In insurance the use of your vehicle will affect your premiums considerably. Knowing what the definitions are of the use of the vehicles can save you premiums or even ensure that your claim is not rejected.

Domestic - Social - Personal Use

It is considered personal use when the vehicle is used to for anything other than work. This means you would be able to drive to your work but the vehicle would be parked there and only used to go to the shops or domestic errands during this time. A few insurers would allow the seeing of clients once or twice a week but no more than 5 times a month whilst others will consider strictly private use being the vehicle only used for visiting friends or personal errands and not even going to work. It is best to check your policy wording for your insurers exact definition of private use.

Business - Professional Use

An insurer would consider business use as seeing clients daily or weekly as part of your job. This means that you will be on the road during the day and therefore at a higher risk of having an accident and therefore your premiums would be rated higher.

If you carry materials that are used for the promotion of the company then this would still be considered business use such as pamphlets or even signage used at a golf day. You derive an income by using your vehicle but it has to be questioned as to how the income is derived as you may have to note the vehicle as commercial use. If the items being carried are brought back with you to the office then it would be seen as business use.

Commercial use

An insurer would consider commercial use, the deriving of an income from the use of the vehicle by delivering goods to a client. 

An easy example is a truck delivering a companies manufactured goods or items that are sold by the business that are taken from the location of the company and dropped of at the client. Goods in transit insurance is normally taken with this to ensure the items being carried are covered for loss or damage.

It gets a little more complicated when the items are carried in a smaller vehicle. Say someone makes promotional items (printing on a cup or T-shirt) and this can fit on the back seat of their small hatchback car. They then decide to quickly drop it at a client that needs an urgent order delivered down the road and on the way has an accident. This would be considered Commercial use.

Also the carrying of passengers would be considered Commercial use as it is used to derive an immediate income from the vehicle. Uber or Taxis should ensure that their vehicles are noted as commercial use and most of these policies are commercial policies. However it is important even on a commercial policy to ensure that the vehicle is listed for this use and not as business use.