Car fleets suffering from rising insurance premiums

Giles-Margerison-fleet-jobs

RISE: Fleet insurance premiums up

Two-fifths of UK businesses have suffered from rising company car insurance premiums over the past 12months, new research has revealed.

The survey, conducted by TomTom Business Solutions, also found 71% of companies do not provide regular training for drivers to attempt to address the problem.

Only 36% monitor driver performance as a means of assessing and reducing risk, with just 22% of those using technology to do so.

Currently, a third of all road traffic accidents are believed to be work-related – meaning the pressure is on businesses to make such improvements.

Giles Margerison, Director of UK and Ireland at TomTom Business Solutions, said: “Too often cars are viewed as an employee benefit rather than a place of work, so more can be done by businesses to improve safety, reduce collision rates and drive down the cost of insurance premiums.

“Initiatives such as regular staff communications, safety discussions, driver training and schemes for measuring and improving driver performance are powerful mechanisms for the reduction of road risk.”

The research also revealed 81% include work-related road safety as part of their company’s health and safety policy, but just 57% operate regular risk assessments across their vehicle fleets.

Furthermore, 39% do not have systems or procedures in place to manage driver fatigue and 24% admit they are not fully aware of their road risk requirements.

“Duty of Care can often be viewed as a complex issue but that does not need to be the case, especially given the variety of tools available to identify and manage risk factors,” added Mr Margerison.

“Fleet management technology, for example, provides access to a wealth of actionable data which allows management to quickly identify areas of risk and take action to implement best practice.”

1 Comments