Two-fifths of UK firms have experienced rising company car insurance in the last year, according to research by TomTom Business Solutions. Their research found that firms could be doing more to reduce the risk of rising premiums, with 71 per cent failing to provide regular training for their drivers. Only 36 per cent of firms actively monitor driving performance and risk, with 22 per cent using technology to do so: Giles Margerison, director UK & Ireland, TomTom Business Solutions, said: "Too often cars are viewed as an employee benefit rather than a place of work, so more can be done by businesses to improve safety, reduce collision rates and drive down the cost of insurance premiums. "Initiatives such as regular staff communications, safety discussions, driver training and schemes for measuring and improving driver performance are powerful mechanisms for the reduction of road risk.î TomTom's research also showed that 81 per cent of those questioned included work-related work safety as part of their company's health and safety policy, but only 57 per cent carry out regular risk assessment across their fleets. 24 per cent of businesses do not seem to be aware of the opportunities available to them to reduce road risks; firms also do not seem to have processes in place to deal with glaring risks like driver fatigue: 'Duty of Care can often be viewed as a complex issue but that does not need to be the case, especially given the variety of tools available to identify and manage risk factors," added Margerison. "Fleet management technology, for example, provides access to a wealth of actionable data which allows management to quickly identify areas of risk and take action to implement best practice.î Insurance premiums have been increasing lately as a result of increasing crash-for-cash claims. Overall in the UK, it is estimated that the total annual cost of these fraudulent claims is £392 a year, which is inevitably passed onto consumers and businesses in the form of higher insurance premiums.
