A fleet insurance policy is designed for companies with two or more vehicles. With a single insurance policy, you can cover multiple vehicles, including cars, minibusses, trucks, HGVs, and taxis.
What does fleet insurance cover?
An insurance policy for fleet vehicles covers the different types of vehicles your business owns and uses for business purposes. Any registered business with at least two company-owned vehicles can apply for it.
This type of insurance is a great way to manage your business vehicle insurance obligations within a fleet because it covers all your vehicles under one policy. When it’s time to renew, you’ll only need to update one policy no matter how many vehicles your company owns.
What types of vehicles does fleet insurance cover?
Fleet insurance covers all classes of vehicles that your company owns and operates for business purposes. You must include any company-issued cars your employees use for work journeys, as well as taxis, motorcycles, minibusses, HGVs, trucks, and even construction equipment.
If all the vehicles you want to insure are registered under the same business ownership, you can include them in a combined fleet policy.
Are there different types of fleet insurance available?
Fleet insurance coverage comes in different tiers, just like other forms of commercial and domestic insurance on the market.
Typically, these fall into three categories:
1. Third-party only
A third-party fleet insurance policy only covers damage to another driver’s vehicle or to his or her property. This is the cheapest form of fleet insurance and the minimum legal coverage required for fleet businesses. The policy does not cover your own vehicles or drivers, though it is less expensive than other types of fleet insurance. Thus, you would be liable for any vehicle repairs if you were involved in an accident.
2. Third party, fire, and theft.
A third-party, fire, and theft, fleet insurance policy offers greater protection than just a third-party policy. There is no legal requirement for this policy, but adding fire and theft means you can make a claim if a vehicle in your fleet is stolen or damaged by fire. You are also covered if you injure or damage third parties in the event of an accident with this type of policy.
3. Fully comprehensive
There are three types of fleet insurance policies available, with fully comprehensive being the most advanced and most expensive. When you choose fully comprehensive fleet insurance, you’re protected against theft, fire, and third-party damage, as well as damage to your own vehicles.
What are the benefits of fleet insurance?
Take out fleet insurance and you can reduce your vehicle insurance premiums and reduce your office administration costs. Plus, you get peace of mind.
Fleet insurance covers every vehicle in your company’s ownership on one policy, regardless of the vehicle type. You can therefore ensure mixed-use vehicles together without having to purchase individual policies for each.
You need only deal with one policy renewal date if you insure all your fleet vehicles on the same policy. It is particularly beneficial to businesses with many vehicles on the road, since it drastically reduces administrative time, freeing up resources for other tasks.
It can be cheaper to insure your fleet as a whole than to insure each vehicle individually. Your insurer may decide to lower your premium if one of your vehicles is involved in an accident and the claim is spread across all vehicles.
The risk will be offset by the fleet as a whole if you have drivers within your fleet who are hard to insure.
How much does fleet insurance cost?
The total cost of your fleet insurance premium depends entirely on the level of coverage you choose, as well as the types of vehicles and drivers you have in your fleet.
The details about your vehicles you provide when applying for fleet insurance will affect the premium price you’ll receive. There are several factors that will influence costs, including Vehicle age, Annual mileage, Driver age, Driver history, and Location.
Typical questions fleet insurers ask include:
- How many vehicles do you have in your fleet?
- What types of vehicles do you want to insure?
- How old are the vehicles?
- How often are the vehicles in use?
- What condition are the vehicles in?
- Where are the vehicles kept overnight?
You should answer honestly with accurate information in order to help an insurer gauge your operation’s risk level. If any of the details you have provided are found to be false, you might not be able to make a claim in the future.
Does fleet insurance cover my drivers?
You have to look at the type of policy you take out in order to determine this. A fully comprehensive fleet insurance policy provides driver cover, so if you would like your drivers to be insured, this would be a good choice.
Your comprehensive insurance provider will also ask you some questions about your fleet’s drivers. Your business’s unique circumstances will help an insurer provide you with a customized quote. The same rules apply as before: answer honestly and offer all the requested information when asked.
Driver factors that generally affect fleet insurance premiums include:
- Driver age
- Whether you want to name individual drivers or have an all-driver policy (where anyone that meets the driver criteria is covered)
- Any previous driving convictions
By naming each driver on the policy, you can reduce the price, while having young drivers in your fleet (under 25) may cause the price to rise. Keep your insurer informed when you hire new drivers since any driver who isn’t named on the policy won’t be covered.
Named driver or any driver policy?
A policy that covers any driver provides the greatest flexibility and is particularly suitable for larger businesses that find it difficult to tie drivers down to specific vehicles. As a result of that flexibility comes increased insurance costs, which can increase substantially in correlation to the increased risk.
Named driver policies are more affordable and suitable for smaller businesses that can assign vehicles to drivers. The more affordable option, but a mix of the two can be the most beneficial for young drivers and those with previous convictions.
How many vehicles can you cover with fleet insurance?
On one policy, most companies will cover between two and 500 vehicles, depending on the insurer.
Can I qualify for a no-claims discount?
Unfortunately not, no claims bonuses aren’t applicable with fleet insurance.
Is a vehicle breakdown cover included?
This isn’t a standard feature of fleet insurance policies but most insurers will offer this as an add-on.
How do I get fleet insurance?
It’s best to work with a qualified insurance broker to ensure that the policy you take out meets all your needs at the most competitive price. Fleet insurance is extremely complex and comprehensive.
At Bluedrop Services our brokers have over many years of experience organizing business insurance policies for the UK fleet sector. To talk to us about fleet insurance for your organization call 01489 222 156 or email [email protected]
We will take a few details from you and use that information to determine the best possible policy for you.