What kind of business needs business fleet car insurance?
Business Fleet Insurance is ideal for companies that own or commission large fleets of vehicles in connection with their business activities. There are many examples of motor fleets for businesses such as small fleets of cars, van fleets, light goods vehicle fleets or even lorry fleets and couriers.
Fleets of vehicles are commonly used for businesses in logistics, the motor trade industry, the public transport sector, emergency services, construction, tradesmen, in fact, just about any business could require fleet insurance if they have more than three vehicles. A commonly overlooked example that is applicable to most businesses is a company car fleet scheme. Typical examples include:
- Ambulances on an emergency services fleet policy
- Buses on a public services fleet policy
- Lorries on a construction fleet policy
- Taxis and Minibuses on a taxi fleet policy
- Regular cars on a company car fleet policy
Business fleets can sometimes be easy to recognise by their colour schemes, sign writing or even their number plate format; for example the easily recognised yellow vans of the AA, the red vans of Royal Mail, or even the distinct green and red lorries of Eddie Stobart. Business fleets can help to increase brand recognition and drive company image, reducing advertising revenue and driving sales or inquiries. Business Fleet Insurance is the cornerstone for fleets of company vehicles ensuring the cost and administration of managing the fleet is kept to a minimum whilst still offering the flexibility to run the business as needed.
Is business fleet insurance restrictive?
It is a common misconception that having all of a business’s vehicles on a single fleet policy can be very restrictive in terms of what cover, excesses, drivers and vehicle types can be included. Business Fleet Insurance is typically a very flexible policy that allows for a lot of variance in the cover available; from ‘any driver’ policies, to mix and match cover options, even down to combinations of cars, vans, minibuses and lorries, a business fleet policy can centralise your vehicles and provide greater transparency over how your business operates.
Any commercial fleet regardless of whether it’s a large or small business fleet can save money on their insurance by combining all their vehicles onto a single policy. The fleet insurance policy can be tailored to ensure that each vehicle is insured for the right value, the right cover and the right drivers. No more wasting money overinsuring vehicles, no more struggling to allocate vehicles to drivers, no more frustration when a vehicle is out of commission for repairs or maintenance.
A business fleet policy allows you to add drivers and vehicles on an ad hoc basis meaning temporary workers or loaned vehicles can be added when necessary and removed when not. Replacing a vehicle no longer means cancelling a policy and being hit with cancellation fees, you can simply add the vehicle onto your business fleet effortlessly and continue focusing on running your business operation.
Is business fleet insurance expensive?
The cost of a product is always subjective. Can Business Fleet Insurance be expensive? Of course. Can Business Fleet Insurance be cheap? Most definitely. The key to finding the ideal balance is to understand the structure of your commercial fleet and ensuring you only get the cover that you require for the vehicles that you have. Business Fleet Insurance can get very expensive if for example you want comprehensive cover for every vehicle, every driver in your company can drive any of the vehicles, and you also want a low excess.
The more financially savvy fleet operators will break down their business fleets into different categories; the older less valued vehicles can be covered third party, fire and theft because if they get a little cosmetic damage, it’s not worth the cost to claim. The more expensive and newer vehicles will be covered comprehensively. Drivers will be allocated vehicles, and perhaps a few vehicles will have permissions for any driver to operate them. Understanding how the fleet operates can allow for huge savings where business fleet insurance is concerned.
Is business fleet insurance right for me?
If you operate a business that owns three or more vehicles, chances are that you could save money by moving onto a commercial fleet policy. Small business fleet insurance can cut the cost of your annual policy considerably by giving better transparency over your business fleet operation.
Insurance underwriters who specialise in business fleets and motor vehicle fleets garner an understanding for how a business operates and how the vehicles it insures are used. Prepped with the knowledge of how your company functions, a business fleet insurance underwriter can better evaluate the risk presented and provide more competitive quotations based on their assessments.
Fleet Compare have been insuring business fleets for almost thirty years and have built strong relationships with UK based insurers who are ideally positioned to offer competitive quotations to our customers. If you would be interested in a quotation for your own business fleet or fleet of company cars, contact us using the link or number at the top of the page and let us help you save money on your next fleet insurance policy.