Their Car, Your Keys, Your Responsibility.
Physical-damage protection for customers' vehicles in your care, custody, and control
Garagekeepers insurance protects an auto business against physical damage to a customer's vehicle while that vehicle is in the business's care, custody, and control — parked on the lot, waiting in the bay, up on the lift, or stored overnight. The moment a customer hands over the keys, their vehicle becomes a liability the business is responsible for, and neither a general liability policy nor the garage liability form pays to repair or replace it. That gap is exactly what garagekeepers is built to close.
For any shop that services, stores, parks, or moves other people's vehicles, garagekeepers is the companion to garage liability: garage liability answers for injury and damage the business causes to third parties, while garagekeepers answers for the customers' cars themselves.
What Garagekeepers Insurance Covers
Garagekeepers responds to physical damage to a customer's vehicle while it is in your care, typically for:
Fire — Covers a customer's vehicle destroyed or damaged by a shop or lot fire.
Theft & Larceny — Protects against the theft of a customer's vehicle, or parts and contents, from your premises.
Vandalism & Malicious Mischief — Responds to keyed paint, broken glass, and other deliberate damage on your lot.
Collision & Upset — Pays when a customer's car is struck or overturned while being moved, test-driven, or parked.
Weather & Comprehensive Perils — Covers hail, windstorm, flood, and falling objects that damage vehicles stored outdoors.
Defense & Loss Adjustment — Provides the cost to investigate, defend, and settle a customer's damage claim.
The Three Garagekeepers Bases
The single most important decision in a garagekeepers placement is the basis of coverage, because it determines when the policy actually pays:
Legal Liability — Pays only when the business is found legally liable — negligent — for the damage. It is the least expensive option and the most common source of customer disputes, because a fire, storm, or theft with no proven fault leaves the shop paying out of pocket.
Direct Primary — Pays for covered damage regardless of fault, as the first and primary coverage, ahead of the customer's own auto policy. It is the broadest option and the one that best protects the customer relationship.
Direct Excess — Pays for covered damage regardless of fault, but only after the customer's own insurance responds. It costs less than direct primary while still covering no-fault losses.
Choosing legal liability to shave premium is the classic false economy here — when a hailstorm or an overnight fire damages a lot full of customer cars and the shop was not negligent, the claims land on the business.
Garagekeepers vs. Garage Liability vs. Dealers Open Lot
These three coverages are constantly confused, and the distinction is what keeps an auto-business program whole:
Garagekeepers covers damage to your customers' vehicles while they are in your care
Garage liability covers bodily injury and property damage the business causes to third parties
Dealers open lot covers a dealer's own inventory vehicles, not customers' cars
On-hook coverage, separately, protects vehicles while they are being towed or hauled, where garagekeepers picks up once the vehicle is stored on your premises
A program that confuses these leaves the most expensive exposure — a lot full of other people's vehicles — uninsured.
Who Needs Garagekeepers Insurance
Garagekeepers is essential for any business that takes temporary possession of customers' vehicles, including:
Auto repair, mechanic, transmission, and muffler shops
Auto body and collision-repair shops
Quick-lube, oil-change, tire, and detailing shops
Car washes, valet operations, and parking garages
Tow operators storing vehicles, and impound and repossession lots
New and used car, motorcycle, RV, and marine dealerships with service departments
How Limits and Deductibles Work
Garagekeepers is not rated per vehicle — it is built around how many vehicles sit in your care at once, so the structure matters:
The limit should reflect the peak value of all customer vehicles on your premises at one time, not the value of a single car
Limits are typically written per location, so a multi-site operation needs each location sized to its own exposure
Deductibles often apply per vehicle and per occurrence, which can stack in a hail or fire event that damages many cars at once
Lot security — fencing, lighting, cameras, and alarms — directly affects theft and vandalism terms and pricing
Real-World Claim Examples
An overnight fire sweeps the shop and damages a dozen customer vehicles stored inside
A hailstorm dents every car parked on an open repair lot
A technician backs a customer's car into a post while pulling it into the bay
A vehicle is stolen off the lot after hours, keys taken from an unsecured board
A customer's car is keyed and its windows smashed in an act of vandalism overnight
Why Proper Placement Matters
Most garagekeepers failures trace back to a handful of placement choices, so getting it right turns on:
Whether the basis is legal liability, direct primary, or direct excess — and whether that choice matches how the shop wants to treat its customers
Whether the limit reflects the true peak value of vehicles in care, not an outdated or undersized number
How per-vehicle and per-occurrence deductibles interact in a multi-vehicle catastrophe
Exclusions to watch, including employee theft, damage to vehicles left long after service is complete, and faulty work to the part being serviced
Lot security and storage conditions, which drive both appetite and price
Our Approach
At Cory Washington & Co., we place garagekeepers around the exposure that actually threatens an auto business — a lot full of other people's vehicles. We size the limit to the peak value in your care, recommend the basis that fits how you want to stand behind your customers, and coordinate it with garage liability for third-party claims and dealers open lot for a dealer's own inventory, so the three never leave a gap between them. We insure the businesses that live on this coverage, including auto repair shops, auto body shops, car dealerships, and towing companies.
Their car, your keys, your responsibility — we build the coverage so that responsibility never falls back on you.
All insurance descriptions on this website are provided by Cory Washington & Co. LLC strictly for general informational purposes. They are not intended to be, and should not be relied upon as, legal, financial, or insurance advice. The information presented is general in nature and does not guarantee the availability, terms, conditions, or scope of any insurance coverage. Actual coverage is determined solely by the specific policy language issued by the insurer and remains subject to underwriting approval. Nothing on this website creates or implies an agent-client relationship, binds coverage, or alters any existing policy. Cory Washington & Co. LLC expressly disclaims any liability for actions taken, or not taken, based on the content provided here. For advice regarding your particular situation, please consult directly with a licensed insurance professional at Cory Washington & Co. LLC or another qualified insurance professional, and always review your policy documents in full.
See what to confirm in a garagekeepers policy — what's standard, what's often limited, and what to add if needed — plus the gap most often missed, in the Garagekeepers Policy Feature Checklist.
Complete the Garagekeepers Supplemental online in a few guided steps, download the fillable PDF, or browse all applications.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I get garagekeepers insurance through Cory Washington & Co.?
Request a quote or contact our team. We start with a short conversation about your operations, analyze your exposures, then negotiate garagekeepers insurance across multiple carriers that compete for your account and present options with the trade-offs explained. Cory Washington & Co. LLC is licensed in all 50 states.
How much does garagekeepers insurance cost?
There is no flat rate. The cost of garagekeepers insurance reflects your industry, your size (payroll and revenue), your claims history, and the limits and deductibles you choose. We market your account to multiple carriers, compare the real quotes side by side, and explain what is driving each number so you can weigh coverage against price with confidence.
Who needs garagekeepers insurance?
Whether garagekeepers insurance is strictly required depends on your state, your contracts, and your lenders or clients. Even where it is not mandatory, going without it can leave serious financial gaps. We assess your exposure and any contractual requirements, then structure coverage that meets both.
What if another agency has already declined or non-renewed my coverage?
Difficult, specialty, and previously-declined placements are a core part of our work. We access excess & surplus (E&S) and specialty markets that many generalist agencies cannot, and we explain the trade-offs clearly so you can decide with confidence.
Available in all 50 states. See how requirements differ in California, Texas, Florida, New York, or choose your state.