Lex Autolease report on Company Motoring reveals 27% use telematics
Over a quarter of British organisations surveyed currently have some sort of in-car telematics or car monitoring for their company cars and light commercial vehicles to address the issue of driver safety according to new research from Lex Autolease,
The Lex Autolease Report on Company Motoring* surveyed over 250 British employers who offer company cars to their employees and analysed the use and benefit of company cars in the workforce.
Tim Porter, Managing Director of Lex Autolease, said: “We are likely to see an increase in usage of telematics as organisations will find this information useful and be able to provide appropriate guidance on driver safety and behaviour to their employees. It also has the potential to reduce insurance premiums for those employers whose drivers do drive safely”.
Employees using private cars pose safety risks
Lex Autolease has estimated that there are nine million British employees who regularly use their own private car for work purposes. These drivers known as “grey fleet” drivers pose a significant challenge for organisations in terms of employee safety, the environmental impact of their vehicles and in extreme circumstances the potential for corporate manslaughter charges.
Of those organisations surveyed who offer company cars, one in five businesses (20 per cent) failed to always carry out adequate checks to see if their employees had the correct insurance in place to use a private car for work purposes. More than one in ten (12 per cent) said they only undertook sporadic checks and a further eight per cent admitted they did not carry out any insurance checks at all.
Porter added: “It appears many organisations remain oblivious to the cost challenges, environmental impact and safety risks associated with employees using their own vehicles for work purposes. Our research suggests the grey fleet is significantly larger than the size of the UK’s company car fleet. This represents a significant risk management challenge that organisations of all sizes need to address.”
The rise of the green agenda
Driven by regulation, manufacturer innovation, fiscal policy and concern for the environment, the green agenda is also now prominent in the minds of most employers operating vehicle fleets.
Almost eight out of ten organisations surveyed (79 per cent) cited the environmental impact of their fleet as an important consideration and seven out of ten (73 per cent) claim this issue has become more prominent in the last two years.
Porter added: “An increasing number of organisations have realised that implementing a green fleet policy can produce cost savings and environmental benefits. Manufacturer innovations, particularly the development of cleaner and more fuel efficient petrol models, ensure that firms have a good choice of environmentally friendly vehicles to support their day to day requirements.”
