BROKLY

Insurance for auto repair shops — what to carry, and what it costs

Published 2026-06-05 · Updated 2026-06-11 · by Brokly

Direct answer: insurance for auto repair shops starts with workers’ comp — required in nearly all states — with 5 more coverages matched to the trade below. For a typical repair shop that’s ≈$690 to ≈$4.2k/yr depending on the state (filed rates $0.76–$5.19/$100 payroll, 2024).
Pick your state — the statute, modeled costs, and the full coverage guide ↓

What auto repair shops carry — at a glance

Workers’ comp is governed state by state — pick your state in the table below for the statute and the modeled cost. The rest is the trade’s exposure map.

Workers' compensation

If a mechanic, technician, or service writer is hurt on the job.

What it covers, and what it doesn’t

Typically covers

  • Medical bills for a work injury, at rates the state sets
  • Part of the injured employee's lost wages
  • The employer too: covered employees generally can't sue over the injury

Typically doesn’t

  • Injuries outside work
  • Independent contractors, in most states
  • Lawsuits that get around the can't-sue trade-off — that's the employer's liability part of the same policy
Required in nearly all states≈$1.6k/yrtypical repair shop · median stateCosts by state →
Commercial auto

If you crash a shop vehicle — a tow truck, parts runner, or a customer's car on a test drive.

What it covers, and what it doesn’t

Typically covers

  • Liability when a business vehicle injures someone or damages property
  • Accidents in vehicles titled to the business, driven by employees for work
  • The liability minimums states set for business vehicles

Typically doesn’t

  • Your liability when employees drive their own cars for work — that's hired and non-owned auto; the employee's own car stays on their personal policy
  • The freight or goods being hauled — that's cargo or inland marine coverage
  • Damage to your own vehicle, unless physical damage coverage is added
Required if…Requirements by state →
General liability

If a customer is hurt in your waiting area — or a repair you finished fails later and causes harm.

What it covers, and what it doesn’t

Typically covers

  • Injuries to customers, visitors, and other third parties
  • Damage your operations cause to someone else's property
  • Legal defense for covered claims

Typically doesn’t

  • Your employees' injuries — that's workers' compensation
  • Mistakes in professional advice or design — that's professional liability
  • Redoing your own faulty workmanship itself
Worth a lookWhat it covers →
Garagekeepers

If a customer's car is damaged while it's in your care — on the lift, in the bay, or on your lot.

What it covers, and what it doesn’t

Typically covers

  • Customers' vehicles in your care — on the lot, on the lift
  • Fire, theft, vandalism, and collision damage to those vehicles, per the form
  • The gap general liability leaves for customers' cars in your care

Typically doesn’t

  • The faulty repair work itself
  • Customers' belongings left in vehicles, typically
  • Your own business vehicles — that's commercial auto
Worth a lookWhat it covers →
Tools & equipment

If your scanners, diagnostic gear, and hand tools are stolen, lost, or damaged — in the shop or on the road.

What it covers, and what it doesn’t

Typically covers

  • Tools and equipment that travel — in trucks, on job sites, between locations
  • Theft from a vehicle or job site, a common loss
  • Rented or borrowed gear, when it's listed on the policy

Typically doesn’t

  • Gradual wear and breakdown
  • Tools that stay at your shop — that's commercial property
  • The vehicles themselves
Worth a lookWhat it covers →
Business owner's policy

Bundles your premises property, liability, and lost income into one policy for a small shop.

What it covers, and what it doesn’t

Typically covers

Typically doesn’t

  • Vehicles — that's commercial auto
  • Workers' comp, which is written as its own policy
  • Professional advice claims — that's professional liability
Worth a lookWhat it covers →

Exact terms live in the policy — these are the typical boundaries.

Sources: NAIC — Small Business Insurance (retrieved 2026-06-06) · California Department of Insurance — Commercial Insurance Guide (retrieved 2026-06-06) · Oregon DAS Risk Management — Insurance Clauses: Garage Insurance (retrieved 2026-06-06)

Workers’ compCommercial auto · benchmark comingGeneral liability · benchmark comingGaragekeepers · benchmark comingTools & equipment · benchmark comingBusiness owner's policy · benchmark coming

What workers’ comp costs a typical repair shop

Modeled annual premium for each state’s most common repair shop size, from that state’s own filed rate and observed payroll. All 51 states: rates & costs →

Least expensive states

Most expensive states

Modeled — not quotes: each figure prices that state’s most common repair shop size band from the state’s own observed payroll (CBP 2023), so dollar order can differ from rate rank.

Pick your state — what’s required there, and what it costs

Every linked state has the full guide: what the law requires there, the coverages that fit, and modeled costs — built from 71,481 auto repair shops across 31 states (CBP 2023).

† monopolistic state — workers’ comp must be bought from the state fund; a private policy can’t satisfy the requirement there. Other unlinked states lack a published rate or a defensible business-size cohort.

Sources: Oregon DCBS workers' compensation premium rate ranking study, June 2025 (calendar-year 2024 rates) (as of calendar year 2024, retrieved 2026-06-04) · US Census County Business Patterns 2023, state file (General automotive repair (NAICS 811111)) (as of 2023, retrieved 2026-06-05)

Frequently asked questions

What work does class 8380 cover?

Auto service and repair work is NCCI class 8380 — mechanical repair and service centers, including their drivers.

Why does my state matter so much?

Workers’ comp is state law — the employee threshold that triggers it, the rates, and the market structure all differ by state. That’s why every state above gets its own guide.

Someone asked me for a certificate of insurance — what is it?

The one-page proof your coverage exists — landlords, general contractors, and client contracts ask for it routinely, and it’s often the reason auto repair shops buy insurance in the first place. Certificate of insurance, explained →

Stay informed

Coverage rules change.

We’ll send the updates that affect your business.