Motor Fleet Insurance

Telemetrics – The way forward for lower fleet insurance premiums

05/05/2012 in Motor Fleet Insurance

Companies that are willing to invest in good fleet management could reap the rewards of lower long term fleet insurance premiums.

Telemetric systems act in a similar way to the “black boxes” that are fitted to commercial aircraft. The system records the location, speed and braking performance of a vehicle, which is very useful information if the vehicle is involved in an accident. More sophisticated systems are linked to recorded video.

Although telemetric systems have been around for a few years now, the cost of the technology has been rapidly coming down in price with a basic system costing as little as £200 per vehicle.

There might be some resistance to these systems as drivers may see them as “big brother” keeping an eye on them. The feedback from insurers who have been trailing telemetric programmes has been good, with premium savings of 10-15% not uncommon.

According to insurers another spin off benefit for fleet operators using such systems is a reduction in fuel cost.

For further information on telemetric systems and how they can reduce fleet insurance premiums, contact Tony Gibbs on 0118 9165485 or complete one of our enquiry forms.

How many vehicles are required for a fleet insurance?

03/05/2012 in Motor Fleet Insurance

We are often asked the question “how many vehicles do I need to start a fleet insurance policy?” Not so long ago the answer to that question would have been 5 vehicles. However, over the past 18 months there has been a change and there is now a small selection of insurers that will start a fleet insurance policy with as few as 2 vehicles.

Fleet policies tend to work well if the number of vehicles is likely to increase as new vehicles automatically enjoy the fleet discount that applies to the policy. When starting a fleet policy, most insurers can take into consideration no claims bonus that has been earned under either company car or van policies.

For more information on the pros and cons of fleet insurance, contact Tony Gibbs on 0118 9165 485 or complete one of our enquiry forms.

Multi Vehicle v Fleet Insurance

05/09/2011 in Motor Fleet Insurance

If a company is operating more than one vehicle but less than five, I would normally recommend cover on a “multi-vehicle” policy. Each vehicle will earn its own no claims bonus and additional vehicles added will normally qualify for an introductory discount. Having all the vehicles under one policy with a common renewal date also helps from an administration point of view.

For companies with more than five vehicles, fleet insurance becomes a viable option. Rather than having no claim bonus on individual vehicles the insurers allow an overall fleet discount across all the vehicles. Insurers look at the premium they have collected in relation to claim payments and for well-run risk can be offering discounts of 60% plus. Fleet insurance can work well with expanding businesses as additional vehicles automatically benefit from the fleet discount. One or two minor claims during the insurance year may not have much impact on the premium; however it is worth bearing in mind that if the overall experience is bad then the fleet discount is likely to reduce and this will impact across the board.

Fleet insurance also tends to be more flexible, especially if there are younger drivers. I recommend to our clients that a vehicles risk management system is put in place and that drivers are incentivised to improve the risk.

It is important to be insured with an insurance company that acts quickly in the event of a claim, as a vehicle off the road is going to impact on profits.

For more information about multi-vehicle or fleet insurance, please contact Tony Gibbs on 0118 9452944 or complete one of our enquiry forms.

Policy review improves cover and saves money for plumbing business

02/04/2011 in Case Study, Motor Fleet Insurance

For Tony Lees and Sons, a Reading-based plumbing and heating business, having just one of its nine work vans off the road at any one time is not just inconvenient, it’s potentially damaging to the business.

So when an accident accounted for one vehicle during the firm’s busiest time of year during the winter, Tony looked to his then insurers to get his team back on the road quickly. Instead securing a replacement vehicle proved a nightmare.

“They put it out to another company who couldn’t locate an exact replacement and tried to palm us off with a smaller vehicle which just wasn’t practical or acceptable,” he recalled.

“It took three days to find us a replacement vehicle and that’s a long time to be without a key part of your work fleet especially with all the re-scheduling that was involved.”

The firm’s vehicle insurance had evolved over time as vans were progressively added to the fleet and was based on single van cover each with a named driver. This in itself was limiting and, together with the valuable time he personally had had to spend on the accident issue, prompted Tony to seek a review of his insurance cover.

He turned to Paul Macbeth of Macbeth Insurance Chartered Insurance Brokers.

The Macbeth solution

• More flexible ‘any driver’ fleet insurance with one convenient renewal date replaced the previous single vans cover.
• Some vehicles switched from comprehensive to third party cover to secure premium savings.
• A nominated Macbeth account manager put in place to handle all the firm’s insurance queries and claims.
• Annual premium reduced by more than £200.

Client verdict

“Macbeth now take care of any contact with the insurance company which is a service I didn’t know was available and had never experienced,” said Tony Lees. “I thought I had to do it.

“That spells real peace of mind for me. If we have a problem we can ring Macbeth and they’ll represent our interests to the insurers without me having to take the time and trouble to get involved.

“I’m free to get on with my business.”

Great Insurance idea for Provisional Drivers

12/03/2011 in Motor Fleet Insurance, Private Clients

Insurance for Provisional Drivers has always been a problem. The main concern for parents being that if the young driver has an accident it is going to impact on their no claims bonus. Some insurers are also not keen to provide the cover or limit the cars they will insure to lower grouped vehicles.

Insurance Marmalade is an insurance scheme, whereby provisional drivers can take out a policy in their own name to cover a parent’s car or a vehicle on a fleet policy. The policy can be arranged on a month by month basis and the insurers will cover up to group 16 vehicles to a value of £20,000

Insurance for Provisional Drivers

Fleet Insurance – employers and duty of care

16/02/2011 in Factsheet, Motor Fleet Insurance

Employers are legally responsible for employees who drive whilst at work

Employers are legally responsible for employees who drive whilst at work. The employer’s responsibility also extends to ensuring that private vehicles used by employees on ‘company business’ are also operated in a lawful manner.

Management policy

1. Assign a senior manager with specific responsibility for managing driving at work.

1. Implement a Health & Safety policy, which incorporates a driving at work policy.

1. Routinely undertake record and act on the finding of risk assessments dealing with all aspects of driving at work including driver safety, vehicle safety and journey planning.

1. Ensure that every incident involving any vehicle driven on behalf of the company is recorded and that collective information is regularly analysed and action taken to reduce recurrence.

Driver safety

1. Provide a driver’s handbook that includes road safety guidance and sets out individual driver responsibilities, in support of the Company’s policies and procedures, e.g. what to do in the event of an incident.

Vehicle safety

1. Ensure that all employees driving on behalf of the company are initially vetted, inducted and regularly assessed, to establish that they are properly licensed, competent, suitably trained and medically fit to do so.

1. Ensure that when choosing vehicles to be used on behalf of the company, they are entirely suitable for their intended purpose and that utmost importance is placed on safety features.

Journey planning

1. Check whether a road journey is really necessary – and encourage the use of alternative modes of communication/transport where this is practical.

1. Ensure that necessary journeys are scheduled to a realistic timetable and are planned to take into account the essential need for adequate rest periods.

For further information on how good risk management can improve your fleet insurance premiums, contact Tony Gibbs on 0118 9452944.

All for one?!

23/11/2010 in Insurance Industry News, Motor Fleet Insurance

As you may know, the team at Macbeth “love to talk” and, we’ve come across a re-occuring subject this year which is proving incredibly important to our clients and prospects; TIME!

A good networking friend of mine has a tag line which he uses regularly when describing his financial services business - “time has never been so valuable”, and this certainly seems to be the case for our clients, whether it relates to business insurance or private client insurance.

We all have to endure increasingly busy and stressful lives. Pressure at work and at home means that certain tasks remain on your ‘to do’ list which seems to just get longer and longer! Arranging or renewing insurance policies may well be one of those tasks? If it is, then you need a broker who will take the strain and let you get on with running your business, or your life.

Recently, I was introduced to a local plumbing and heating company who had never heard of Macbeth despite walking past our office on hundreds of occassions (note to myself – improve signage!!) He had a successful business but he was being weighed down with paperwork and wanted to reduce some of that burden so that he could focus on the business. Purely by chance, some of his commercial insurance policies were due for renewal shortly so he asked if I could quote? He had a public and employers’ liability policy and nine individual commercial vehicle policies, all due at different times of the year! Yes nine!

The following week, our client spent an hour with me in my office talking through the various insurance policies. I managed to obtain a more competitive quotation for the public and employers’ liability, with wider cover, saving him £500! I then set about trying to establish a motor fleet insurance policy to cover all of the vehicles. A few days later, I arranged cover for a new single fleet policy covering all the vehicles with wider cover and for the same premium as he was paying for nine individual policies. Now our client has one motor fleet policy, one premium, one renewal date and one set of insurance documents to file. He also has one local broker providing him with a first class, 24/7 service and, in his own words “I wished I’d met you years ago”.

If you want to save time, money and hassle then speak to one of our client managers who will be delighted to help make your life, a little easier.

Driving Challenge!

15/10/2010 in Insurance Industry News, Motor Fleet Insurance

The Department for Transport has developed an interactive driving challenge, that is both a little bit of fun but very eye opening! We would like to share this challenge with our members.

The Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974, requires you to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the health and safety of all employees while at work. You also have a responsibility to ensure that others are not put at risk by your work-related driving activities. (Self-employed people have a similar responsibility to that of employers.)

As you are aware Driving at work should be risk managed as any other work activity, but what are the benefits of managing road related risk?

The true costs of accidents to organisations are nearly always higher than just the costs of repairs and insurance claims. The consequences of an accident on the self-employed and small businesses are likely to be proportionately greater than on a larger business with greater resources. The benefits to you from managing work-related road safety can be considerable, no matter the size of your business.

It allows you to exercise better control over costs, such as wear and tear and fuel, insurance premiums and legal fees and claims from employees and third parties.

It also allows you to make informed decisions about matters such as driver training and vehicle purchase, and helps you identify where health and safety improvements can be made.

You and your staff who may drive as part of their job will find this very interesting, especially the results!

It should take no more than 5 minutes, but it does require the volume to be up and to be viewed where you will not disturb others.

http://www.dft.gov.uk/drivingchallenge/

Car Crime – Drivers Beware

14/08/2009 in Motor Fleet Insurance

Drivers are increasingly falling victim to a new kind of car crime – staged or deliberate motor accidents where someone deliberately causes an accident with an innocent motorist, with the intention of making a false or inflated insurance claim.

Since 1999 there have been over 22,500 fraudulent staged and induced motor accidents. Research by Royal & Sun Alliance (R&SA) reveals that 41% of British drivers have never heard of this crime. A further 4 out of 10 would not know if they had been in a staged accident and only around half of British drivers would know what to do if they suspected they had been involved in an intentional collision.

A typical staged accident occurs when someone deliberately causes an accident with an innocent motorist. The fraudsters frequently increase the amount that they are claiming from the victim’s insurance company in various ways, such as by adding non-existent or phantom passengers to the claim. The criminals may also use “friendly” third parties, such as mechanics and doctors, in their claim to make it look genuine. The innocent victim can then be left with an increase in their motor insurance premium and can often lose their valuable no claims bonus.

Countering fraudulent claims

RSA’s UK counter fraud manager, ex-Metropolitan Police Detective Superintendent John Beadle, has recently been made chairman of the new Insurance Fraud Bureau (IFB) – an organisation launched in July 2007 by insurers with the aim to clamp down on and expose organised insurance frauds such as staged motor accidents.
He said: ‘Staged motor accidents are on the rise and are potentially extremely dangerous. Not only do they cost honest drivers millions of pounds each year, but they also put innocent motorists in danger. Staged or deliberate motor accidents are on the increase.

We urge people to take note of our guidelines in the event that they may become victims of this crime.

There are usually some tell-tale signs that you have been involved in a fraudulent collision. Motorists should pay extra attention to people braking suddenly in front of them for no apparent reason or otherwise driving erratically.

Duty of Care – Fleet Management

14/08/2009 in Motor Fleet Insurance

Regardless of how many vehicles you operate, there is legislation that governs road safety, including the various Road Traffic Acts and Regulations supported by the Highway Code.
In addition, there are a number of related Statutes that are intended to safeguard road-users. These include Regulations covering the construction and use of vehicles, special health and safety legislation and Regulations covering the carriage of dangerous goods by road.

The main responsibilities imposed by this legal framework fall on the shoulders of road users and vehicle owners.

When vehicles are being used or driven on the highway by persons working for an employer under a Contract of Employment, the employer has duties of care which are responsibilities under the Health & Safety at Work Act 1974 and also they have a Common Law duty of care. This means that under this ‘duty of care’ an employer must take reasonable care to protect employees from the risk of foreseeable injury, disease or death whilst they are at work.

It is important to note that the vehicle is considered to be a place of work.

The main responsibilities under the Road Traffic Acts are towards the driver of the vehicle. He/she is responsible for driving a safe vehicle, adequately maintained and insured, in a safe manner having due regard to other road users and pedestrians. The employer has a duty towards providing a safe vehicle and insurance if the vehicle is owned by the employer.
There are three key areas for risk management that you need to give attention to:

Driver

• Driver vetting and selection
• Induction procedures
• Licence checks
• Accident reporting procedures

Vehicle

• Vehicle suitability
• Vehicle maintenance and inspection
• Vehicle security

Journey

• Journey planning
• Managing driver fatigue
• Speed management
• Journey type

The Health & Safety Executive (HSE) has an occupational road risk publication.

A copy of the ‘Driving at Work’ leaflet can be downloaded at:

http://www.hse.gov.uk.pubns/indg382.pdf Persons found guilty of breaching Road Traffic Law can be subject to a wide range of penalties including prison for serious offences. Breaches of Health & Safety Law may result in a fine or imprisonment. Directors may be liable if it can be shown that their negligence contributed directly to an injury.

Corporate killing

A criminal offence of corporate manslaughter has been drafted, making it easier to prosecute companies responsible for fatal accidents.

The offence will apply when someone has been killed because senior management “grossly fails to take responsible care for the safety of employees or others.”

The maximum penalty will be an unlimited fine.

The employer’s responsibility also extends to ensuring that private vehicles used by employees on “company business” are also operated in a lawful manner.

Checks by the employer should include a vehicle’s mechanical fitness i.e. MOT test (if over 3 years old for cars), service and maintenance records and regular vehicle condition reports.

They must ensure that the driver has “business use” insurance cover and that the driver is suitably licensed to drive that vehicle.

Key action points

• Carry out a risk assessment
• Produce a Health & Safety Policy, which includes your procedures to manage driver safety
• Ensure all licences are checked at least annually
• Regularly record maintenance and service details
• Record all training that has been completed