Have your grey fleet drivers recently told you that they are insured? While it’s easy to take their word for it, the reality is that a massive number of grey fleet drivers are on UK roads without proper insurance.
Fleet management company, Alphabet, says that every year they find 20% of the 7000 drivers they check don’t have the proper insurance. Most of these drivers aren’t being reckless by choice but rather aren’t aware what their insurance covers them for.
Before you begin lambasting your grey fleet drivers for not being insured its important to note there are a number of small nuances that may make insurance cover invalid. For example if the driver is covered for commuting to work each day and one day they drove to another office, during that trip they would be uninsured as it wasn’t part of their normal route.
Drivers run into problems when their insurance certificates aren’t entirely clear or they simply don’t care to check them. Unfortunately its human nature to also choose the cheapest insurance offer and hope for the best.
Understanding the anomalies can be a nightmare for employers of grey fleet drivers as every statement is different and there are hundreds of various definitions and clauses. Even what constitutes commercial travelling is open to debate as insurance cover can change if the appointment is prearranged or a driver is simply doing the rounds.
Drivers shouldn’t fear that getting their insurance changed will cost them an arm and a leg as employees will receive compensation due to insurance being covered by the Approved Mileage Allowance Payments rates.
My personal take on this is that part of the responsibility falls on the insurance companies who use obscure definitions as a licence to price policies differently. The other obligationis on the driver themselves who should consult their policy schedule in conjunction with the policy booklet. Finally quarterly or yearly checks by employers should safeguard drivers working without the right insurance.
Insurance generally covers five areas:
- Social, domestic and pleasure, excluding commuting
- Social domestic and pleasure, including commuting
- Class one business use – Which covers the vehicle in connection with the driver’s job.
- Class two business use – Similar to class one but will also cover a named driver
- Class three business use – For transportation of light goods and selling
If you employ grey fleet drivers it simply having them sign a mandate stipulating they are insured may not be enough. One way of making sure your drivers are insured is to extend your Commercial Fleet Insurance to cover grey fleet drivers as well.
