10 ways to reduce your fleet insurance costs

To help reduce your fleet insurance costs, you first need to manage your risks. A safer fleet means a better driver score. And that means a lower bill when it’s time to renew your fleet insurance.

Here we’ll look at 10 easy ways to manage your risks and keep those costs under control.

1. Introduce a safe driving policy

This is your first step towards a safer fleet. A safe driving policy allows you to put your best-practice tips in writing — a handy reference guide to help your drivers build better driving behaviours.

It also shows that you care about your drivers’ safety, helping to create a happier, more motivated fleet.

2. Use data to steer your fleet

Telematics data allows you to track and monitor your fleet in one our portal. You can see everything from your entire team’s performance to individual driver behaviours. And you get clever insights to help you manage risks and make the right decisions.

It shows where you’re doing well, and where the learning points are. By improving your fleet’s driving performance, you’ll help to reduce your risk of an incident. This contributes to a better driving score, and a better price when you come to renew.

3. Talk to your team

In-person or online, regular training helps to keep everyone on track.

A monthly refresher class will give your team a handy reminder of how to drive safely, helping everyone to understand the risks and realities of daily driving.

Leigh Cotterill, Managing Director at Blue Sky Logistics, keeps in touch with her drivers on a regular basis:

“Every week, we have a meeting with our drivers and we always have a training spot. It’s allowed us to have a system in place where we’re monitoring our drivers. It’s so so valuable.”

Read more about Blue Sky Logistics’ story.

4. Give regular feedback

Your drivers can’t improve if they don’t know what’s wrong. So check in with them on a regular basis.

If you need to give bad feedback, do it in an encouraging and supportive way. And do it as soon as the bad driving event has happened — this will help to keep it fresh in their memory.

Don’t forget to give good feedback, too. It’ll help to keep your fleet happy and motivated.

Peter Livings, Fleet Manager at VanUp, has found that regular feedback helps his team to drive more safely:

“I make a phone call to any drivers that fall below our expected performance. By actually talking to drivers, it helps them to improve. We got to the stage where the drivers were phoning us up each week to find out how they were doing, wanting to know if they’d got better. And they’ve improved."

5. Get back to basics

Use your telematics data to identify low performing drivers, then help them to improve with real-time driver coaching.

An approved fleet driving instructor can guide them through the basics of safe driving, including car handling and road use.

6. Let your drivers see their scores

It’s good for your drivers, which means it’s good for you. They get to see accurate data on how well they’ve been driving, plus any gaps in their performance. They can see tips to make improvements, and in-depth analysis of their driving style.

By seeing where they score among the rest of the team, it can also be a great way to incentivise and encourage your fleet to drive better.

7. Reward good driving

With an eye on their driver scores, your team is primed for a little friendly competition.

There’s nothing quite like a ‘Driver of the Month’ award to motivate your fleet, with incentives like cash, vouchers or just the pride of coming in 1st place.

You could also offer individual targets and rewards, say for hitting a certain driver score in each quarter or year.

Vicky East, Audit and Compliance Manager at SJA Logistics, likes to give kudos to drivers who perform well:

“We shared the performance with drivers and congratulated top drivers on the WhatsApp group so that everyone could see.”

Read more about the SJA Logistics story.

8. Reverse parking is best

Reversing into parking bays can significantly reduce the chance of an accident, especially when coming and going from busy car parks.

So adopt a reverse-to-park policy among your fleet, starting with the parking bays in your own company yard or car park.

9. Avoid unnecessary risks

This seems like an obvious one, but try to make a real effort to avoid dangerous situations on the road. It’s safer for your drivers and other road users, and in the long run it can save you a lot of money on your fleet insurance.

So help your drivers to avoid distractions while driving, and make them aware of high-risk roads or junctions.

10. Start a company wide safe driving culture

Every driver in your business should take responsibility for their own, and everyone else's, safety when behind the wheel. So make it a part of your unique company culture to embrace and promote safe driving, for every member of your team.

This list is just the starting point on your journey to a safer fleet. By adopting as many of these policies and principles within your company as you can, you’ll be well placed to make significant savings when it’s time to renew your fleet insurance.

Need help? Contact support.fleet@zego.com. We're happy to help. 🙂