The Impact of Fraudulent Fleet Claims on Businesses  

It’s no secret that the cost of motor insurance is rising all the time. A huge contributing factor to this is the large number of insurance scams that take place on the roads each and every year. Usually known as “crash for cash” schemes – these types of scams are designed to make quick and easy money at the expense of another party’s insurance provider.

The way insurance providers respond to these scams is by raising the price of insurance. As unfair as this is, it’s the only way that insurers can respond to an ever-growing problem.

These types of insurance scams not only affective individuals but also countless businesses that rely on the use of vehicles. Fraudsters usually aren’t picky with which type of vehicles they target so the raising insurance rates are causing a big problem across the board.

Something that’s not always discussed however, is that often insurance scams are carried out by employees within the company. This is particularly troublesome for business owners and many are now taking steps in order to combat this problem.

Ways around the problem

Below are some ways that business owners are tackling the problem of rising insurance rates due to crash for cash schemes.

  • Fleet insurance – Getting a fleet policy doesn’t directly tackle the problem of insurance scams but it does provide a way for businesses with multiple vehicles to save money on insurance. Fleet policies are typically cheaper than insuring separately so it’s definitely worth looking into. For haulage and courier delivery fleets its recommended to take out specialist courier insurance cover in addition
  • Background checks – A lot of companies are now carrying out extensive background checks on anyone who applies to work with them. This includes their insurance history and previous claims. This is one of the better ways to weed out any potential fraudsters.
  • Dash cams – There are also a growing number of businesses installing dash cams in their vehicles. Dash cams provide invaluable video evidence that can often prove who is at fault for a collision. An increasing number of insurance providers are now accepting dash cam footage in order to settle claims.

Getting fleet insurance at a competitive rate

If you do decide to get a fleet insurance policy for your business, then you’ll want to take any steps possible to keep the cost to a minimum. Below are some excellent ways to do this.

  • Make your company vehicles secure – Making your vehicles secure will go a long way to reducing the amount you’ll pay for a company fleet insurance policy. Installing alarms, immobilisers and tracking devices is always recommended.
  • Hire experienced drivers – One of the biggest factors that insurance providers take into account when calculating the cost of a policy is the age and driving history of any named drivers. For this reason, you want to make sure that any drivers you hire are experienced and have a clean licence.
  • Shop around – You should make sure that you get quotes from more than one insurance provider so you can compare them and pick the one that offers the best value for money.