Although there has been a fall in crash rates on the UK’s roads recently, there are still between 700 and 800 people killed annually in work-related road traffic accidents.
This drop may be due, in part, to the fact that modern cars are, in general, much safer than older ones. Despite this, many fleets are seeing continued rises in their insurance premium costs.
There is no doubt that insurance is a complex matter that can be affected by many factors, including continued claim cost inflation, but as premiums continue to rise at alarming rates fleet managers are desperately seeking ways of reducing their company bills.
And while there are various options available in order to lower insurance costs, many can be expensive and very time consuming to introduce. To help, here are seven easy tips for fleets to lower their insurance premiums.
Check you have the right level of cover
It’s important to check that your insurance policy covers your exact requirements. For instance, is the level of excess sufficient or could it be higher (which could lower premiums)? Are you covered for drivers over the age of 21 when all your drivers are over 25?
These simple ‘oversights’ could be costing companies dearly by raising premiums unnecessarily. It might also be possible to negotiate with your insurance provider if all of your drivers have clean licences or have all undertaken some form of advanced driver training.
Also, having company polices for alcohol and mobile phone misuse can sway insurers. These policies are not just the responsibility of the driver but must be supported and policed at every level of an organisation through official policies and audit trails. For example, if there is a zero-tolerance of on-road mobile phone usage then all employees must know not to call drivers when they are in the car.
Fleets should consider vehicle security too. For example, catalytic converters continue to be a highly attractive theft target given the precious metal content. Consequently, how vehicles are secured and where they are parked when unattended are important considerations for insurers.
Reduce your mileage
Simply reducing the number of miles your drivers cover could have a positive effect on your insurance premiums. Journey schedules should be scrutinised and decisions made as to whether it is necessary to make a trip, for instance, could a meeting be avoided or replaced with a conference or video call?
And by reducing mileage, issues such as driver fatigue can be addressed too. This is especially important when, as fleet management firm Fleet Service GB points out, “driver fatigue is cited as a cause in a quarter of all crashes on British roads”. Journeys should be planned to take account of rest periods (15 minutes every two hours), viable schedules between appointments, meetings, and drop-offs should be maintained, and overnight accommodation may be required in some cases.
Given that 40% of collisions occur in the hours of darkness – when vision is reduced and it can be more difficult to see vulnerable road users such as pedestrians, cyclists, and motorcyclists – it also makes sense to reduce driving in the dark wherever possible.
Change your vehicle choice list
Experts agree that fleets wanting to lower their insurance premiums should start by looking at vehicle selection. Company car choice should be thoroughly analysed – some cars have a far worse claim record than others, which can portray a poor message to insurance companies.
The Association of Car Fleet Operators agrees and says that fleet managers should consider the implications of having performance models on their company car choice list.
It’s also advisable to compare the insurance ratings of cars and make that a key criteria when determining a choice list. For example, statistics suggest that a fleet with a Subaru Impreza WRX and a Ford Focus RS will pay higher premiums and typically have more claims than if those employees had chosen a performance Audi or Volvo.
Equally, safety charity Roadsafe points out that a procurement policy that ensures all drivers use Euro NCAP five-star cars can provide a reduction of two insurance group ratings, offering an immediate cost saving.
Look for Autonomous Emergency Braking
“It’s critical that vehicles are fitted with as much collision-avoidance technology as possible either as standard or aftermarket,” says Geoffrey Bray, chairman of Fleet Service GB.
One such piece of technology that has seen an increasing take-up among fleets is autonomous emergency braking (AEB) and could even be seen as an imperative for fleets, according to insurance expert Zurich.
Organisations and drivers should be encouraged to choose vehicles with this safety equipment as a way of preventing lower-speed rear-end collisions and mitigating the severity of many higher-speed crashes. Indeed, according to Roadsafe’s Driving for Better Business campaign, simply having cars fitted with AEB is leading to some insurers offering a two-group reduction.
For even greater reductions, other safety tech like lane departure warning, blind-spot monitoring and fatigue detection are also worthwhile considerations.
Fit an in-car camera
Improving in-car technology can reap significant rewards when it comes to insurance, and one piece of technology that’s becoming more popular among fleet users is the in-car camera.
Fleet Service GB advises companies – especially those that aim to focus on promoting safe driving and are concerned about the ever-increasing threat of insurance claim fraud, such as so-called ‘cash-for-crash’ scams – to equip vehicles with driver’s-view video recording cameras.
The latest 3G vehicle cameras allow managers to receive live alerts for any collision or near miss and then access high-definition video footage and supporting telematics data through a web-based user interface within seconds. Having immediate access to this sort of footage from an in-car camera can safeguard against regular claim challenges such as false driving allegations, fraudulent insurance claims, as well as instances where there is disputed liability.
Having cameras fitted also speeds up the claim process and can cut costs by up to 30%. However, according to Intelligent Telematics, the biggest savings can be achieved when the collision alerts are used to enable third-party intervention; this has been proven to reduce claim costs by as much as 50%.
Make safety a company culture
If there’s a culture within an organisation that embraces an ideology of reducing claim frequency then this philosophy will help reduce overall insurance costs, says insurer Zurich. An on-road safety culture is also important to encourage; providing employees with safety tips through poster campaigns, email reminders and updates at meetings can help a great deal. Making sure this culture has support from senior management is important, the messages to drivers should also be consistent and repeated throughout the year, the insurance company will need to see evidence of this to consider lowering premiums.
But ACFO chairman, John Pryor warns: “There is no ‘magic bullet’ to reducing fleet insurance costs. The single biggest driver of how many claims a fleet will incur will almost certainly be the culture of a business.”
Consider speed limiters
Speed limiters – although controversial – are proven to reduce accident rates, which can be passed on to the customer through a reduction in their insurance premium.
A significant proportion of lorries and vans in the UK are legally obliged to be fitted with speed-limiting devices in order to reduce crash risks. There is an added bonus to having these devices fitted as well, as vehicle electronics specialist Cobra points out: as many vehicles burn 25% more fuel at 80mph versus 70mph. So, if your vehicle was limited to the national speed limit, it could cut your fuel bills by up to one quarter – if you carry out a large proportion of your journeys on motorways and dual-carriageways.
There’s the legal aspect to consider too, says Cobra, and setting your car’s maximum velocity at a level that can’t see you prosecuted for speeding has to reduce your insurance risk as well. Not only that, but it means your drivers’ licences are safer from possible momentary lapses of concentration that could see you stray over the legal limit.
