When questioning 250 of the key decision makers when it comes to managing fleet vehicle ownership, the Alphabet report has issued its second paper, entitled ‘Risk, Reward and Rationale’.

This second report in the series highlights the fleet managers’ fears as they cite speeding, using mobiles and drinking as the main concerns for the safety of its drivers.

The report commission took in several aspects, not only looking into assessing and balancing risk but also to what extent to allocate your fleet amongst staff, for field sales and van drivers alike.

One of the concerns of the instigators of the Alphabet report was that employers were, under the current economic constraints, ignoring its duty of care towards its employees. Especially on the back of a similar assessment from five years ago which suggested that only slightly more than a third (37%) of managers had drawn up plans to address such risks.

The results in this second report show an overwhelming increase with almost all of those managers surveyed (98%) making some sort of contingency to protect the drivers that represent their organisation.

Alphabet’s chief exec Richard Schooling has perhaps some explanation which would explain why there has been such an increase in such a short space of time.

“The dramatic increase in the number of fleet professionals creating risk management policies is an outcome of the corporate manslaughter legislation. This act has prompted operators to better educate employees on driver safety and implement policies to protect themselves from prosecution.”

Not only does this investment in staff go a way to protecting the organisation and the drivers, but, when presented with this evidence, it is difficult for an insurance firm to refuse cheap van insurance when next applying for renewal.

This concern for drivers’ safety has even been put above operating costs and carbon footprints, with 7 out if 10 UK and EU companies highlighting risk management as their priority.

A similar number of managers have, however, expressed concern about individuals using private vehicles to run company errands instead of fleet vehicles from the pool.

Known as ‘The Grey Area’, using domestic instead of commercial vehicles takes the responsibility of key performance indicators out of the control of the company, which defeats the object of the risk assessment exercise.

Schooling added that company-owned fleet vehicles “…give employers more control over the quality, insurance, emissions and condition of vehicles used on business.”

This area is now becoming a prime focus for further cost-cutting; with fleet van insurance and company fuel accounts, costs can be controlled, but when it comes to reimbursing individuals who take the onus on themselves, they have no control whatsoever.

As businesses across the UK look to cut costs by traditional, obvious means, there are increasing improvements in technology that can help reduce bottom-line losses in ways previously thought unimaginable.

More and more, businesses are looking into sophisticated software not only to track vehicles on the road and improve their efficiency, as far as targeting their drivers for ‘just-in-time‘ deliveries but also protecting their van insurance policy’s no claims bonuses and reducing renewal policies by showing their brokers that they’e serious about protecting their investment should the worst happen and their vans be stolen.

Management Systems integral to progression

Drive Solutions have not only spotted the need for this level of integration into any business that operates a fleet of vans, but took fleet management to a whole new level.

Recognised by authority

The Institute of Transport Management not only acknowledge the system that Drive Software Solutions are supplying to the market place but they also recognise the role that this type of software plays in the day-to-day running of everyday business.

Bottom line is what matters

Irrespective of what investment and cost-saving measures you take elsewhere in your business, if your trade requires carrying tools to site or delivering product to the line side, protecting your fleet is imperative – this is inclusive of maintenance of your vehicle to deliver and ensuring that your entire fleet has the correct fleet van insurance.

In addition to monitoring your vehicles, you have to look at how well your drivers are performing. Constant assessment and ongoing training is key to maximising the efficiency of your investment in management software, through your drivers’ ability to deliver.

Peak Performance were likewise acknowledged by The Institute for their contribution as pioneers in driver training and assessing their subsequent skills.

The reason we cover this sort of topic here on cheapvaninsurance.co.uk is because everything you can do to show your van insurance provider that you are serious about your business will help you reduce your renewal quote when it comes around to taking out your next policy.

In the face of rising van insurance costs, currently under investigation by the Office of Fair Trading, traders in Brighton are facing a double-whammy with an unexpected increase in parking fees, announced by Brighton & Hove Council at the end of last year.

This has moved local traders to form an online petition to protest against the new cost of the annual parking permit. What was a £350 charge in 2011 has been increased for 2012 to £750, almost 115%, way above the rate of inflation.

Having approved the decision last month in an attempt to raise £1.3M extra revenue this year, the local businesses who will have to foot the bill are asking the council, and anyone who’ll listen, to what extent will the new commercial tax be detrimental to their profitability?

For the sole trader, it can be argued that an extra £400 per annum is neither here nor there, in business terms. However, for entrepreneurs such as maintenance company proprietor Elliott Raggio, whose business supports a fleet of ten Ford Transit vans, his business faces extra costs of £5000 this year.

In the case of local businesses such Raggio’s, not only will he face the expected higher fleet van insurance costs and the extra parking permit fees but there is also the shadow of the extra fuel costs coming in summer when the postponed January charge comes into effect, all multiplied by the factor of vehicles within the business.

The nature of his business means that, wherever his contract takes him, he will have to drive to carry out his service. He cannot bring the property to his premises to carry out repairs.

In his drive to drum up support and give the online petition more weight, he echoed that he is not alone in this predicament, “We struggle as it is to pay for fuel and commercial vehicle insurance, there doesn’t seem to be any strategy from the council to help local employers in these tough times. Do they honestly expect our heating engineers, plumbers, roofers, tillers, electricians and drainage experts to ride a bike around the town?”

In response, Brighton & Hove Council defend the increase – the first since the parking fee’s introduction ten years ago – saying that it remains excellent value.

It may well be value in their eyes, but, as Elliott Raggio alludes, for businesses like his, the sum of all of the increases faced for businesses in 2012 could mean shedding staff to accommodate them.

All we can suggest is that the fuel and parking fee increases are set in stone, it seems; fleet van insurance is by no means concrete.

Even if the OFT rule in favour of the insurance sector, it is still possible to find cheap fleet van insurance if you shop around. Compare van insurance to get the best deal; for the sake of a few minutes, you could be quids in for years to come.

One of the least deliberated aspects to running a small business is the cost of insuring the commercial vehicles that deliver your product.

So much emphasis goes into aligning the correct suppliers to your schedule, baby-sitting your staff and reminding your customers that the impossible is only one step down from that which you’re delivering, that you can often overlook the small things.

If you’re very much a ‘hands-off’ boss, one driven by increasing profit through incremental sales and always ‘have a man for that’, ‘that’ being the tasks with which you do not wish to sully your hands, take heed.

It may well be that, in order to shift so many files from his inbox to his out-, just sending a repeat instruction to the van insurance provider when the letter arrives afirfming you ‘need do nothing to continue being covered’ suffices for him, you and your organisation.

You may be missing out on cost savings

Has your business emphasis shifted? You are not alone if it has. Many organisations start off looking to attract a whole market place but, not long after opening their doors, soon understand the value of supplying to a niche within that market.

If this is true of your organisation, and those large, clumsy commercial vehicles you had when you first started on the road to market domination have long been scrapped and you’re running a fleet of smaller vehicles, can you put your hand on your heart and say that you have challenged your van insurance renewal prices?

It is very true that smaller vans will attract a much smaller and cheaper van insurance quote, and you will never know if these cheap van insurance quotes apply to your re-organised fleet unless you check it out.

Is your cargo more precious now than at conception?

Having moved your business goals, you may also find that your cargo is not protected to the extent that the lesser-value goods you once provided were. The value of your product is of interest to your van insurance broker as well as to you as the business owner.

If one particular delivery was affected by a robbery or the vehicle going off the road, could you categorically state that replacing that load is simple for your organisation, irrespective of the load? No, not many organisations can, much to their later downfall.

If the particulars of your business have changed, as is the case with many I have dealings with once they realise that there is money to made from one particular aspect of their operation, usually driven by the customer and not intentional, it is worth double-checking that your commercial vehicle cover matches up to the value of the cargo your vans transport.

If you’ve not got time to compare van insurance quotes, I’m sure you’ve got a man for that, back in the office.

Many sub-contractors and self-employed tradesmen will have had tools and expensive protective clothing bought for them this year as Christmas presents from their loved ones.

The temptation, once the wrapping is bagged away and the kids have their new toys littered around every acre of spare floor space, is to parcel your new tools away into the back of your van in anticipation of the return to work in the new year.

However, for those who think that contents are automatically included in their van insurance policy, they may be in for a rude awakening when they come to get ready in 2012 to find they’re not covered if they have been visited by thieves in the night.

As the mince pies settle and the early evenings draw in at the end of December, thieves use the shadows of darkness to stalk any potential vehicles, which they will have already pencilled in as targets over the days leading up to the festivities.

The commercial vehicle insurance sector are doing their level best to warn perhaps the less-experienced tradesmen that their commercial vehicles may become targets and as such reminding them that they ought to take out ancillary cover to protect their tools that is available on many van insurance policies.

break-ins more popular than you think

Swinton Commercial conducted a study on their own clients who had taken out van insurance with them.

According to their statistics, a shocking 11% of drivers have reported break-ins to their vehicle. Of those, the most rudimentary devices, such as crowbars to force the doors and locks, are the prefered tool of choice to perpertrate this crime.

Prevention is better than cure

In order to put a stop to this type of crime, here are a few simple guidelines to protect you and your family’s commitment to your livelihood:

1. if you have a garage, use it; thieves will think twice about raising two alarms to get to your prize.

2. steering locks can look ugly, but just the sight of them can often be enough deter the opportunist criminal

3. whether you use your garage or not, it is always advisable to remove your tools overnight. To hammer that message home, put a sticker on your van doors that state as such and make a show to any would-be thieves that your van is empty.

It is imperative to take out extra van cover for your tools, especially if they are critical to your livelihood. However, if losing a day or week’s pay whilst you await replacements from your insurance company (if you don’t have the capital in your business) would prove absolutely fatal, ensure all valuables are removed every time you leave your van unguarded.

It’s been a long time coming, but finally police are working with fleet van insurers and in-cab camera manufacturers in an attempt to cut down on the crash-for-cash mentality that is constantly increasing van insurance renewal costs.

The bill last year for fraudulent automobile claims was estimated at £410M, over 20% of that coming from commercial drivers.

Now, developments in in-cab camera functionality means the images captured from inside a driver’s cabin can be submitted as evidence in court.

The key is the EIS improvement; electronic image stabilisation has been upgraded so that it can train in on registration plates from further distances, reduction in image vibration and delivering more frames per second, all recorded to a memory card on a continual loop.

The cameras are affected by a change in motion so, should the vehicle in question be involved in an incident, the camera will start a permanent record mode which can later be used to decide who was at fault when it comes to settling insurance claims.

Underwriters back Roadhawk investment

Already, the cameras are proving to be cost effective. Towergate Insurance, a large fleet insurance underwriter, has helped its client-base with the funding of in excess of 7,500 of the in-cab units.

The cost of £200-£300 pound each, discountable for bulk purchase and installation, has already saved the van insurance underwriters between £0.5M-£0.75M, therefore proving its return on investment rapidly.

With the discounted rate for the unit, the camera only costs as much as many fleet van insurance clients set their excess levels to, so the units literally sell themselves as a viable commercial investment.

Claimants can no longer hide behind lack of evidence clause

A sizeable chunk of Towergate’s savings have come from pay-outs that they haven’t had to make that they would have in the past. Many a time the settlement has been 50/50, no matter which driver has been at fault due to a road traffic accident, but the Roadhawk and Novus camera models provide that missing information, apportioning blame one way or the other.

Safer roads, all around

Not only does the installation of these cameras encourage your own van drivers’ to adopt a more sensible attitude whilst using the company’s vehicle, but offers the facility to report other wayward drivers, which is where the police have a vested interest.

With its distance number plate capturing ability, it can snap details of an eratic driver who has been lucky this time, but by using this evidence to reprimand them may make them consider the cost of further license points and increased insurance renewal fees in the future.

The possibility of safer roads and a return to cheap van insurance is being harnessed by all sectors within the vehicle insurance industry.

Large insurance companies, other ‘electronic eye‘ manufacturers and larger companies who own sizeable fleets all look at this as the way forward to reduce fleet insurance costs.

Good news for van drivers everywhere and the UK economy, as a whole.