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Covering all the bases
Page 48
Page 49
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Insurance is a necessity, and never more so than during a recession. As an operator, it is your responsibility to safeguard the company's lifeblood drivers and vehicles.
Words: Joanna Bourke TruckPol. the freight crime-fighting body, revealed earlier this year that lorry crime nearly doubled in 2008. with 4,171 incidents reported, compared to the 2,284 cases recorded in 2007
As the recession continues to bite, operators in the road transport sector are having to make a stark choice — either hope your lorry won't be targeted by thieves and maintain your level of insurance cover, or shop around to find a more comprehensive deal. Opting for the latter may result in you having to pay a bit more — not exactly what operators want in the middle of a recession.
-Most hauliers will have two insurance deals," says
Roger Ball, head of commercials and motor trade at Allianz Insurance. "One to cover the vehicle itself, and then one to cover goods and transit. It is normally a transport firm and not a supplier who finances this. Unfortunately, premiums have increased to cope with rising HGV crime-related cases."
Best practice
Steve Eyles, sales manager at insurance specialists One Business Solutions, tells CM that, on average, operators can shave some 10% off their insurance bills if they can prove they have adequate crime prevention devices in place.
"The more claims there are, the higher the premiums are going to get because insurers will have to pay out more money. Although each insurer will make individual decisions, generally, if hauliers use tracking devices it makes it easier to recover stolen vehicles, meaning less money needs to be paid out," he explains.
Ball concurs with Eyles, saying that a recent trend Allianz has spotted is criminals stealing trucks and then dumping them. This is where tracking devices will prove their worth, because, at least there is the chance the vehicle might be recovered.
Meanwhile, Ball says insurers also like to hear that drivers are not parking up overnight in lay-bys and making themselves more vulnerable to thieves.
The Yorkshire and Humber TruckWatch scheme, a division of registered charity People United Against Crime (PUAC) formed by South Yorkshire Police in 19%, says freight crime has remained relatively static in the region.
Chief executive David Ransom says the sharing of information between 800 members on crime hotspots to avoid and locations of secure truckstops has been key in pleasing insurers.
-Making sure drivers park in appropriate places is a condition of many insurers, and, as a result, we have not experienced a dramatic jump in freight crimes during the recession,Ransom says. However, Bruce MacMillan, business development manager at Northampton-based distribution and warehousing company PC Howard, says: "We have been fortunate ourselves, but we do know that there has been a significant increase in break-ins in this area. We had upgraded our security and CCTV some time back on the basis that prevention is better than cure."
Quality not quantity
While there is no harm in shopping around. make sure you read the small print when it comes to insurance cover. Be specific about what is actually covered in the policy. "Think about who you would really want to work with if you suffered a big blow to your company," warns Allianz Insurance's Ball.
Of all the insurance firms and hauliers questioned, 'risk management' was the most common term mentioned. Ultimately, if your vehicles are fitted with alarms and tracking systems, and your drivers have been given in-depth training and advice on staying safe and secure, you are demonstrating that, as an operator, you are serious about combating freight crime and serious about keeping your premiums down. •