£5m savings for fleet managers

Technology could save rental fleets as much as £5m on their annual insurance bill.

According to In-car Cleverness and Next Vehicle Rentals, technology such as telematics could drive premiums down by impacting driver behaviour and reducing theft and fraud, while pre- and post-accident data will reduce liability disputes

Some fleet operators are already making use of the technology, and the fall in insurance costs is due to the risk profile changing. According to In-car Cleverness, the rental sector – consisting of around 1,000 businesses – could save over £5 million, or £5,000 each annually.

Paul O’Dowd, sales manager at In-car Cleverness, said, ‘Technology is a game-changer for any business with a fleet of vehicles, but analysing the rental sector alone our customers are typically able to slash insurance costs by 20% or more.

‘Some businesses negotiate a substantial contribution to the cost of adopting the telematics technology itself, and so can benefit from a lot more than just cutting insurance bills.’

There is already evidence of telematics resulting in a reduction in accident rates, with fewer cases of theft and fraud. As a result insurers are offering better rates.

Steven Cooke of Next Vehicle Rental added, ‘There’s no doubt insurers are taking notice of how telematics and technology can reduce risks. Insurers will review individual cases but savings are available when risks go down.

‘Our insurance company actually contributed the cost of the roll-out of telematics across our fleet. They are actively supporting us to reduce vehicle theft and losses. As a result, its contribution amounted to an insurance saving of over 18%.’