New Car Dealer Insurance Cost: Ranges + Calculator
A franchised new-car dealership insures a lot full of high-value inventory and a stream of test drives, which is why our own quote data shows buyers here requesting commercial auto and a package more than almost any trade. Three dealer-specific lines carry it: garage liability for injuries and damage from dealership operations including test drives and on-lot incidents, garagekeepers for a customer's vehicle in your care, custody or control for service, and dealers open lot for the inventory itself against theft, weather and vandalism. (For a used lot, see used car dealer insurance — a franchised store adds manufacturer requirements and F&I exposure.)
As an industry-typical estimate, dealers commonly carry garage liability around $1,000,000/$2,000,000, garagekeepers of $50,000–$250,000 per customer vehicle, and open-lot limits matched to peak on-lot inventory value. No insurance bureau publishes dealership premiums, so every dollar here is an estimate; each fact is sourced to a named authority (IRMI, III). Use the calculator below, then get a real quote in 5 minutes.
| Business activity |
|---|
| Automobile dealers, new only or new and used |
| Light utility truck dealers, new only or new and used |
| New car dealers |
What businesses actually request
Across 51 recent commercial-insurance quote requests on Get Business Coverage, here is how often each coverage line is requested — our own first-party demand data, not a rate quote.
| Coverage | Share of requests |
|---|---|
| Commercial Auto | 64.7% |
| General Liability | 51% |
| Business Owner's Policy | 41.2% |
| Umbrella Insurance | 19.6% |
| Commercial Property | 13.7% |
| Professional Liability | 11.8% |
Estimate your commercial insurance cost
Plug in a few business details and we'll show an industry-typical annual range for General Liability + Workers Compensation + Commercial Auto, with the source for every number. Real quotes vary by carrier, claims history, and underwriting — get an actual quote here.
Industry-typical market ranges
Sourced from III, NCCI, ISO, NAIC, BLS, FMCSA, FDA, NRA — government and bureau publications, not from our quote form
Coverage lines a new-car dealership typically carries (industry-typical estimates):
- Garagekeepers: a customer's vehicle damaged while in your care for service or a test drive. IRMI garagekeepers.
- Dealers open lot: your inventory on the lot against theft, hail and vandalism — matched to peak on-lot value. IRMI care, custody or control.
- Commercial (garage) auto & liability: test drives, dealer plates and on-lot injuries. III commercial auto.
- Workers' compensation: mandatory for sales and service staff in nearly every state. III workers comp.
Inventory value, service-department size and franchise/manufacturer requirements are primary rating factors.
Recent rate-filing activity — 8 state filings across 1 commercial line
Commercial carriers can't charge whatever they want — each state's Department of Insurance must approve loss-cost filings before they take effect. These are primary-source, government-held records available on SERFF Filing Access. Cited below: the most-recent active filings affecting new car dealer operations, each cited to the regulator or bureau filing it came from.
| Line | State | Overall change | Effective | Filing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| WC | NV | -32.8% voluntary loss cost decrease (legislatively-driven; SB 317) | Oct 1, 2026 | SERFF #NCCI-134895530 |
| WC | RI | Overall -2.5% voluntary (industrial); -12.9% federal classes | Aug 1, 2026 | SERFF #NCCI-134743616 |
| WC | AR | Overall -9.8% voluntary loss cost; -9.8% assigned risk market | Jul 1, 2026 | SERFF #NCCI-134876672 |
| WC | TX | Overall -3.8% adjustment to voluntary loss cost level | Jul 1, 2026 | SERFF #NCCI-134745334 |
| WC | OH | -1% private-employer rate cut (~$10M aggregate; -50% cumulative since 2019) | Jul 1, 2026 | — |
| WC | SC | -0.4% voluntary loss cost decrease | Apr 1, 2026 | SERFF #NCCI-134702984 |
| WC | NC | per $100 payroll (advisory loss cost) | Apr 1, 2026 | Filing #NCRI-134628278 |
| WC | NC | per $100 payroll (advisory loss cost) | Apr 1, 2026 | Filing #NCRI-134628278 |
Source: SERFF Filing Access (filingaccess.serff.com) — the official public-records interface for state Department of Insurance filings. Loss-cost changes shown are the overall bureau-wide change in each state; the actual impact on your quote depends on your class code, payroll, experience modifier, and carrier-specific loss-cost multiplier (LCM). Get a quote for your exact numbers.
Bureau-filed loss-cost activity by state — 45 states with filings
Each link below opens a new car dealer-specific page showing only that state's most-recent bureau-filed loss-cost filings (NCCI workers' comp and/or ISO commercial-lines), cited to the regulator or bureau filing each came from. Filed-rate data ≠ carrier final rates.
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Sources cited
- Garagekeepers Insurance — International Risk Management Institute (IRMI), 2024
- Care, Custody, or Control — International Risk Management Institute (IRMI), 2024
- Commercial Auto Insurance — Insurance Information Institute (III), 2024
- Workers Compensation Insurance — Insurance Information Institute (III), 2024