What is included?
Fleet policies cover similar kinds of loss and damage as the standard motor insurance you have for your personal car or motorcycle. For example, damage caused by theft or falling trees would be covered, as would any damage you or your staff cause to third parties. Fire damage is usually a standard inclusions.

Some insurers will include a breakdown cover as standard. However, while this may sound like an excellent benefit, it might be worth shopping around to see whether buying business fleet insurance and breakdown cover separately would be more cost effective. You may also find that the breakdown cover offered by a specialised provider is more comprehensive.

How do you decide between policies?

If the quotes you receive for fleet cover are similar, there are a number of ways to distinguish between them. For example, you might consider what level of service each provider offers. This is especially important for fleet cover for delivery vehicles, as accidents do not just happen within business hours and you may need to contact your insurer outside of the normal 9 till 5.

Also, you should compare the levels of the excesses offered by each provider. Generally, the higher the excess, the cheaper the policy will be. This is because the insurer is statistically less likely to have to pay out for smaller claims. However, you need to weigh up what the largest amount of loss would be that you could fund from your own pocket.

How can you bring down the cost?

When insurers assess how much to charge for business fleet cover, they will use the same or similar criteria to decide the price as they do for domestic motor insurance providers. For example, they will look at where the vehicles are kept when they are not in use. If you keep your vehicles in a secure lock-up, your premium may be cheaper than it would have been if your vehicles were kept on the roadside at night. The risks of theft and vandalism are much smaller if vehicles are out of reach of criminals.

Likewise, it might be worthwhile to put employees who drive company vehicles regularly on a safe drivers’ course. Such courses can reduce the risk of accidents by improving people’s driving skills, and can sometimes have the additional benefit of bringing down premiums for business fleet insurance with some providers.