Short answer
Hired and non-owned auto (HNOA) is liability coverage on a business auto policy for vehicles your company uses but does not own: vehicles you lease, hire, rent, or borrow (hired, symbol 8) and vehicles like employees’ personal pickups used in your business (non-owned, symbol 9). Your general liability policy will not fill this gap, because it excludes autos.
- Hired auto liability is not physical damage. If you rent a truck and wreck it, damage to the truck itself needs hired auto physical damage coverage.
- Symbol 8 does not include vehicles you borrow from your own employees, partners, or LLC members. Those fall under symbol 9.
Why your general liability will not cover it
The ISO general liability form (CG 00 01 04 13) has an aircraft, auto, or watercraft exclusion. It removes bodily injury and property damage "arising out of the ownership, maintenance, use or entrustment to others of any aircraft, 'auto' or watercraft owned or operated by or rented or loaned to any insured," and use includes "loading or unloading." The exclusion applies even when the claim is framed as negligent hiring or supervision.
So a wreck in a rented pickup or an employee's truck on company business is an auto claim. It belongs on a business auto policy, and the business auto policy only covers the vehicles its symbols say it covers.
Symbols 8 and 9 in plain terms
The ISO Business Auto Coverage Form (CA 00 01 10 13) uses numbered symbols to say which vehicles are covered autos for each coverage.
| Symbol | Form wording | What it means for your crew |
|---|---|---|
| 8: Hired autos only | "Only those 'autos' you lease, hire, rent or borrow." Does not include autos leased, hired, rented, or borrowed from your employees, partners, LLC members, or members of their households. | Rental pickups, leased trucks, a borrowed vehicle from another company |
| 9: Non-owned autos only | "Only those 'autos' you do not own, lease, hire, rent or borrow that are used in connection with your business," including autos owned by employees, partners, or LLC members while used in your business or personal affairs. | A hand driving his own truck to the lease or to town for parts |
| 1: Any auto | Covers any auto. | Owned, hired, and non-owned all in one symbol |
Who the coverage protects
HNOA protects your company. It does not turn the employee's personal truck into a company truck. The business auto form's Who Is an Insured section excludes "the owner or anyone else from whom you hire or borrow a covered 'auto,'" and your "employee" if the covered auto is owned by that employee or a member of his or her household. IRMI's glossary describes non-owned autos under the business auto policy as employee-owned vehicles used for company business.
In practice, when an employee wrecks his own truck while running an errand for you, his personal auto policy is where his own protection comes from, and your non-owned coverage is there for claims against the company. If your crews routinely drive personal vehicles to location, that arrangement deserves a written policy and a conversation with your agent.
Physical damage on hired vehicles
Liability for a hired vehicle and damage to the hired vehicle itself are two different coverages. The business auto form has separate hired auto physical damage provisions, including loss of use expenses you become legally responsible for on a vehicle rented without a driver under a written rental contract. Whether you have that coverage depends on the symbols and coverages shown on your declarations.
Ask yourself what happens if a rented pickup is rolled on a lease road. If the answer is "the rental company bills us," you want to know before it happens whether your policy pays that bill or you do. See whether your auto policy covers lease roads.
What the MSA and your agent need to see
Operators commonly ask for auto liability that covers owned, hired, and non-owned vehicles, or "any auto." If your certificate shows only scheduled autos (symbol 7), a reviewer may reject it. See why certificates get rejected.
Before your next renewal, tell your agent:
- whether employees ever drive their own vehicles for work, including to and from location if you pay mileage or a truck allowance;
- whether you rent or borrow vehicles during busy periods;
- whether rented vehicles need physical damage coverage, and at what values.
Trucks hauling for hire may also bring federal financial responsibility rules into play. See oilfield auto insurance and MCS-90.
Common questions
If I have symbol 1, do I still need hired and non-owned?
Symbol 1 is "any auto," which includes hired and non-owned autos for the coverage it applies to. Check which coverages show symbol 1 on your declarations.
Does non-owned auto cover damage to my employee’s truck?
No. Non-owned auto is liability coverage for your company. Damage to the employee’s own truck is generally a matter for the employee’s own policy.
Does my GL cover a pickup I rented for a job?
No. The GL auto exclusion removes autos rented or loaned to any insured. That exposure belongs on the business auto policy under the hired auto symbol.
Is a vehicle I borrow from my own employee a hired auto?
Not under symbol 8 in CA 00 01 10 13, which excludes autos borrowed from your employees, partners, LLC members, or their households. Those fall under symbol 9, non-owned autos.
Sources
- ISO CA 00 01 10 13, Business Auto Coverage Form (copy published by Touchpoint Markets). Covered auto symbols 1, 7, 8, and 9; Who Is an Insured exceptions; hired auto physical damage loss of use.
- ISO CG 00 01 04 13, Commercial General Liability Coverage Form (copy published by Cooper and Scully). Exclusion g, aircraft, auto, or watercraft.
- IRMI glossary: hired automobile. Autos the named insured leases, hires, rents, or borrows, excluding those from employees and partners.
- IRMI glossary: nonowned automobile. Under the business auto policy, employee-owned vehicles used for company business.
- IRMI: Business Auto Policy Covered Auto Designation Symbols (December 2017). Symbols 8 (hired autos only) and 9 (nonowned autos only).
This page explains insurance, not law. Have your attorney review indemnity and contract language; our job is making the insurance match it.
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