What Does Fleet Insurance Cover?
As with any commercial vehicle policy, there are different levels of insurance you can get with fleet coverage. However, it's the law across Canada that you need proper insurance while operating any vehicle within the fleet at any time.
Third-Party Liability Insurance Coverage
Required by law, third-party liability offers coverage against claims of property damage or injury incurred against a third-party. For instance, if one of your drivers backed into a client's garage and broke the garage door, you could be held legally responsible. This policy will protect your legal fees should a suit be filed against you, as well as any damages or settlements that you have to pay as a result of the suit.
Accident Benefits Coverage
Also considered mandatory insurance, accident benefits coverage protects the driver and passengers of a vehicle that has been in a collision, regardless as to who is at fault. This is different from third-party liability, which stipulates that the driver is at fault. Accident benefits coverage usually includes:
- Medical payments for treatment due to an injury
- Essential medical services
- Essential medical supplies
- Wage loss coverage
Collision Insurance Coverage
This type of coverage helps pay to repair or replace your car if it's damaged in an accident with another vehicle or an object—such as a fence, guard rail or tree. If you're leasing or financing your car, collision is usually required by the lender. However, if you own your car (or fleet, in this instance), then collision is optional coverage.
Comprehensive Insurance Coverage
The main difference between collision and comprehensive coverage is that while the former helps you repair or replace your vehicle if it's damaged in a collision with a vehicle or object, comprehensive offers financial protection in the event your vehicle is damaged in an incident that is not a collision. Usually, this refers to damage from a fire, vandalism or falling objects like hail.
Fleet Insurance Endorsements
While a basic fleet Policy is similar to a basic commercial auto insurance policy, there are endorsements you can opt to add-on to your policy for even greater protection. A few endorsements you could add on to your fleet insurance policy includes:
Garage Auto Insurance
If you own an auto body shop, automotive repair garage or similar business where you have customer vehicles in your possession at any time, then you should have garage auto insurance. This policy covers your customers' vehicles while they are in your care, control or custody.
Loss of Use
Also called transportation replacement coverage, if you're found (or one of your employees is found) at fault in an automobile accident, this policy will provide you with a rental vehicle while your truck, van or SUV is being repaired. Like any endorsement, this policy comes with limits that one of our dedicated Krywolt Insurance brokers will walk you through.
Accident Forgiveness
This endorsement is essential for protecting your business from the damaging impacts of your first accident. No matter how careful you and your employees are, one accident can seriously impact your insurance premiums—unless you have accident forgiveness. If you find yourself in an accident, or one of your employees gets in an accident, and you make a claim, this policy acts as if the accident never happened in the first place.
What Information is Needed for a Calgary Fleet Insurance Estimate?
If you think you're ready to take the plunge and inquire about a fleet insurance quote, then our experts at Krywolt Insurance can help. To prepare for obtaining your quote, you will need to provide details about your vehicles to your broker or carrier. Some questions you should be prepared to answer include:
- How old are the vehicles in your fleet?
- What is the condition of the vehicles?
- How often will the vehicles be used?
- Are the vehicles kept in a secure location overnight?
- How many vehicles are in your fleet?
- What will your vehicles be used for?
- Are all your vehicle operators properly licensed?
How Do I File a Fleet Insurance Claim?
Filing a fleet insurance claim is similar to filing a normal commercial car insurance claim. File the claim immediately with your insurance company following an accident. Most insurers offer online forms where you can file the claim at any time. Ensure you include pertinent information, and be sure to get the insurance details of the other driver/drivers involved. If a police report was filed, be sure to include that information as well.
What Are the Advantages of Fleet Insurance?
There are numerous benefits to opting for fleet insurance, rather than insuring each of your commercial vehicles individually. It's significantly more efficient to have fleet insurance, as it covers all business vehicles on a single policy regardless of vehicle type, number of drivers, or intended use. This is especially helpful if you use one vehicle in multiple capacities, such as for both delivery of goods and transport of people.
If administrative work is not for you, then fleet insurance is the way to go. With this policy, you'll spend less time submitting paperwork when it comes to renewing your policy. Think about how long it would take you to renew the insurance on 100 taxis—compared to doing all of them at once.
Finally, one of the main draws of fleet insurance is that it usually saves business owners money. Because your assets are quite valuable—100 cars to one—usually insurance companies are more willing to negotiate on rates.
How Does Commercial Fleet Insurance Work?
Calgary fleet insurance can be obtained through your insurer. It is designed to cover accidents and liabilities for all vehicles used in the scope of your business operations. Examples of vehicles that can be insured with fleet insurance includes:
- Large trucks used for shipping and transport
- Cargo vans, including electric cargo vans
- Any type of car, van and SUV used for commercial purposes
How Much Does Fleet Car Insurance Cost?
The cost of fleet insurance varies depending on your carrier, the size of your business and how many vehicles are in your fleet. Additionally, there are a range of other factors that may impact the cost of your insurance policy, including:
- Age, condition and value of your vehicles: Just like with a personal auto insurance policy, the newer and more expensive your vehicles are, the more costly they are to repair or replace. Thus, the more you will pay in insurance.
- Fleet's intended use: Different industries pay different premiums, depending on what the vehicles are being used for. Plumbers, electricians and other home-service industries tend to pay less than taxi companies or car rental services.
- Types of vehicles in your fleet: As with personal auto insurance, passenger cars tend to be less costly for companies to insure than SUVs.
- Your policy options: The more endorsements you add onto your insurance policy, the more you will pay for insurance. And, the better protection you will have in the event that something goes wrong. Paying out-of-pocket for damage to your fleet of vehicles could be financially crippling for even the most savvy business owner.
- Your Claims history over the past 3-5 years. The great advantage of fleet insurance is that the more profitable your fleet is for the insurance company, the higher the discounts available. For this reason a 3 or 5 years history of claims, including what happened and how much was paid out, is very important in negotiating your fleet insurance rate.
- Your driver’s experience history. When drivers have clean abstracts, no accidents and at least 3 years experience driving similar vehicles to your fleet, you receive the most competitive rates on your fleet insurance. Conversely, drivers with little experience and those with tickets or claims will result in higher rates or coverage being declined by an insurance company.
Can Anyone Drive with Fleet Insurance?
Yes. As long as your employees are properly insured, one of the best advantages of having fleet insurance is that any of your employees can operate any of your vehicles. This makes it much easier for your business operations to run smoothly, compared to listing specific employees with specific cars, were you to insure each vehicle individually.
What Are Some Tips for Maintaining a Safe Fleet of Vehicles?
As a business owner, the best way to ensure your employees' safety and reduce the likelihood of having to make a claim is by ensuring safety comes first. The safety of your drivers directly impacts the security of your vehicle assets, other drivers and pedestrians, and ultimately, your company's bottom line. The following are a few tips to ensure your employees are driving as safely as possible:
- Maintain regular maintenance for all vehicles: By taking care of scheduled vehicle maintenance like oil changes, tire rotations, changing tires as the seasons change and routine inspections, you lessen the likelihood of breakdowns, mechanical failures and accidents.
- Provide education on defensive driving: Ensure that any of your employees who will be operating company vehicles have adequate safety training. For instance, consider offering additional safe driver training courses as professional development.
- Reduce distracted driving with occasional safety audits: As the employer, it's up to you to set the safety standards at your workplace. It's essential that you pay attention to how your drivers are behaving behind the wheel. By conducting periodic safety audits, you reduce the risk of texting while driving, distracted driving and other threatening practices.
- Reward safe drivers: Consider recognizing good drivers, as they help save your company money by reducing insurance claims. One possibility is offering an incentive for employees that are accident-free for one year.
