Mobility: how do you insure a fleet that is increasingly stationary?

Since the COVID-19 pandemic, employers have started to realise that working from home is a valuable alternative. This has led to a reduction in the number of journeys made, resulting in turn in a fall in the number of insurance claims.

This is a development that is prompting companies to reflect on how they should insure an increasingly stationary fleet. However, HR departments and fleet managers had already started thinking about the mobility of the future even before the pandemic. ‘Traditionally, Belgians have aspired not just to home ownership, but to a company car’, says Vicky Vandergeeten. ‘The new generation of employees is starting to look at mobility differently: how can I get from point A to point B the fastest? Whether that’s by car or shared electric scooter is rather less important. Mobility of this kind, which sees commuting in broader terms than just a company car, already has an impact on the risks that need to be covered.’

If we now look at how companies specifically insure their car fleet, we find that the possibilities of comprehensive insurance are still often overlooked. The traditional approach in which companies also insure against damage to the company car in addition to the mandatory third-party cover is being replaced by other forms of insurance/financing. It is worth looking at which comprehensive insurance formula offers the best solution for a company on the basis of claims statistics. ‘Is it necessary to have comprehensive cover for every euro of damage? An alternative approach is also possible, either wholly or partly’, Vincent Sandra points out. ‘In the most extreme form, the company itself covers all damage that would otherwise fall within the scope of a comprehensive policy. In practice, claims handling in such a scenario takes place through the broker rather than through the insurer.’

With this type of risk financing, the company bears the risk itself. The company’s solvency and the stability of the claims statistics are decisive parameters in such a situation. Between comprehensive insurance and a non-insured plan, there are of course intermediate solutions such as stop-loss insurance. For 250 vehicles and upwards, stop-loss presents interesting possibilities. As the 1,000-vehicle mark is approached, a non-insured plan is an attractive alternative. With stop-loss insurance, the company bears the cost of all losses up to a certain threshold itself; all claims above this threshold are covered by comprehensive insurance. Vanbreda will work with you to determine the best solution for your company. Together we can make savings in the right places through an alternative risk financing approach.

‘At Vanbreda we’ve noticed that the stop-loss system has some striking effects,’ Vincent Sandra continues. ‘It appears to give many companies an incentive to think very actively about limiting the number of accidents, using tools such as prevention or a modified car policy. Every accident avoided is directly reflected in the company’s profit figures. The comprehensive insurance premium is considerably lower, which in turn means that the 26.75% tax is calculated on a lower baseline.’

Many fleet managers wonder whether such an approach, in which the company itself bears more risk, also means a significant increase in their own workload. In practice, however, most of the work shifts from the insurer to the broker – not to the client. Online tools such as VanbredaConnect create the possibility of monitoring claims and contracts. ‘Interfaces make it possible to communicate digitally about fleet changes,’ explains Vicky Vandergeeten. ‘The fleet manager can look over the broker’s shoulder. Any data that he or she enters, such as changes of drivers, goes straight into the tool, avoiding endless emails. Links with a company’s fleet software are also perfectly possible. In addition, the company receives reports on a regular basis: what claims have been paid, how much has been recovered from counterparties, and what’s the status of the stop-loss insurance? Fleet managers can easily see answers to such questions, which means that they can still outsource the necessary work when an alternative method of insurance is used.’