# Hired and Non-Owned Auto Insurance for NEMT: What It Covers and What It Never Will

Canonical URL: https://nemtguide.com/glossary/hired-and-non-owned-auto/ · Updated 2026-09-30

Hired and non-owned auto insurance covers your company's liability when someone drives a car your company does not own for your business: a rental, a borrowed van, or an employee's own car. It pays other people's injury and damage claims. It does not cover your own vans or damage to the car being driven, so every NEMT van still needs commercial auto coverage.

- On a business auto policy, symbol 8 means hired autos and symbol 9 means non-owned autos. Symbol 1, any auto, includes both.
- Hired and non-owned coverage protects your company, and it usually pays only after the car owner's own insurance.
- Your vans are owned autos. They need owned or scheduled auto coverage, and HNOA never replaces it.
- TennCare, Texas and Arizona health plans, and brokers such as American Logistics require auto liability that covers owned, hired, and non-owned vehicles.
- Most personal auto policies do not cover driving for business or for pay, so any car that carries riders needs coverage written for that use.

## What hired and non-owned auto coverage means

A business auto policy lists which vehicles each coverage applies to by number, called covered auto symbols. Hired and non-owned auto coverage, often shortened to HNOA, is two of those symbols: 8 and 9. The Public Entity Risk Management Authority, a California risk pool for public agencies, explains each symbol in its August 2024 guide to auto coverage.

| Symbol | Name | What it covers | NEMT example |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Any auto | Owned, hired, and non-owned autos, and new autos you acquire. Liability only. | One liability symbol that covers your vans, rentals, and staff cars |
| 2 | Owned autos only | Every auto your company owns, including ones bought after the policy starts | Your fleet, with new vans covered automatically |
| 7 | Specifically described autos | Only the autos listed on the policy. The insurer must hear about a new one within 30 days. | A policy that lists each van by name |
| 8 | Hired autos only | Autos your company leases, hires, rents, or borrows, but not ones borrowed from employees, partners, or their households | A rental van while yours is in the shop |
| 9 | Non-owned autos only | Autos your company does not own, lease, hire, rent, or borrow that are used in your business, including employees' own cars. Liability only. | Your dispatcher's car on a trip to the bank |

Symbols 3 and 4 split owned autos in two: private passenger autos (3) and all other owned autos, such as vans and trucks (4). When a policy does not use symbol 1, it combines other symbols. Symbols 2, 8, and 9 together match "owned, hired, and non-owned" on a broker's insurance list. Portland's rule for NEMT companies asks for "scheduled, non-owned, and hired" automobiles, which matches symbols 7, 8, and 9.

## What it covers and what it does not

HNOA is liability coverage. It pays claims by other people when a car your company does not own causes an accident on company business. It protects the company. It does not pay to repair the car.

| Covered | Not covered |
|---|---|
| Injury and damage claims against your company when an employee crashes her own car on a work errand | Your own vans, which need owned or scheduled auto coverage |
| Claims from a crash in a rented or borrowed vehicle used for work | Damage to the rental itself, unless you add physical damage coverage for hired autos |
| Claims that go past the car owner's own limits, or that name your company because the driver was working for you | Damage to an employee's own car, since non-owned coverage (symbol 9) is liability only |

The order of payment matters. Sonoma County's contract insurance guide says liability insurance for hired autos is excess over the owner's insurance, except for liability assumed under a contract. The Texas Department of Insurance says the same for everyday drivers: if you cause an accident in a borrowed car, the owner's insurance pays first, and yours pays if the owner's is missing or too small. So when an employee drives her own car, her policy usually answers first, and your non-owned coverage protects the company.

## Why HNOA never replaces commercial auto on NEMT vans

The definitions settle it. A non-owned auto is one your company does not own, lease, hire, rent, or borrow. A van your company owns is an owned auto, so it needs an owned or listed auto symbol on a commercial auto policy, such as 1, 2, 4, or 7. HNOA adds coverage around your fleet; it is never the coverage for the fleet.

Personal policies cannot fill the gap either. The Texas Department of Insurance's auto guide, last updated December 11, 2025, lists accidents "while you're driving for a ride-hailing service" and accidents while "driving for business" among things most personal auto policies do not cover. Its carpool page adds that if you are "driving for hire or regularly charging a fee for rides, your insurance probably isn't going to cover you."

That is why brokers write their rules around the vehicle that carries riders:

- **American Logistics** wants either "Any Auto" or "Owned Auto", "Hired Auto Only" and "Non-owned Autos Only" on the policy. It refuses scheduled autos policies and wants no livery exclusion (provider FAQs, as of September 2026).
- **MTM Health** wants commercial auto liability for "any and all vehicles used in the performance of this Agreement," and scheduled auto policies must list each insured vehicle. MTM pays nothing for trips in uncredentialed vehicles (standard agreement, January 1, 2023 version posted by Pennsylvania).

See [livery vehicle](https://nemtguide.com/glossary/livery-vehicle/) for the plates and permits a car carrying riders for pay may need.

## Who requires hired and non-owned coverage from NEMT providers

These requirements name hired and non-owned vehicles alongside owned ones. Limits are a combined single limit, one amount for injury and damage per accident.

| Who requires it | Auto liability required | Vehicles it must cover |
|---|---|---|
| TennCare health plans' NEMT providers (statewide contract, Amendment 25, July 1, 2026) | $1,000,000 per occurrence | Owned, leased, hired, and non-owned |
| Arizona health plan subcontractors (AHCCCS Minimum Subcontract Provisions, effective October 1, 2024, revised January 9, 2025) | $1,000,000 | Any owned, hired, and non-owned autos used in the work, with the State of Arizona as additional insured |
| Texas health plans' NEMT subcontractors (Uniform Managed Care Manual 16.4, section 5300, version 2.0.1, effective August 1, 2021) | $750,000 | Owned, non-owned, and hired, whether the vehicles are the subcontractor's own fleet, hired, or contracted |
| Portland, Oregon NEMT companies (City Code 16.40.730) | $500,000 per occurrence | Any scheduled, non-owned, and hired automobile used for private for-hire transportation |
| American Logistics (provider FAQs, September 2026) | $500,000, insurer rated B or better | Any Auto, or Owned plus Hired Autos Only plus Non-owned Autos Only |

Your state, broker, or health plan may ask for more. [NEMT insurance requirements](https://nemtguide.com/guides/nemt-insurance-requirements/) lists coverage types by program, and [NEMT insurance cost](https://nemtguide.com/guides/nemt-insurance-cost/) covers what moves your premium.

## When a NEMT company actually uses hired or non-owned cars

- **Office errands.** A dispatcher drives to the bank, a biller visits a dialysis center, or an owner picks up a driver in a personal car. These are non-owned autos.
- **A rental while a van is down.** A rented or borrowed vehicle is a hired auto. Check the rental agreement and your broker's rules before it carries a rider, because brokers credential each vehicle.
- **Staff who drive their own cars often.** Ask for proof of their personal auto coverage, since their policy usually pays first.
- **Drivers paid as contractors in their own vehicles.** Carrying riders is your core service, not an errand. Each car needs coverage written for it and approval from your broker. See [NEMT drivers: 1099 or W-2](https://nemtguide.com/guides/nemt-drivers-1099-or-w2/).

## How to check your own policy

1. **Find the covered auto symbols** on your business auto declarations page, next to the liability limit.
2. **Look for 1, or for 8 and 9 next to your owned auto symbol (2, 4, or 7).** If you see an owned auto symbol without 8 and 9, you have no liability coverage for rentals or staff cars.
3. **Compare the symbols to each contract's wording**, such as "owned, hired, and non-owned" or American Logistics' refusal of scheduled autos policies.
4. **Confirm every van is on the policy**, and send the updated vehicle list to each broker when it changes.
5. **Ask your agent for a [certificate of insurance](https://nemtguide.com/glossary/certificate-of-insurance/)** for each broker that shows the symbols and wording it asks for.

## Frequently asked questions

### Does hired and non-owned auto insurance cover my NEMT vans?

No. Non-owned autos are, by definition, autos your company does not own, lease, hire, rent, or borrow, and hired autos are ones it leases, hires, rents, or borrows. The vans you own need owned auto coverage (such as symbol 1, 2, 4, or 7 on a business auto policy). MTM Health requires scheduled auto policies to list every insured vehicle, and American Logistics refuses scheduled autos policies, so ask each broker which form it accepts.

### What do symbols 8 and 9 mean on my certificate of insurance?

They are covered auto symbols from the standard business auto policy. Symbol 8, hired autos only, covers autos your company leases, hires, rents, or borrows, but not ones borrowed from employees or their households. Symbol 9, non-owned autos only, covers autos you do not own, lease, hire, rent, or borrow that are used in your business, including employees' own cars. Symbol 9 applies only to liability.

### My office manager drives her own car to pick up supplies. Whose insurance pays first?

Usually hers. The Texas Department of Insurance says that if you cause an accident while driving a borrowed car, the owner's insurance pays the claim, and your own insurance pays if the owner's is missing or too small. Business policies treat hired autos the same way: their liability coverage is excess over the owner's insurance. Your non-owned coverage protects the company from claims that arise from her driving for work, such as one that names the company or goes past her limits.

### Can I buy hired and non-owned coverage without a commercial auto policy?

Often, if your business owns no autos. A business without vehicles may add hired and non-owned auto liability to its general liability policy by endorsement, as Sonoma County's contract insurance guide notes. A NEMT company that owns or leases vans still needs a commercial auto policy on those vans, so it usually adds symbols 8 and 9 to that policy instead.

### Can a driver use a personal car for Medicaid rides if I carry non-owned coverage?

Not safely. Carrying riders for pay is not a company errand, and the Texas Department of Insurance lists driving for business and driving for a ride-hailing service among things most personal auto policies do not cover. The car needs coverage written for carrying passengers, and your broker must credential it. MTM Health's agreement requires commercial auto liability on any and all vehicles used for its trips and pays nothing for trips in uncredentialed vehicles.

## Official resources

- [NAIC: Find your state insurance department](https://content.naic.org/state-insurance-departments)
- [Public Entity Risk Management Authority: Understanding Auto Coverage (what each symbol means)](https://www.permarisk.gov/wp-content/uploads/202408_Newsletter_Auto_Symbols.pdf)
- [Texas Department of Insurance: Auto insurance guide](https://www.tdi.texas.gov/pubs/consumer/cb020.html)