Fleet insurance

Pros:

It’s easier to arrange insurance on multiple vehicles as there’s only one renewal date. So, you’ll save time on admin.

Insuring multiple vehicles is usually cheaper than insuring them individually.

You can insure all drivers on every vehicle with an ‘any driver’ policy. This means that drivers will have access to all vehicles, which saves them waiting around for a certain vehicle to be free.

You can add more vehicles as your business grows.

Cons:

One accident could affect the premiums of all vehicles on the policy. So if you have a particularly accident-prone driver, you could put them on a separate policy.

If you don’t update your policy and you need to make a claim, it could be invalid. Especially in larger fleets, vehicles can come and go regularly. So be sure to stay on top of your details.

Cost savings tend to be less significant for smaller fleets.

Younger drivers can push up your costs so it might make sense to insure them separately.

There may be restrictions on how you use your vehicles, for example personal use might not be covered.

When it comes to cutting the cost of fleet insurance, it’s all about reducing risk. You may be able to do this by:

• Using electric or hybrid vehicles
• Employing drivers with clean records aged 25 and over
• Sending your drivers on an advanced driving course
• Carrying out regular maintenance on your vehicles
• Making drivers responsible for paying their own excess
• Adding additional security to your fleet
• Considering black box technology
• Installing a dashcam

Electric or hybrid vehicles could reduce your insurance costs. The engines on these vehicles generally have less power than in petrol or diesel-powered vehicles, so they’re considered safer by insurers. Their CO2 emissions are lower too.

Employ drivers with clean records that are over the age of 25 as their costs tend to be lower. Having a younger driver is sometimes unavoidable. But limiting their mileage and only allowing them to drive in the daytime or while accompanied could help to reduce costs.

Sending your drivers on an advanced driving course increases their awareness of hazards and helps eliminate bad driving habits. These courses help improve aspects of driving like fuel efficiency, driving in bad weather conditions and hazard perception. A safer driver is a lower-risk driver, which could help reduce your insurance costs.

Regular maintenance is important for any vehicle. Encourage daily tyre pressure, oil and brake pad checks and keep a regular service record. This can help keep your vehicles in good condition.

Making drivers responsible for paying their own excess could encourage safer driving.

Providing security options for your vehicles overnight, like a CCTV-monitored car park or locked garages, could lower your insurance costs. Immobilisers inside the vehicle also help, even if the initial cost is expensive.

Technology in the vehicle could be beneficial to reducing your costs. A black box can assess each individual driver to see how safely they drive and adjust their insurance costs accordingly.

Dashboard cameras or dashcams are also useful tools as they record everything that happens on the road. You can fit these in the front and back of the vehicle and they're great for providing evidence if there's an accident.