Fleet Insurance Vs Individual Commercial Vehicle Cover

Commercial fleet insurance for business vehicles

Motor Fleet Insurance is a product designed to allow you to insure multiple vehicles under one insurance policy.

The majority of insurers in the UK market will offer this product if you are looking to insure 3 or more vehicles. There is usually with no upper limit, giving businesses the room to grow their fleet of vehicles.

The product does also allow for different vehicle types to be insured on the same policy whilst used for commercial purposes. There are different types of fleet insurance available depending on your business type.

This could include own goods, the carriage of goods for Hire and Reward or the carriage of passengers for Hire and Reward. There are many policy types available to suit various industries.

Perhaps the most attractive element of a fleet policy is the ease it gives the consumer with policy administration. Everything is held under one easy to administer policy. This avoids the need to manage multiple renewal dates, freeing you up to concentrate on what is important: running your business.

The key benefits of a Fleet Insurance policy are laid out below.

Main benefits

Any driver declaration

In the main, fleet policies are issued on an any driver aged 21, 25 or 30+ basis, as long as that driver meets the specific UK licence requirements. This usually means holding a licence for a minimum of two years.

This saves on the administration required on your vehicle insurance policies. You do not need to add, remove or change drivers to meet your business needs.

On hire/ Off hire vehicles with ease

You can add and remove vehicles as you wish.

Whether you are growing your fleet, swapping an old vehicle for a new one or simply taking a vehicle off the road, you can make changes as needed.

You can make these changes quickly without taking out additional policies or cancelling existing ones. A minimum of 3 vehicles is required.

Insure multiple vehicle types

Fleet policies allows for multiple vehicle types to be insured on one policy to save speaking to multiple insurers.

From cars, to vans, to trucks to pickups.

Fleet insurance for commercial vehicles

Commercial Vehicle Insurance

Commercial vehicle insurance covers your vehicle if it is being used in connection with your business.

Whether you are transporting goods as a tradesman, carrying goods for transport purposes, or delivering goods to customers, commercial vehicle insurance will ensure you have the right cover in place in connection with your business.


You need commercial vehicle insurance if you:

  • Transport goods or equipment
  • Transport clients or employees.
  • Perform a service that you’re paid for.
  • Charge passengers a fee to ride in your vehicle.
  • Charge people a fee to transport goods in your vehicle.
  • Haul heavy, work-related loads.
  • Tow a trailer used for business.

Benefits of Commercial Vehicle Insurance

  • Add selected employees as additional drivers.
  • Take out additional policies as your business grows.
  • Choose cover that reflects how you use each vehicle.
  • Meet the insurance requirements associated with using your vehicle for business.
    van fleet

    Assessing your insurance risk

    The underwriting process of insurance policies differs depending on the policy type.

    While individual commercial vehicle insurance typically uses a traditional system driven actuarial approach, fleet policies require a more intensive underwriting process.

    While with individual vehicle insurance cover you are rewarded with no claims discount for claim free driving, fleet insurance is different.

    Fleet Insurance is rated using the performance numbers of the Fleet Claims Experience document. This will tell an underwriter how the fleet insurance policy has performed with respect to claims performance.

    Therefore, the management of your fleet policy is vitally important to obtaining competitive insurance premiums.

    Below we look at several ways you can manage your insurance effectively, to keep claims costs to a minimum.

    Employee management:

    Checking employee driving licences, appropriate driver training and provision of driver handbooks all aid fleet efficiency and safety.

    Telematics:

    Using telematics and on-board computers to collect and transmit driver and vehicle data has many benefits.

    It displays driver behaviour, and helps you manage your drivers effectively to get the most out of your vehicles and curb bad driving habits.

    It also aids in the recovery of vehicles if the worst was to happen in the event of a theft claim.

    Cameras:

    Front and rear facing cameras are a growing technology within the insurance industry.

    The footage is vital to the settlement of claims, helping insurers identify almost instantly where the liability for a claim will fall.

    The footage is also immensely important in keeping claims costs to a minimum, helping insurers act quickly to in terms of third party liability, vehicle repair and credit hire.

    fleet data and telematics

    Why choose BCD?

    When it comes to Fleet (and other business) insurance, we have years of expertise, so you can be confident of getting the best advice to suit your business needs, individually tailored to your requirements.

    We pride ourselves in taking time to really understand your business needs and consider all the variables involved.

    Without specialist knowledge, you may not have the cover you need for your business. Our business focuses on providing high-quality service. We work with a range of markets and underwriters and understand the USPs and restrictions of each product.

    We specialise in road transport, Courier Insurance and construction vehicles; however, we also provide specific products and prices for many other industries.

    Whether you operate vans, cars or HGVs we can cater for most vehicle types and we have no limitations on the number of vehicles covered.

    Plus, we automatically insure your drivers within the agreed policy driving restriction, giving you flexibility on who drives your vehicles.

    We also offer Public Liability, Employers Liability, and Goods In Transit Insurance.