Category: Insurance Savings

Fleet Insurance Discounts

One of the main factors people look at when determining whether GPS fleet tracking is suitable for their fleet is whether they will gain a ROI. Earning fleet insurance discounts is one of the many factors in getting the ROI you want to achieve.

Car insurance premiums are determined based on driver risk factors. This includes:

• Type of vehicle
• Vehicle usage
• Driving record
• History of previous accidents
• The city & province or state you live in

There are two different types of auto insurance coverages that are mandatory in Canada: Third-Party Liability and Accident Benefits, also known as no fault benefits.

Third-Party Liability Coverage
Third-Party liability coverage allows the person who did not cause the collision the option to sue the at-fault driver for additional costs and damages not covered by Accident Benefits. Additionally, this coverage covers you for the legal costs of being sued if you are the at-fault driver. Ontario has a hybrid program including both types of coverages; Quebec, Manitoba, and Saskatchewan don’t have the Third-Party liability coverage, they have only no-fault systems.

Accident Benefits
Accident Benefits mostly cover income replacement, medical treatment, and other benefits to assist in the healing processes if an individual is injured because of a collision. The “No Fault Benefits” provides payment regardless of who caused the collision. According to the IBC, this coverage is mandatory for all Canadian provinces, except Newfoundland & Labrador.

Coverage in the United States
The United States has laws that are similar to the coverages previously mentioned for Canada. There are some states governed by Tort Laws, in which the party who is at fault pays for the victim’s damages and medical expenses, such as suffering and lost wages. The other states are governed by No-Fault laws, in which all parties that file a claim are usually compensated without requiring a fault determination.

The Role of GPS Fleet Tracking
Businesses must keep up with costs, including insurance rates and the overall upkeep of vehicles. There is also an increase in how GPS fleet tracking technology can help businesses reduce their commercial auto insurance. This includes satellite navigation, vehicle and container tracking, fleet management, emergency warning systems, wireless vehicle safety communications, and more. The data taken from GPS tracking devices can help improve driver behavior, which can also reduce maintenance costs, fuel consumption costs, as well as employee injury claims.

To qualify for a reduced auto insurance rate, businesses may be required to have a GPS device installed in a number of their fleet vehicles. Insurance companies sometimes have their own list of approved GPS solution providers, and each recommends that the business speaks first with an insurance rep to see if their GPS solution provider qualifies.

The insurance companies normally review the policies yearly and depending on the data pulled, it could change your rates; this makes it essential to practice preventative measures to ensure the rates stay low.

Being able to manage, track and learn from the data being pulled from your GPS device will help improve the quality of life for your vehicles, which will save you money. Further to this, Research and Markets identified that “in recent years, the vehicle theft rate in countries like the United States and Brazil are increasing, which is leading to increased adoption of GPS solutions to lower insurance rates.”

There are a few types of policies

• Commercially insured fleets: Insuring vehicles with insurance companies that accepts GPS data to save a percentage off the premium.
• Self-insured fleets: It is required to have a policy put in place and the policy holder must be prepared to reinforce the policy, it all depends on the policy presented.

The policy may require employees to have clean MVRs (motor vehicle reports). To achieve this, the business can reinforce drivers to remain within speed limits, and always wear a seatbelt. Additionally, to help fleets that are self-insured to save money, employees can use the data provided from their GPS solution to manage their driving habits, such as aggressive driving (hard acceleration & braking) which can cause high fuel consumption and cause wear on vehicles.

Maintaining and using this data effectively can aid in:

1. Reduced vehicle damage (bent metal claims)
2. Personal injury claims
3. General liability
4. Workers comp

A Geotab & GoFleet Perspective
At Geotab & GoFleet, we’ve seen self-insured injury and vehicle damage claims drop from $30,000 per 1 million miles driven $0.03 per mile to $22,000 per million miles driven $0.022 per mile.

1. For a vehicle driving 30,000 miles per year – vehicle damage claims can drop from an average of $900 per year before a GPS solution policy, to an average of $660 per year after. An average of $240 per year in savings.
2. Forensic accident data & first notice of loss from the notification of an accident helps to reduce time to settle and claims cost for at fault and preventable accidents.
3. Even self-insured fleets must insure their excess general liability. Insurance premiums on this can be lowered after a successful deployment and proven reduction in accidents and claims amounts.
4. Proof of activity that can be used to prove the whereabouts of an employee for false workers compensation claims are used by firms as part of their private workers compensation investigations.

On average, safety usually drops a vehicle down from $5000 to $3500 ($1500/yr avg) once a policy is put in place and reinforced by follow up from the insurance firm.

To learn more about the fleet insurance discounts that could be available for your fleet, contact us!

Original Article Written By Geotab
http://www.geotab.com/blog/earning-insurance-discounts-telematics-data/

GoFleet’s Fleet Tracking Solution Provides Valuable Insurance Savings

When you use GoFleet’s fleet tracking solution, you qualify for a fleet insurance discount through Liberty Mutual Insurance. This means that you can earn up to a 40% insurance savings with safe driving discounts. All you have to do is have or add a commercial automobile insurance policy with Liberty Mutual Insurance.

A fleet tracking solution not only increases fuel efficiency and driver safety, it allows business to save on their insurance rates. You can also add-on a fuel card to save some additional money on fuel costs. The fuel card option is a centralized payment system for your fuel. You will be able to easily monitor your fleet’s fuel consumption in addition to eliminating the preparation of expense reports. The fleet tracking solution also helps you identify and correct wasteful driving issues such as excessive idling, speeding and aggressive acceleration.

The best part of the GoFleet fleet tracking solution is that it creates peace of mind. You will be able to monitor risk management reports, in real-time. This will allow you to verify that your drivers are practicing safe driving. If an accident occurs, you can replay the incident to reinforce your driver’s training and increase their learning retention. Liberty Mutual Insurance understands how the fleet tracking solution increases overall driver safety.

Getting a qualifying commercial automobile policy with Liberty Mutual Insurance can provide up to 40% insurance savings. The participating automobile insurance providers will help save your company money by offering competitive insurance rates with compressive automobile coverage.

In addition to fleet insurance discounts, you will find even more savings because you will reduce the risk of an accident and business interruption issues before they even happen. Reducing your employees’ at-risk driving behaviors will also lower maintenance costs. Your fleet tracking solution will save your business a substantial amount of money while allowing you to properly manage your fleet.

If you have a business that requires certain vehicles to be in certain locations at certain times and care for the large customer base you’ve spent multiple years building, then you need a fleet management solution to aid your business expansion. Legally, anyone who operates a business with vehicles for delivery or used for service calls carry a multicar insurance policy, called fleet insurance. However, notwithstanding the legalities, investing in this comprehensive company car insurance policy has advantages for your business, and can provide solace to your drivers who hit the pavement each day for your service calls.

Upon the successful launch of your mobile-based business, no matter if you’re offering maid services, tech support or delivering pizzas, fleet insurance immediately needs to be sought after before a sales call is even made. Company car insurance comes in many formats while offering many different coverage options that will require you to probe before purchasing and weigh each option carefully. During your research into various fleet insurance carriers, businesses have a different set of needs and, therefore, have entirely different fleet needs to address, mainly:

• Much like individual auto insurance policies, multicar insurance comes with safe driver discounts that are based both off the main policyholder’s and each driver’s personal driving records. Don’t leave the insurance office without these discounts.

• Each individual driver does not have to be named on the policy; however, those who you hire to drive must meet certain local DOT requirements if driving passengers, hauling certain types of goods, and need bonding included with your fleet insurance if transporting currency.

• Commercial fleet insurance can be obtained with moderate liability limits for those whom are self-employed yet need the multicar insurance coverage.

• Exercise due diligence in finding the best company car insurance ratings, use the information found in A.M. Best, S&P and Moody’s Investor Services as these historically will be the most up-to-date on each company’s credit grade and total assets.

Your business cannot afford to lack in coverage areas or carry astronomically high deductibles. Take the extra time to do homework on the companies that pique your interest and gather data from the above research firms. When you’ve narrowed down your search to one or two companies then proceed to make an office visit to get all of your questions answered and to receive your free quotation for fleet insurance.

How More Multicar Insurance Means Less Cost

If you’ve ever had a conversation with a cabbie about driving for their cab company and their overall insurance costs and limits, you’d find out some rather strange even unsettling information that may deter you from even seeking company car insurance. However, do not gauge the needs of your company with the needs of a company which transports human passengers around thousands of times a day. Fleet insurance comes in multiple forms, is priced in multiple ways, and will almost never apply to the same company across the board. So, how can something meant for multiple automobiles actually save money in the long run? Logically, you’d presume that more vehicles to cover would mean higher multicar insurance costs per annum. That’s not necessarily the case, as you’ll see, because there is colossal strength in numbers for companies seeking fleet insurance.

Case in point: Imagine if you operated a business that dispatched tech support workers to other businesses or homes to fix network issues, clean up viruses, or assist with data backup. On a daily basis, you send each worker to various locations using their personal vehicles, paying them a per diem for gas. One day, a worker wraps himself around a telephone pole and receives paralyzing injuries which results in a huge lawsuit on your hands. The driver, you find out, was mildly insured. Now, instead of growing your business, you are digging into your personal pockets, the pockets of investors, and cleaning out your business bank account to settle out of court. This scenario can break the back of your business.

Had you simply taken the time to investigate your fleet insurance options, this situation would have remedied itself and not been a problem in the first place if you had a corresponding insurance plan in place that would have covered medical care. Sure, your premiums would probably go up; that could be offset by hiking the COGS (cost of goods sold) by perhaps a buck or two. Now, imagine if the rare (but known to happen) occurrence transpired with two tech workers in the same day. Instead of closing just the business, you’re may face the real possibility of taking out the mortgage on your house to pay for this.

This scenario showcases and exemplifies why the proper fleet insurance plan is the difference between keeping you in or out of business. Nine times out of ten, you’ll see drastic savings by purchasing your own fleet of cars and insuring them as opposed to sending your workers off in their own cars. Multicar insurance will save your business, safeguard your employees while in transit, and give you peace of mind that anything accidental can be covered should the unfortunate even take place.

Summary

Fleet insurance is your business solution tailored to work for any business that transports goods, makes house calls, or hauls passengers around town. While specific amounts will never be the same across the board, you simply cannot operate a mobile business without protection for your employees. When you dispatch them to work in their personal cars, you increase the chance that you’ll put your business in position to defend against lawsuit litigation should an employee injure themselves while on your clock.

Finally, when you are shopping for company car insurance, you’ll find there is great strength in numbers in terms of long-term savings ability as paying for a multicar insurance policy and six vehicles will surely be less expensive than liability suits. Make the logical choice and take out a comprehensive company car insurance policy to keep your business moving forward while promoting safety from within.