Commercial Vehicle Insurance In The Philippines: What You Need To Know

According to the Insurance Commission’s terminology, commercial vehicles are defined as cars with commercial value or can be used commercially but not necessarily used as a commercial vehicle.

Under the IC’s terms, sports utility vehicles (SUVs), vans, pickups, and other large motor vehicles are already considered as commercial vehicles.

However, not everyone knows the said classification set by the government agency that oversees insurance in the Philippines. Most insurance companies classify them as Passenger Car 2 (PC2).

Commercial Vehicle Insurance In The Philippines

Not a lot of people know this, though. For instance, owners of the Toyota Avanza and Innova don’t know that their vehicles are already categorized as commercial vehicles.

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Other automobiles under the commercial category are the following:

  • Multi-purpose vehicles (Honda Mobilio, Suzuki Ertiga, Kia Carens, etc.)
  • Action utility vehicles (Isuzu Crosswind, Mitsubishi Adventure, Toyota Innova, etc.)
  • Sports utility vehicles (Toyota Fortuner, Mitsubishi Montero Sport, Ford Everest, etc.)
  • Pickups (Toyota Hilux, Mitsubishi Strada, Ford Ranger, etc.)
  • Vans (Nissan Urvan NV350, Toyota HiAce, Hyundai Grand Starex, Kia Grand Carnival, etc.)
  • Trucks
  • Buses

Vans usually converted to UV Express services, such as the Nissan Urvan NV350 and the Toyota HiAce, can be filed under light commercial vehicles.

While the Insurance Commission (IC) uses the size of the vehicles to determine whether or not they have commercial value, there still are exceptions to the rule.

Cars owned by corporations and used for official business, regardless of size, are considered as such. Meanwhile, vehicles registered to be used by their owners for transport network vehicle services like Uber and Grab are also considered commercial cars.

Standard coverage and more

Getting commercial car insurance for your vehicles has all the perks you can find in a standard issue policy: bodily injury, property damage, personal accident, among others.

However, fleet owners of UV Express vans, buses, and trucks will get more bang out of their buck when they register them all under one account.

Commercial vehicle owners will get a more competitive rate when they get commercial car insurance with one provider. More vehicles under one account will mean bigger and better savings for each policy issued to their cars.

In addition, car owners with vehicles categorized as commercial cars should take advantage of the lower rates because of lower risks.

(Read: 4 Ways You’re Wasting Money On Your Car Insurance)

There’s no reason for UV Express operators, corporations with a fleet of cars, and other commercial car owners to not get commercial car insurance for their cars. After all, the benefits that come with it outweigh the cost of getting one, not to mention that the price is not even that expensive.