Auto Insurance for Nonprofits: Who’s Really Covered When Your Team Hits the Road?

Imagine this…one of your volunteers is driving across town to drop off donations. Nothing big – just a few boxes and a warm smile. But on the way, they get into a fender bender. No one’s hurt, thankfully. But, the question lingers:

Who’s responsible for the damage? Their insurance? Yours? Or... no one’s?

When it comes to nonprofit work, driving is often part of the job, even if it doesn’t feel like it. Staff run errands. Volunteers deliver meals. Someone drives across county lines for an outreach event. But most nonprofits don’t realize how murky insurance gets once someone’s behind the wheel.

Let’s clear it up.

Lots of nonprofits lean on volunteers and staff to use their own vehicles. It’s practical. It’s cost-effective. But there’s a catch.

Personal auto insurance may not apply when someone is driving for work, even if that work is unpaid. If a volunteer is running errands for your nonprofit and ends up in an accident, their insurer might say, “Sorry, this looks like business use.”

And if that happens? The cost of damages could fall on your volunteer, or even your organization.

If your nonprofit owns any vehicles, you likely already carry commercial auto insurance. That’s a great start. It protects your vehicles and offers liability coverage if your team is involved in an accident.

But here’s something that often gets missed: Commercial policies don’t automatically cover personal or rented vehicles used for nonprofit work.

To close that gap, you’ll need something called Hired and Non-Owned Auto Insurance (HNOA). It protects your organization when someone uses a personal or rented car for a nonprofit task.

Without it, there’s a real risk that neither the driver’s policy nor yours will apply.

Here’s a quick breakdown to make sure your team is protected:

• Commercial Auto Insurance – for any vehicles owned by your organization
• Hired and Non-Owned Auto Insurance (HNOA) – for staff or volunteers using personal or rented vehicles
• Volunteer Liability Coverage – extra protection for unpaid drivers
• Workers’ Comp – in case a staff member is injured while driving
• Driving Policies – clearly written rules about who can drive, when, and how to report incidents

At The Wallace Agency, we’ve worked with churches, food banks, mentoring programs, and all kinds of other nonprofits, both local and regional. We take time to understand how your people operate, and then help you find the coverage that fits.

Your people are doing good work. And they deserve to be protected while doing it.

Let’s find out together.

Give us a call or click here to schedule a quick review. One simple conversation with our team of experts could save your nonprofit thousands and give your volunteers peace of mind next time they grab the keys.