Employers can insure class 1 hgv drivers aged below 25
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by CM reporter
THE SHORTAGE of Class I hgv drivers is being aggravated because operators believe that they cannot have men who are under 25 years of age insured for a 32tonner. Following a survey of 10 insurance brokers around the country, we have discovered that in almost every case a 21-yearold can be insured and the only condition attached to the premium would be an uplift on the excess from £1150 to £250 for a £13,000 outfit. The premium would remain at £600 provided the vehicle operated in the UK only.
Last August Mr P. Raymond. 21, of Sunderland, who had been in the habit of driving swop-body vehicles, for which an hgv licence was not required, contacted C 114 to learn about the training opportunities scheme (Tops). When he learned he had to be unemployed to qualify he decided to pay for his own training. Following a course which cost him £300, he has been unable to obtain hgv Class 1 employment. He told (41: "On each occasion when I contact a prospective employer I have been invited Logo in, complete the employment form and be prepared to start the following Monday. As soon as I say that I am 21, they tell me that they can do nothing for me until I am 25."
Mr Raymond said that he knew of a number of men in the same age group who were receiving similar treatment.
Employers we spoke to confirmed that they rejected an hgv I driver who was under 25 on the grounds that they could not get insurance coverage. They said that insurance companies worked on the principle that at 21 the man was too big an insurance risk because he was inexperienced, and to a degree irresponsible.
One operator, Mr Edgar Williams. managing director of Williams Brothers, of Queensferry. took a different view, however. He said that the degree of risk must be measured against the quality of training. His company, which runs its own training scheme, employed 21-year-old hgv drivers and although it had at first met opposition from its insurers, it had taken a firm stand and now the 21year-old was accepted as was any other driver.
For their part, the insurance companies in every case said that they would insure 21-year-olds and the only condition would be about a £150 uplift on the excess. Some of the brokers agreed that in the early stages of hgv licensing they had been sceptical, but that this had now changed. It appears that some employers are about three years out of date with their insurance intelligence and that there are a number of qualified men available to fill the existing vacancies.