Hired and non-owned auto (HNOA) coverage protects a restaurant against liability when employees drive their own cars or rented vehicles on business, such as delivering orders or running to the supplier, while commercial auto insurance covers vehicles the business owns or leases, including damage to those vehicles. HNOA does not repair the employee’s car; commercial auto insures the vehicle itself and the people permitted to drive it.
Restaurants deliver in very different ways: in-house drivers using their own cars, a company van for catering, a food truck, or third-party apps. Each model shifts where the auto risk lands. This page walks through how the two coverages are built so you can match them to how food actually leaves your kitchen.
How the business auto form sorts vehicles
Commercial general liability policies exclude injury and damage arising from the use of autos, so auto exposure must be handled elsewhere. In the ISO business auto policy, coverage depends on covered auto symbols. Owned autos are covered under owned or specifically described auto symbols. Hired autos are vehicles you lease, hire, rent or borrow. Non-owned autos are vehicles you do not own, lease, hire, rent or borrow that are used in connection with your business, including employees’ personal cars. An important detail: under the business auto form, an employee is generally not an insured while driving a car the employee owns. HNOA mainly protects the restaurant when it is pulled into a lawsuit, while the employee relies on a personal auto policy, which usually responds first. HNOA can be added to a business auto policy, and many carriers also offer it as an endorsement to a BOP or general liability policy.
HNOA and commercial auto, point by point
- What it covers — HNOA: liability for bodily injury and property damage the restaurant becomes legally responsible for when employees use personal or rented vehicles for business, usually excess over the driver’s own insurance for non-owned autos. Commercial auto: liability for vehicles titled to or leased by the business, plus optional physical damage (comprehensive and collision), medical payments, and uninsured or underinsured motorist coverage as your state requires or allows.
- Who needs it — HNOA: any restaurant whose staff deliver, cater or run errands in their own cars, or that rents trucks or vans. Commercial auto: restaurants with an owned delivery car, catering van, food truck or any vehicle registered to the company.
- Common restaurant claim example — HNOA: a pizzeria driver using a personal car runs a stop sign on a delivery and injures a cyclist, who sues the driver and the pizzeria. Commercial auto: the catering company’s refrigerated van sideswipes a parked SUV on the way to a wedding and damages its own side panel.
- How it’s usually bought — HNOA: an endorsement to a BOP or general liability policy, or symbols 8 and 9 on a business auto policy. Commercial auto: a business auto policy with scheduled vehicles and listed drivers.
- Common gaps — HNOA: no coverage for damage to the employee’s car, no medical payments for the driver, and it relies on the employee having personal auto insurance that does not exclude delivery use, which some personal policies exclude or limit. Commercial auto: does not reach employees’ personal cars unless HNOA is added, and equipment carried in the vehicle may need separate property or inland marine coverage.
Delivery scenarios owners actually face
The personal-car delivery crash. In the pizzeria example above, the driver’s personal auto policy is expected to respond first for the driver, unless that policy excludes delivering food for a fee. The pizzeria’s HNOA defends and pays for the restaurant’s own liability, typically above the driver’s limits. The dented bumper on the employee’s car is not an HNOA claim, and a workers’ compensation claim may apply to the driver’s own injuries.
The company catering van. Because the business owns the van, HNOA does nothing here. Commercial auto liability pays for the parked SUV, and collision coverage pays for the van, minus the deductible.
The rented box truck. A manager rents a box truck to haul equipment to an off-site festival and backs into a vendor tent. Hired auto liability under HNOA can respond to the vendor’s claim. Damage to the rented truck itself requires hired auto physical damage coverage or the rental company’s damage waiver.
Which do you need?
- Employees deliver or run errands in their own cars: HNOA at a minimum, plus a written requirement that drivers carry personal auto insurance and disclose delivery use to their insurer.
- The business owns or leases any vehicle: commercial auto for that vehicle, with HNOA added for everything else.
- You only use third-party delivery apps: those drivers are not your employees, and the platforms maintain their own arrangements, but HNOA still protects you for staff errands. Review what delivery apps require.
- A vehicle is titled to you personally but used mostly for the restaurant: talk to your agent, because the personal policy may not respond to business use and retitling may make commercial auto the cleaner answer.
What moves auto pricing, and how we quote it
HNOA is priced on the number of employees who drive for the business, delivery volume and radius. Commercial auto is priced on the vehicles, their use and garaging location, driving radius and the motor vehicle records of listed drivers. Owners improve both by checking driving records before letting anyone deliver, verifying drivers’ personal insurance each year, avoiding delivery-time promises that reward speeding, and using telematics on owned vehicles. As an independent agency, Provident Financial Group can quote HNOA on your BOP and a separate business auto policy from multiple carriers off one application and show them side by side. Call (866) 964-6660.
Frequently asked questions
Will HNOA pay to fix my delivery driver’s car?
No. HNOA is liability coverage for the restaurant. Damage to the employee’s own car is handled, if at all, by the employee’s personal auto policy.
Can HNOA be added to my BOP?
Many carriers offer it as a BOP or general liability endorsement, which is often the simplest route for restaurants with no owned vehicles.
Does a food truck need commercial auto?
Yes, in nearly all cases. A food truck is a business-owned vehicle, and its kitchen equipment usually needs separate property coverage as well.
Do employees need special insurance to deliver for us?
Their personal auto policy should not exclude delivery use. Some insurers offer business-use or delivery endorsements; drivers should confirm with their own insurer.
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