Choosing insurance for the vehicles at your business can be stressful, especially when you want to cover all risks but save costs at the same time.
Typically, when small businesses source vehicle insurance, their first response is to look at insuring each vehicle individually. However, there is an easier way. If you switch to motor fleet insurance, you will be able to save some money and not comprise your insurance cover.
If you don’t understand what a fleet insurance policy covers and how it can benefit a smaller business, then you may be missing out on the perfect opportunity.
How does fleet insurance work?
It is a legal requirement to have motor insurance, whether it’s for business purposes or not. Motor fleet insurance offers cover for an entire fleet of vehicles under one policy. This can include fleets from as little as three vehicles to 500+.
It is designed to make life easier by having one single fleet insurance policy with one renewal date, making it easy to administer.
There are the standard options of fleet cover including third party, third party fire and theft and fully comprehensive. Motor fleet insurance covers you for use of vehicles for haulage and courier, hire and reward or carriage of goods.
The cost of your fleet insurance policy will depend on the type of fleet you have including age, weight and condition, how many vehicles are part of your fleet and the level of excess. Things such as drivers training, and the use of telematics can help further reduce the overall cost of your fleet insurance.
You may typically think that fleet insurance is better suited to businesses that are larger and rely more heavily on vehicle transport to do their work, but it can be equally as beneficial and cost-effective for smaller businesses too.
The benefits of switching to a fleet insurance policy
- Flexible insurance
Fleet insurance is not a one-size-fits-all insurance option, you can tailor the insurance cover needed for each vehicle to help reduce costs and make it easier to manage.
For example, some vehicles in your fleet will benefit from having a fully comprehensive policy and others that are used less regularly and not long-distance may mostly benefit from third party cover. You can also include private and commercial vehicles under the same cover.
- Premium discounts
Although fleet insurance doesn’t offer a no claims bonus which you usually find with individual car insurances, they can offer discounts for a lower number of claims and if you have a good record of driver safety and telematics reports.
- Custom insurance
When it comes to switching to a fleet insurance policy, you can list all of your requirements to an insurance broker, so they fully understand your fleet needs and what needs to be insured. You must ensure that when looking for a new insurance policy, you are covered for exactly what you need.
- Check your excess calculations
To save money, you can look at increasing your excess. Choosing a higher excess can be cheaper and help save money on your policy. It can also show that you have confidence that the likelihood of your fleet making a claim is low. You should review how much excess you’ll actually need and stick to that amount. Don’t overpay for something you won’t use.
- Minimise premium costs
As most fleets use telematics to record and track data on driver behaviour, this information can be used to help bring premium costs down. Indicating that your fleet are well trained in driving and look after their vehicles will provide evidence to insurance providers that claims are unlikely, and this ultimately will bring your overall premium costs down and you may even benefit from premium discounts.
- How to find the best deal
As with any insurance policy, in order to get the best price, you will need to shop around and see what’s available and what is included in the cover. It’s not advised to opt for the cheapest cover as this may not be enough to protect your fleet.
To get the best deal, use a trusted insurance broker who has access to the top insurance providers and will be able to help provide the level of cover needed for your fleet at the best price.
