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Our insurance experts at Hallsdale Insurance were asked to shortlist their top 5 tips for Fleet Managers – whether this be a full-time fleet manager or an individual such as a Finance Director or Business Owner that has been assigned the job!

Here at Hallsdale we have plenty more tips for Fleet Managers regarding their fleet insurance, but here are the top 5!

Implementing these should help reduce claims and therefore reduce future insurance premiums, in a market that is generally seeing quite substantial increases in premium pricing.

• Use In-Vehicle Cameras

Statistics show a big reduction in fault accidents for fleets that use in-vehicle cameras. The simple reason being that drivers know they are being filmed, so they will drive more carefully, and this should result in a reduction in fault accidents.

• Use Vehicle Telematics and GPS tracking

Vehicle telematics are considered less “big brother” and more commonly used in business vehicles in recent years. These track driver behaviour such as routes, speed, braking and time on road as well as GPS tracking so you know exactly where your fleet of vehicles are – including overnight parking.

• Have a “named driver” rather than “any driver policy” if possible

Any driver policies have a big appeal as it gives your business a lot of flexibility if you have a high turnaround of drivers using your business fleet. However, it is likely that it is the same people using the business fleet the vast majority of the time, a “named driver” policy can be much less expensive as the risk is less and the insurer knows the driving history (claims and convictions) or each named driver.

Even if there are the occasional amendments, these can be done by your insurance broker.

• Have a secure compound with cameras if possible

One of the biggest risks to insurers is theft of the vehicle and/or its contents. If the insurer knows there are precautions against theft, especially overnight, you will be rewarded with lower premiums.

• If you have goods in transit insurance, make sure you have adequate sum insured

If you are a courier or haulier, or transport expensive products/goods, make sure your sums insured more than adequately cover the cost of replacement in the event of an accident, fire or theft. The cost-of-living crises and general increase in materials and production could mean it is time for you to review your sums insured on goods in transit insurance cover.

Cyber Insurance is the fastest growing new commercial insurance policy in the UK, with many businesses across the country buying this policy for the first time in the last few years.

As a minimum, most UK businesses now transact electronically, and probably use the Cloud for IT/CRM, therefore exposing valuable data to cyber crime.

The rise in cyber crime and general awareness of cyber criminal activity, and the potential huge impact on your business in the result of a successful attack, means that more and more companies large and small are investing in a cyber insurance policy.

A cyber-attack can be costly – the losses incurred from suffering one could mean that you’d have to go into debt to cover the cost of getting your business back up and running, or even shut your doors completely. Cyber Insurance mitigates risk by helping to pay the cost for your business to recover from an attack.

In a world where cyber threats are varied (and constantly changing), cyber insurance can help your organisation to get back on its feet, should something cyber-related go wrong. Managing cyber incidents (such as ransomware and data breaches, particularly important with client data) may require in-depth technical knowledge. As well as minimising business disruption and providing financial protection during an incident, cyber insurance may help with any legal and regulatory actions after an incident.

Probably the biggest factor of cyber insurance is business interruption, which could be lengthy if the cyber incident is particularly troublesome and complex.

The cost of cyber insurance varies depending on your business type, size, and the cyber risks it is exposed to.

Please do contact our Cyber Insurance experts at Hallsdale Insurance, who have a close partnership with Coalition, a leading cyber insurer – allowing us access to exceptional cyber insurance protection.

The most high-profile insurance policies – in terms of national news headlines – that are seeing big increases in the cost of premiums is private car insurance. The reasons are plentiful, the cost of new and second-hand cars being much higher for one, the cost-of-living crisis increasing crime and thefts one other.

However, away from attention grabbing car insurance premiums, it is UK businesses that are really feeling the effect of business insurance policies increased year-on-year between 10-20% for most businesses. Generally speaking, it is only a declining/shrinking business that will not be affected by an increase in business insurance premium, and quite frankly they probably have bigger worries to consider!

Inflation, politics, the economy, claims and the CPI has all meant that insurance premiums have been under severe upward pressure.

Leading business consultancy PwC give this explanation about rising insurance premiums:

“Businesses in the UK may see price rises of between 10-20% in the cost of their annual insurance bill, worth hundreds or even thousands of pounds, according to estimates from PwC UK. This comes as a direct result of rising CPI, which has significantly increased the costs of materials and labour involved in the settlement of insurance claims. The global supply chain crisis has further exacerbated this, resulting in longer and more costly repairs due to a lack of supply of materials and labour.”

Source – https://www.pwc.co.uk/press-room/press-releases/double-blow-for-business-as-rising-insurance-costs-pushes-up-ann.html

Hallsdale Insurance can’t promise to arrest the rise in your business insurance premiums – this will ultimately be determined by the insurers themselves – but we can assist by shopping our insurer panel and using our interpersonal strong relationships with insurers to ensure they have a sharp pencil! Introductory discounts are also available as insurers are keen to win new business in a competitive market.