and diagnostic tools wherever they go. Insure scan tools at their real replacement value.

Hired and non-owned auto

NEXT says HNOA is required for longer test drives off your lot, and it covers employees who drive their own cars to jobs.

How commercial auto works →

Workers’ compensation

Insureon says it is required in almost every state once a mobile mechanic business has employees, and it protects sole proprietors from injury costs health insurance might deny.

How workers’ compensation works →

Rules

Requirements and filings

No federal law licenses mechanics, so the rules come from the states and the EPA. A few states regulate mobile repair directly; check with your state’s auto repair agency before you take paid work.

Requirement	Applies to	What it means
Automotive Repair Dealer registration	Anyone who diagnoses or repairs vehicles for pay in California, including mobile repair	Registration with the Bureau of Automotive Repair costs $200 to apply and $200 a year to renew, per BAR.
California mobile repair rules	Mobile automotive repair dealers in California, from October 1, 2025	Give BAR a physical address where records are kept and record on each final invoice where the repair was done. Mobile work more than 50 miles from a registered shop needs its own registration, per BAR’s October 2025 briefing.
Hawaii repair dealer and mechanic licensing	Motor vehicle repair businesses and mechanics in Hawaii	The Motor Vehicle Repair Industry Board licenses repair dealers and mechanics. Its June 2026 FAQ says mobile repair facilities would not comply with HRS 437-7.5.
Michigan mechanic certification	Anyone who repairs motor vehicles for compensation in Michigan	Certification from the Secretary of State under the Motor Vehicle Service and Repair Act, earned by passing a test in each repair category.
EPA Section 609 certification	Anyone who services motor vehicle air conditioning for payment	Training and certification through an EPA-approved program, plus refrigerant handling equipment certified by the EPA or an independent standards testing organization, under Clean Air Act Section 609.
Workers’ compensation	Mobile mechanic businesses with employees	Insureon’s 2025 summary: required with one employee in California, New York and Pennsylvania, at four in Florida, and optional in Texas.
Customer certificates	Fleet, dealership and property management contracts	Commercial customers commonly set their own limits and ask to be named as additional insureds. Check certificate terms before you sign.

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Pay less

How to lower the cost

Earn ASE, I-CAR Gold or AAA-approved status: NEXT says certified auto repair businesses that bundle general liability with commercial property can save up to 19%.
Bundle liability and property in a business owner’s policy, which Insureon says typically costs less than buying each separately.
Photograph each vehicle and get a signed work order before you start, so existing damage is not blamed on you.
Carry jack stands, wheel chocks and drip pans to every job and turn down work on steep or soft ground.
Raise deductibles on tools and an older van if you can absorb small losses.
Compare several quotes at renewal; Florin is an independent broker that compares options from several insurers.

Before you start

What underwriters ask for

Services you perform and the revenue share of each, including A/C, diesel or roadside work
Whether vehicles ever go to a yard or garage, and how many stay overnight
The most valuable vehicles you work on, such as fleet trucks or EVs
Service vehicle VIN, value, upfit and garaging address
Tool and scan tool inventory with values and serial numbers
Driver list with license numbers and dates of birth
Revenue, payroll and any 1099 helpers
State repair registration numbers and EPA 609 cards
Loss runs and the limits your customers require

Common questions

Mobile mechanic insurance: questions

Does my personal auto policy cover my mobile mechanic van?

Usually not for the business. Conexion Insurance notes the van is a commercial vehicle doing commercial work and needs a commercial auto policy, not a personal policy with a business use box checked.

Do I need garagekeepers if I work in the customer’s driveway?

Yes, if you want customer cars covered. Insureon says general liability excludes vehicles in your care, custody or control, and garagekeepers fills that gap; ask the insurer to confirm it applies away from a garage.

Will general liability pay to redo a repair that failed?

Typically not. Most liability policies have a “your work” exclusion for the cost of fixing your own faulty work, which is what faulty work or E&O coverage is for.

Can I run a mobile repair business in Hawaii?

Hawaii’s Motor Vehicle Repair Industry Board says in its June 2026 FAQ that mobile repair facilities would not comply with HRS 437-7.5. Ask the board before you take paid work there.

Do I need EPA certification to recharge A/C?

Yes, if you are paid for it. The EPA says Clean Air Act Section 609 requires anyone who services motor vehicle air conditioning for payment to be trained and certified by an EPA-approved program.

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Sources (16)

Figures are published third-party estimates, not quotes. Coverage depends on policy terms and underwriting, and rules vary by state. Updated October 2026.