Almost every business uses commercial vehicles to run its business operations efficiently. Like any other physical asset of the business, these vehicles are very valuable and should be insured. When it comes to insuring the commercial vehicles, business owners have two options. They can get individual insurance policy for each vehicle or cover all the vehicles in one comprehensive insurance policy. In this article, we will discuss on this topic in detail and see which one is better.

One thing is for sure, you should get your commercial vehicle insured. According to Continuous Insurance Enforcement (CIE) law, every registered vehicle must have valid insurance at all times. This law in UK, states that it is an offense to keep vehicles without insurance and a huge penalty will be imposed on vehicle owners for not having insurance for their vehicles.

Though this law is not introduced in Northern Ireland, still it is mandatory to have adequate insurance cover for any motor vehicle that is used or left on a public highway. So, if your business uses vehicles, it is legally necessary to have vehicle insurance.

Motor fleet insurance policy

Now that we are clear about the importance of insurance policy, we need to look for the options. As discussed earlier, we can either take individual insurance policies or go for a single policy, where several vehicles of any type are covered. Also called as motor fleet insurance, the latter one is a good option for companies having four or more commercial vehicles. However, the former option (individual insurance policy) is suitable for businesses with one or two vehicles. If your business has more than three vehicles, consider choosing motor fleet insurance. Here are its benefits.

Benefits over individual vehicle insurance policy

There are many benefits of fleet insurance policy over individual vehicle insurance. This policy simply ensures that each and every vehicle of the business is outlined in a single policy.

• Avoids the hassles of handling different insurance policies: Fleet insurance not only provides the benefit of covering all vehicles under a single policy, but also helps you stay away from the issues that arise while handling various insurance policies. You need not worry about the renewals of each and every individual policy of different vehicles. It is easy to handle fleet insurance - all vehicles will have single renewal date; single set of options and conditions; same process to claim, etc.

• Provides coverage for the insurer/driver: Many fleet insurance policies also cover the insurer/driver, which is a must have in today’s environment. Also there are cost implications to fleet vehicles with younger drivers. So, the premium rates may depend on the scope of the driving restrictions requested.

• Saves time and money: Motor fleet insurance provides major benefits in terms of money and time. Since many vehicles are covered in a single policy, the premium will certainly be less than the sum of individual insurance policy premiums. Since all vehicles are covered under one policy, you can save a lot of time on tracking and maintaining various policies.

Get better deals from reputed brokerage firms

It is always better to approach reputed insurance brokerage firms when planning to go for a motor fleet insurance. They will have contacts with many insurance companies that offer motor fleet insurance. Remember, not all companies offer motor fleet insurance. These brokerage firms compare the quotes from various companies that offer this insurance and tailor the policy to the needs of your business.

They also give professional advice on various aspects of this insurance like breakdown assistance insurance, comprehensive fleet rates, free legal expenses, windscreen insurance, third party fire and theft insurance, theft of keys, fire brigade charges and so on.

Having understood the benefits, it is wise to choose for a motor fleet insurance policy for your business. Depending on the requirement of your business, you should ensure adequate cover for your vehicles.