RISKII BUSINESS
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Keeping insurance premiums to a minimum can mean the difference between profit and loss for many hauliers. We examine ways of getting the best deal.
Truck owners might find it hard to believe, but insurance companies are increasingly keen to win their business. Although theft and accident damage continue to rise, insurers are competing more and more intensively for transport business and premiums are falling.
Chris Hargreaves of brokers Abacon Smith cites a client whose annual insurance premium three years ago was £44,000. Last year it was £26,000 and this year £22,000. The fall, he says, had nothing to do with improved claims performance and owes everything to a softening market.
As insurance companies painfully climb their way back to profit, it is likely to be those who can increase their market share that will survive. And haulage is seen as more attractive than many high risk areas!
"There are many more insurers ready to quote on commercial fleets," says Tony Gardiner, a director of brokers Roberts and Davis. "The large insurers have come in and more competition equals keener rates."
Yet insurance still swallows thousands of pounds of hard-earned cash with little tangible benefit. The pain is particularly intense for those just setting up who have no claims record. But it can be just as painful for those whose trucks get left unlocked in dodgy neighbourhoods or whose drivers behave like road rage sufferers on a dodgem ride.
The good news is that nearly everyone can, with a little effort and expenditure, make substantial savings in their premiums. It's a question of risk management.
'There's always things individual companies can do to reduce their premiums,' says Derek Forgan, General Accident's commercial motor manager. "Anything to do with risk management will be recognised in some shape or form by most insurers."
Insurance companies are nervous animals, scarred by recession. They need reassurance and careful stroking. "The more information you can give an underwriter, the better your case will be judged," says Tony Gardiner.
The areas where the big savings can be made are in security driver training and claims frequency Drivers are a fleet's lifeblood but they're also the people who bash it to bits. As traffic queues get longer, tempers get shorter.
Insurance companies who have to pick up the bill are often demanding that troublesome drivers are sent on defensive driving courses. Some are even putting their money where their mouths are by paying for it.
Sanctions
Some operators impose sanctions against drivers who regularly bend their vehicles. This may mean withdrawing their bonuses if they have another smash or even requiring the driver to pay the excess damage not covered by the insurance policy -It can make a difference to premiums," says Bob Simpson, commercial motor manager of brokers TruckInsure. Like driver performance, security is another huge area in which insurers
are increasingly demanding that operators show what steps they are taking to improve things. Here again, • there are savings to be had if you can convince insurers they aren't just subsidising the bandits who loot your depots and trucks.
Depots are an obvious area. Clearly a well defended site in a busy area is going to generate lower premiums than an unfenced and OP.