How to shop for Commercial Fleet Insurance

In today’s economy, the recession has negatively affected many businesses across the board.  There are many ways that companies are learning to economise and one of the cost effective ways in which money can be saved is by sourcing cost effective commercial fleet insurance.

If your business owns or leases a number of cars, trucks or vans for business use then you can benefit from commercial fleet insurance. Whilst limits of vehicle numbers required to warrant a ‘fleet’ will vary across the board, you can successfully implement a commercial fleet insurance policy with as little as three vehicles.

With commercial fleet insurance you can save money overall by rewards from economies of scale as well as benefiting from reduced hours in management, payments, dealing with claims, and record keeping. 

Things to consider when purchasing commercial fleet insurance

Your insurer will want to know the number, type, size, age and condition of the vehicles that you will be insuring. It is important to make sure that you are not purchasing vehicles that are too big for your requirements as the larger the vehicle, generally the higher the premium.

The mileage that is carried out on a yearly basis will need to be considered as well as the type of business that you operate, and any goods that you are carrying. The cost of your commercial fleet insurance will also depend upon the drivers that you employ, their age and experience as well as driving record will all be covered on the policy.

You can even arrange the cover in such a way so that any of your drivers can drive any of the vehicles in your fleet, providing complete flexibility.

The level of cover that you are looking to achieve will have significant bearing on the cost of your commercial fleet insurance, however it will also significantly affect how well your business is safeguarded.

Fully comprehensive cover will be the highest level of cover to safeguard your business against any financial claims for damage or injury caused to the driver of vehicle and ensures you have adequate protection in place for your employees.

It is clearly wiser to carry more coverage for a commercial fleet insurance policy than for a personal vehicle as you will want to protect your business and the risk of incidents will be higher. However, you can seek to minimise costs by selecting a higher excesses or perhaps even waiving the collision coverage on older vehicles within your fleet that may not warrant the highest level of insurance.

It may be that you qualify for discounts on your commercial feet insurance based on factors such as safe driving records, no claims bonuses, installation of safety equipment, and use of cameras, telematics, or anti-theft devices.

Efforts to improve driver safety are a good place to start to control your insurance costs, but these can be reduced even further by utilising technology and protecting your vehicles from theft and damage. With this in mind it is worth considering these areas when you are shopping for commercial fleet insurance.

Employ a specialist broker to find you the best commercial fleet insurance

Searching for competitive quotes on commercial fleet insurance can be extremely time consuming. By approaching a specialist insurance broker they will be familiar with the industry and can work on your behalf to advise and ensure that your business is covered for all of your individual requirements at the best price.

A specialist insurance broker will also have access to the best deals on the market and will have built relationships with providers and will know how to present your business to them in the best way. It is also advisable to search for a specialist insurance broker, such as Bluedrop, who waivers mid-term adjustment fees – making administration changes to your policy on your behalf without additional cost.

In most cases a commercial fleet insurance policy will change many times over the term of the policy, adding or removing drivers and vehicles, and updating records to ensure your policy remains valid. For this reason additional administration fees can stack up over time, and the last thing you want is a cautious employee holding off on updating details to save money and in turn invalidating your policy.

Which optional extras are worth considering with commercial fleet insurance?

When shopping for your commercial fleet insurance you will come across a number of additional options that can be added on to a policy. These include public liability, breakdown assistance and legal assistance. Each one of these should be considered in turn based on your individual business needs and the use of your vehicles.

For example, if you are running a taxi fleet or a logistics company and your vehicles are critical to your business survival then breakdown cover may be an essential requirement. If you run a smaller business and do not have the support of a legal team or financial backing from a parent company, you may want to consider legal assistance.

Public liability insurance however is more critical. This protects you and your business against any claims for injury or accidental damage caused as a result of you or your driver’s negligence. Any business should consider this additional feature as a public liability claim could potentially put you out of business if you were left to settle a compensation claim.