5 Tips to Reducing Fleet Insurance Costs
With costs on the rise, insurance can become increasingly expensive for fleet managers.
Claim and damage costs can often account for a large percentage of fleet insurance, which is why reducing accident rates is one of the best ways to drive down premiums.
Fleet insurance may save you money compared to insuring your vehicles individually; however, you can reduce costs even further by changing drivers behaviour.
Firstly, aggressive driving (harsh braking and rapid acceleration) can increase fuel consumption by 40%. Secondly, 95% of car “accidents” are not accidents at all but are the result of human error.
Small improvements in driver behaviour can have big results in terms of costs.
Top tips for reducing fleet insurance costs
Follow the five tips below to control your fleet insurance costs and improve your fleets safety:
Carry out regular assessments
As we’ve mentioned, the use of telematics and data will be your friend when trying to reduce your fleet costs. Talking to your broker on their viewpoint of your fleet’s accident history will allow them to benchmark you against similar operations to determine how you compare.
By regularly checking your drivers data, you can get insights about what areas need to be improved.
Discuss this data with your drivers to encourage better driving and to reduce the occurrence of accidents, which should help you broker negotiate cheaper rates when it’s time to renew your fleet insurance.
Introduce safe driving policies
This is another first step you can take towards operating a safer fleet. A safe driving policy allows you to put your best-practice tips in writing, which would be handy in order for your drivers to build better driving behaviours.
Whilst this will help to limit the amount of claims you may face; it also shows that you care about your drivers safety.
It could also help to demonstrate to any regulators, such as the HSE, that there is a company policy in place which your drivers have agreed to follow.
Address drivers who don’t meet your standards
Once you’ve carried out the first two steps, you can then start to address drivers who do not meet your driving standards or appear to have a higher accident rate.
Consider escalating measures to encourage safety on the road, such as in-car tuition tactics or driver safety training.
Drivers with a greater number of points on their licence will need closer monitoring in order to minimise the risk of additional penalties.
Reward good driving
With an eye on your driver’s scores, your team may be ready for a little friendly competition.
You could start initiatives like “driver of the month” or “most improved” to motivate your fleet, with incentives like vouchers, cash or even just the pride of coming in first place.
You could also create individual targets and rewards, with each driver having their own individual goals to achieve.
Review before renewing
Before you renew your fleet insurance, take the time to gather the relevant information which demonstrates your fleets safety and shows the strides you’re making to be safer.
Fleet management software is a great way of keeping an eye on this, and will provide you with all the evidence you need to prove your fleet’s driving standard.
Does fleet insurance work out cheaper?
Yes, typically fleet insurance works out cheaper than buying individual insurance policies for each vehicle in your company, saving you time and money.
If your company has two or more vehicles, you will likely benefit from investing in a comprehensive fleet insurance policy.
How can fleet costs be reduced?
Increased fleet running costs can have the potential to eat into the business’s overall profits, which is why it’s important to reduce these costs.
Below are some of the top tips to reduce your fleets running costs:
- Vehicle maintenance:
This is essential to ensure that your fleet is working at peak performance; but, if you feel like you’re spending too much on preventative maintenance, you should consider increasing the intervals between inspections.
However, you should still continue to regularly check oil, tyres and windscreens.
- Driving habits:
Bad driving habits can lead to higher fuel costs, as well as repairs and insurance prices. Utilise refresher courses for drivers to remind them how to correctly operate fleet vehicles.
Other habits drivers should look at correcting include:
- Overall speed reduction
- Maintaining tyre pressure
- Removing unnecessary vehicle weight
- Invest in telematics:
Using telematics will provide you with the kind of key analysis and point identification you need to remedy potential issues for your business, and make changes that could reduce your costs overtime.
Telematics can also make your drivers more aware of their driving habits, making further improvements to fleet cost reductions.
- Avoid fines and charges:
Speeding fines, congestion and toll fees are all examples of the hidden costs you should be aware of as a fleet manager.
Be sure to always double-check the small print on contracts and service agreements.
No matter what your fleet insurance query is, here at FleetCover, we can provide you with expert help from our team of professionals.
For more information, or to get a quote, contact us today via email at info@wcib.co.uk or give us a call on 0345 224 5329.
