Increased insurance on the way?
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from a special correspondent • There are apparently some sectors of the insurance fraternity who are concerned with the effects of operators' licensing. The motor correspondent of Post Magazine and Insurance Monitor wrote in the December 31 issue: "What I have seen does not encourage the hopes I had for the benefit of operators' licensing. There are elements, numerous elements, in the haulage industry which require careful watching. I do not believe that vehicle checks are anything like sufficiently frequent to curb these elements. I fear that one set of controls is being removed before the next set are sufficiently effective."
The correspondent goes on to claim that these shortcomings will have an adverse effect on goods vehicle insurance accounts in 1971.
It appears that this cause for concern arises from the fact that operator's licences afford new haulage freedoms, and apparently the old A-licence category had a greater claims frequency than did other sectors of the industry.
It is suggested in the article that a recent Road Research Laboratory report branded heavy lorries as killers. What the report did say was that heavy lorries are 10 times more likely than cars or vans to be involved in the death of a motorist. What neither the report nor PMIM states is in how many cases are heavy vehicles to blame for the death of a motorist.
Normal practice for insuring vehicles is for the insurers to base the premium on the previous year's record for each individual operator. If, as seems possible, insurance companies are encouraged to seek premium increases on the basis of a misconception about .the RRL report, operators should be ready to produce facts relating to their previous year's accident record.