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Monday 3 July 2017

Why is it so important to check your fleet driving licences regularly?

If you want to run a successful fleet, big or small, the first basic requirement is to check all your employees’ driving licences on a regular basis. Why? If you have an employee who has various convictions on their licence that have not been declared to your insurer, your employee may not be insured to drive your vehicles.

Why is it so important to check your fleet driving licences regularly?

If that particular employee has an accident and it was to come to light that there were undeclared convictions on their licence, it can leave you with a repair bill, because your insurer may not pay out. In addition, this can also leave you as an employer exposed to other potential risks and you won’t be fulfilling your duty of care to your employee and that is a totally separate, but extremely serious issue altogether.

Fleet Driving Licences - Van drivers are twice as likely to receive a motoring conviction

According to the AA, van drivers are more than twice as likely as car drivers to receive a motoring conviction. The data showed that on average 15.5% of van drivers have endorsements on their driving licences compared to just 7.4% of car drivers. This is something that should be considered, especially if you do operate a fleet which has mostly vans.

What are the benefits of checking your employee’s driving licences?

  • Ensures that all your drivers are driving your vehicles legally and are covered by your insurance policy accordingly

  • Recognises the drivers that may be at risk of claiming on your policy

  • Can reduce your costs on your overall fleet insurance premium – some insurers provide small discounts to businesses who do the relevant checks on their employees

Some final tips for you

Some employers offer driver training courses to assess their driving ability to recognise potential hazards and be more aware of other road users. Another thing you could also carry out is eye sight tests and health checks on your employees that will help rule out incidents relating to your employees health.
  • And finally you can also have a health and safety policy for your vehicles. For example:

  • No picking up hitch hikers in company vehicles

  • Provide driver handbooks which will detail what to do in the event of an accident

  • Finding cheap life insurance quotes to lower your insurance rates

  • Raise awareness about fatigue and mobile phone usage.

Some insurers provide small discounts to employers that carry out these checks, so this can also reduce your overall premium.

In our experience it is worth spending the extra time and money carrying out these checks. In the long term this could save you money, time and also headaches, that may otherwise arise from claims - because the correct driver checks were not carried out.

If you require any help or advice on how to run your fleet, or if you would like us to provide you with a quotation give us a call. We have a friendly experienced team who specialise in fleet insurance and will be happy to assist you with your enquiry.

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