ore red tape for hauliers
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• by David Craik A new European directive on fleet insurance will have costly administrative ramifications for hauliers, according to insurers.
The 4th European Union Motor Directive, to be effective from 1 January 2003, will require haulage companies to inform their insurance provider of the registration number of every vehicle in their fleet, not just declare the total fleet numbers to them as they do at present.
The EL1 wants the details so that those involved in a motor accident can have quick information on the identity of the third party insurers.
Joe bona, commercial motor underwriter of Royal and Sun Alliance, says that the directive will hit all haulage firms, which by their nature "chop and change fleet numbers every day", but will particularly affect medium-sized firms.
"The larger firms will be able to use slick technology to inform insurers of each vehicle's registration, while the smaller firms operating 10-15 vehicles will clearly have no problem, given their size," he says. "However, the mediumsized operators may have more than one site and they may have more than one fleet-risk manager. That would mean implementing costly administrative systems to collate the information."
Chris North of RHA Insurance Service says that hauliers are "in the dark" over the directive and need to prepare now.
"If firms have to inform their insurers of changes to the fleet using manual methods then it will mean a horrendous amount of red tape for them," he says. "They must make greater use of the Internet in order to let insurers know of new additions to a fleet if they change."