Here’s a scenario that might sound familiar: a courier finishes a delivery, and accidentally backs into a resident’s car. There’s a minor bump, but — not thinking much of it — the driver drives away, hoping for the best. His bumper is slightly dented, but he doesn’t consider it worth informing his fleet manager.
What he might not realise is that he’s accidentally caused damage to the resident’s car as well. Days later, the resident checks her video doorbell footage and discovers what happened. She then incurs costly repairs and rents a courtesy car whilst her own car is in the repair shop.
By the time the courier’s insurer learns of the claim, three weeks have passed. The driver can’t recall the details, and costs related to repairs and the courtesy car have skyrocketed.
Slow reporting → higher costs for fleets
Drivers often hesitate to report incidents swiftly; they fear this might affect their fleet’s insurance premiums, cause downtime for minor repairs, or increase administrative burdens.
The reality though, is that delaying claims notifications can be very costly.
In fact, delayed reporting can lead to a 40% increase in claim costs — something many fleets don’t realise.
Quick reporting → a range of benefits
Reporting incidents won’t affect your clients’ premiums unless they cause enough damage or injury to result in a claim. Educating your fleet clients about the claims process — and encouraging them to report even minor incidents promptly — can save them money on insurance premiums and enhance their loyalty to you as a broker.
Encouraging clients to report incidents promptly offers several benefits:
- Cost Reduction: Timely reporting expedites repairs and maintenance. It ensures vehicles are on the road faster and can contribute to fleet productivity.
- Lower Excess: Reporting within 24 hours can reduce excess costs. For instance, Flock worked with a client to design an excess reduction endorsement, which would have saved them £30,000 in excess costs during their prior policy year.
- Control Credit Hire Costs: Delayed reporting can lead to a major increase in claim costs, mostly due to credit hire costs (costs incurred when a third party hires a replacement vehicle while their vehicle is repaired). Early reporting allows insurers to collect relevant information and manage third party costs more effectively, reducing overall claim costs.
The Broker Toolbox
To help clients understand the link between incident reporting and insurance costs, you can:
- Encourage Same-Day Notification: Flock offers tools and incentives for fast reporting. Reporting incidents is now easier for fleet managers and drivers, and an incentive can be added to the policy, with an endorsement for reduced excess for claims reported within 24 hours*.
- Collect Third-Party Details: We’ve streamlined third-party details capture to control claim costs and save time.
- Schedule Claims Check-Ins: Upcoming portal improvements to our claims pages (going live in October) will facilitate conversations with your clients about claims status, costs, and reporting times.
- Join Our Claims Webinar: Pre-register for our upcoming Claims Webinar to learn more about reducing claims costs, improving reporting times, and stabilising premiums.
In addition to the portal enhancements listed above, we’ve also prepared assets to help you emphasise the importance and benefits of prompt reporting to your fleet clients:
*Note: Early reporting excess reduction is available for fully comprehensive customers insured on our AND-i paper.
