Drive Other Car Endorsement
Also known as: DOC Endorsement, Drive Other Car Coverage, DOC Coverage
The drive other car endorsement solves a specific gap created by company-provided vehicles. A standard business auto policy covers autos the company owns, hires, or does not own when used in the business, but it does not cover an executive's personal use of a car that belongs to someone else. An owner or officer who drives a company car full-time and never buys a personal auto policy is therefore uninsured the moment they rent a car on vacation or borrow a friend's vehicle. The DOC endorsement names those individuals and restores the coverage a personal auto policy would normally provide.
For a small-business buyer, this endorsement protects the very people who run the company. It can extend liability, and optionally medical payments, uninsured motorist, and physical damage, to the scheduled individual and typically their spouse or resident family members. Because the endorsement follows the person rather than a specific vehicle, it responds across the different non-owned cars they might drive personally. Without it, a single at-fault crash in a rented car could expose the executive's personal assets, since neither the business auto policy nor any personal policy would answer the claim.
A key nuance is who qualifies. DOC is meant for a named insured who does not own a personal automobile; it will not cover a vehicle actually owned by the scheduled person or by their household, and it applies to the individuals listed, not to every driver. It is distinct from ordinary permissive use under the company's own business auto symbols, which governs who is insured while driving the company's vehicles. Match the schedule to the actual executives to avoid a surprise coverage denial.
ISO standardizes this coverage as endorsement CA 99 10 (Drive Other Car Coverage—Broadened Coverage for Named Individuals), which attaches to the Business Auto Coverage Form (CA 00 01) and schedules each executive by name.
Real-world scenario
Dana Marchetti owns Marchetti Precision Machining, LLC, a five-person shop that titles all of its vehicles to the business. The company carries a commercial auto policy on three trucks with a $1,000,000 combined single limit, a $500 comprehensive deductible, and a $1,000 collision deductible, priced at $6,200 a year. Because Dana personally owns no car, there is no individual auto policy to respond when Dana rents or borrows a vehicle on personal time. To close that gap, the broker adds a Drive Other Car Endorsement covering Dana and Dana's spouse for $340 a year.
The endorsement extends the business policy's $1,000,000 liability limit, $1,000,000 in uninsured motorist protection, and $5,000 of medical payments to any private-passenger vehicle Dana drives that the company does not own. Six months later, Dana rents a sedan on vacation and rear-ends another car. The injured driver's medical bills reach $85,000, property damage to the struck vehicle totals $22,000, and the resulting lawsuit adds $45,000 in defense costs — a combined $152,000 exposure.
Without the endorsement, Dana would face that $152,000 personally. Instead, the insurer pays the $85,000 in injuries, the $22,000 in property damage, and the $45,000 defense bill, and applies the $1,000 deductible to physical damage on the $31,000 rented sedan. A $340 premium neutralized a six-figure personal loss.
How it affects your premium
Drive Other Car (DOC) premiums are modest because the endorsement covers a named individual's occasional use of non-owned vehicles, but several factors move the price:
- Number of individuals scheduled — each person and spouse listed on the endorsement adds exposure; a single executive costs far less than a household of four drivers.
- Coverages selected — adding physical damage, medical payments, and uninsured motorist on top of liability raises the charge versus liability-only.
- Underlying limit — DOC follows the business policy's liability limit, so a $1,000,000 CSL account pays more than a $300,000 split-limit account.
- Driving records (MVR) — a scheduled individual with violations or at-fault losses increases the surcharge for the endorsement.
- Named individual vs. named insured — DOC is written for people who do not personally own an auto; underwriters confirm the named insured or executive truly lacks a personal auto policy before quoting.
- Vehicle classes covered — restricting DOC to private-passenger autos is cheaper than extending it to any type covered under the business auto symbols.
Common misconceptions
Myth: A Drive Other Car endorsement covers any employee who borrows a car for the company.
Reality:
DOC only covers the specific individuals named on the endorsement — typically owners or executives who do not own a personal auto — plus their resident spouses; it is not a fleet-wide benefit. Broad borrowed-vehicle exposure is handled instead through hired auto physical damage and hired/non-owned liability.
Myth: If the business auto policy already covers our trucks, an executive is automatically protected in a rental car.
Reality:
A standard commercial auto policy covers people while using the company's owned autos, not while an individual drives a rented or borrowed private vehicle for personal use. DOC fills that personal-use gap the way a personal auto policy would, since permissive use of the company truck does not extend to unrelated rentals.
Frequently asked questions
Who actually needs a Drive Other Car endorsement?
Business owners and executives who drive company-owned vehicles but do not personally own a car — so they have no personal auto policy to respond when they rent or borrow a vehicle. DOC gives them personal-auto-style protection through the business commercial auto policy.
Does DOC cover my spouse and family?
It can cover the named individual and their resident spouse when specified, but it does not automatically extend to children or other household drivers unless they are separately scheduled on the endorsement.
Is Drive Other Car the same as hired and non-owned auto coverage?
No. Hired/non-owned protects the business for liability arising from vehicles rented or driven for company purposes, while DOC protects a specific individual for personal use of a non-owned vehicle. They solve different problems and are often carried together as separate endorsements.
Will DOC pay for damage to the rental car itself?
Only if physical damage (comprehensive and collision) is added to the endorsement; liability-only DOC pays for injury and damage to others but not the rented vehicle, subject to the deductible you select.
How much does a Drive Other Car endorsement cost?
It is usually one of the cheapest additions to a commercial auto policy — often a few hundred dollars a year per scheduled person — because it covers only occasional personal use of non-owned vehicles rather than a full fleet.
Sources cited
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