Garage Liability Insurance
Garage liability is the foundation coverage for any performance or tuner shop. It combines premises and operations liability with auto exposure unique to the garage business — including damage your shop causes while road-testing a customer's car.
Garage Liability for Performance & Tuner Shops
Garage liability is the specialized liability policy built for automotive businesses. A standard general liability policy doesn't fully address the auto-specific exposures of a shop that drives, lifts, and works on customer vehicles. Garage liability fills that gap.
What Garage Liability Covers
- Premises liability: A customer slips in your lobby or is injured in the shop
- Operations liability: Injury or third-party property damage arising from your repair and tuning work
- Garage operations auto liability: Damage or injury you cause while driving a customer's car on a test/road-test, or moving vehicles around the lot
- Bodily injury and property damage to third parties
Why Tuner Shops Specifically Need It
Performance shops road-test cars hard — verifying a tune, checking boost, confirming a build under load. The moment your tech is behind the wheel of a customer's 600-horsepower car, you have an auto liability exposure that a plain general liability policy was never designed to cover. Garage liability is.
Garage Liability vs. Garagekeepers
These are often confused. Garage liability covers your liability to *third parties* (injury and their property). Garagekeepers covers physical damage to the *customer's vehicle* in your care. Most shops need both — we structure them together.
Certificate Requirements
Landlords, parts vendors, and finance companies frequently require proof of garage liability with them named as additional insured. We issue certificates same-day.
What's Covered
Frequently Asked Questions
Garage liability is built for auto businesses and includes the auto exposure of driving and moving customer vehicles (like test drives). General liability covers premises and operations but not the garage auto exposure. Many shops carry garage liability as their core policy.
No — that's garagekeepers coverage. Garage liability covers your liability to third parties for injury and their property. Damage to the customer's vehicle in your care is covered by a separate garagekeepers policy.