The accident season is here with three months of high risk

According to statistics we’ve gathered (over nearly 20 years of managing fleet accidents), your fleet drivers have a 20% increased chance of having an accident in the next 3 months compared to the rest of the year.

This begs the following three important questions:

1. Which drivers are most likely to have a problem?
2. Why do we know (for a fact) that those are the drivers most at risk?
3. What can we do to minimise the likelihood of an incident occurring?

Our research also indicates that:

• less than 20% of fleets use claims statistics when planning a driver training program
• less than 50% of fleets that have Telematics actually use the data to help reduce accidents
• less than 10% of fleets know whether drivers who had training went on the be involved in an accident

The truth is that implementing fleet risk tools is easy

but using risk data to reduce accident frequency is not.

If, like most fleets, you want to see results in terms of reduced accident costs (both insured and uninsured) and better safety for drivers, then the management of your fleet risk program needs time, systems and experience.

Talking the safety talk is easy if you know your onions whereas walking the safety walk is rather more difficult and many fleets are only just realising there are actually 2 stages to success in this area.

If you’d like the full story……and a happy ending then call RVM Assist on 0113 224 8800 or go to our website for more information, www.rvmassist.co.uk




At RVM our integrated approach allows us to help fleets to implement effective safety policies, analyse trends and identify high risk drivers. Our Driver Training program is targeted, timely and appropriate.  The result is lower accident rates, improved driver safety, and reduced costs

 

“Fleet risk strategy …… how to see the wood for the trees”

"So how am I supposed to pull all this fleet risk data together and come to some sensible conclusions when I have all these other fleet responsibilities to deal with?"

The feedback we get from fleets is sometimes relating to ‘why invest in Risk management’, but more usually it’s about lack of resources – not just time resources but also expertise in deciding what’s the best course of action.

Of course, it’s easy to outsource claims, licence checking, telematics, driver training and online assessments BUT fleets don’t always realise they are creating a monster in so doing.

The reasons are as follows:

·         Risk data starts pouring in via portals, emails and hard copy reports

·         The data comes in at different times of the year and in different formats

·         It’s not always clear what the data is trying to say so analysing it is time-consuming

·         How to decide what represents a high risk and what should be done about it, is a problem

·         Having dealt with high risk drivers, how do you make sure the action taken, has worked?

Managers with fleet responsibilities usually have other functions to perform so it is not easy to find time to bring all of these Fleet Risk elements together in a way that maximises their effectiveness.

Indeed, very often the three departments of Fleet, HR and Health & Safety will take responsibility for different elements of the road risk program, which further complicates the harmonising of data and often results in missed opportunities to reduce risk.

So, apart from lack of time, internal risk expertise and departmental structure issues, most fleets also lack the other key element to make a risk program successful and that is a satisfactory electronic receptacle into which they can deposit all the risk data and also check that none of it exceeds the organisation’s minimum risk levels.

The net result of all these hurdles for a fleet is that risks get overlooked, which is not only dangerous, it risks the fleet becoming guilty of ‘willful blindness’. Furthermore, some fleets actually choose to turn a blind eye to high risk data because even if they know what to do about it – they often don’t have the time or resources to resolve it!

This is where the outsourced risk management industry is able to lend a hand in planning a program that is fit-for-purpose in terms of available budget and program objectives.

At RVM we build tailored risk management programs for fleets based on what priorities the fleet has identified.  These range from the very simple to the most complex depending on fleet profile, what needs outsourcing and what stage of the risk journey the fleet is currently at.

We work on raising safety culture levels within a driving population and by offering a supportive approach to improving drivers’ skill, habits and on-road behaviour. 

The upside is that by choosing an approach that is designed to seek and iron out bad driving habits, a fleet will gain the support of its drivers, which in turn means its high risks can be identified and worked upon. 

Additionally, this will show that a duty of care exists and a better claims record will follow.  Insurance costs will come down and driving safety becomes second nature and integral to the driving culture. Wilful blindness won’t be possible and won’t therefore be a threat.

In our experience, when a fleet chooses to invest in our approach, it wants a positive and tangible benefit in return and this is why, at RVM, our efforts are focused on our mission to reduce accident frequency. 

So don’t choose to rely on lady luck when you renew your fleet insurance policy. Take a more positive view by controlling fleet risk with RVM as your guide and partner. Learn more about what options are open to you and at what cost by calling RVM on 0113 224 8800 or contact us here or e-mail us on risk@rvmassist.co.uk

At RVM Assist Ltd our integrated approach allows us to help fleets to implement effective safety policies, analyse trends and identify high risk drivers. Our Driver Training program is targeted, timely and appropriate.  The result is lower accident rates, improved driver safety, and reduced costs.

Driver Incentives v Disincentives as Tools for Accident Reduction

Many fleets will support an accident reduction strategy with either driver incentive schemes or penalties for failing to meet new targets.  So just how effective are such measures in reducing claims and which approach works best?

A Policy for Dishonesty?

Incentives and disincentives can both have the effect of driving claims underground if they are too heavy-handed. By financially rewarding collision free driving you may encourage drivers to stop reporting small bumps. Drivers who face financial penalties for accident claims are arguably even more likely to withhold information.

Carrots and Sticks

The decision fleets must make is whether their drivers will be more likely to abide by culture change and act on the knowledge gained through training if there is a carrot in front of them or a stick behind. At RVM we believe carrots often have a greater influence on driver behaviour because they accentuate the positive but we also know that to be truly effective drivers need to understand why they are being incentivised. Once they grasp the business reasons and safety benefits of accident reduction they will be motivated by more than just the short term prize.

The Right Carrot

Like all incentives, driver rewards must be meaningful or they will simply be ignored. Popular incentives include cash bonuses, vouchers, eligibility for a vehicle upgrade or just recognition of good behaviour with the potential for a “driver of the year” badge of honour. In many cases, introducing an element of competition amongst employees can work extremely well and most fleets find that longer term goals are more successful and make it easier to measure improvements over time.

Act Now

Driver incentives not only help to set a pattern of positive behaviour, they also encourage employees to see improvement as a goal and to share their successes with one another. This in itself helps to perpetuate good driving principles. However, incentive schemes need to be designed to fit the fleet and whereas a leader table may work in a fleet where all drivers perform similar roles, other organisations may need a different system with rewards designed to match specific roles or achievements.

Click here if you need help designing an incentive scheme for your fleet?  

or Call RVM today on 0113224 8888 to discuss in more detail.

Why Accident Causation is key to Fleet Risk Reduction

Most organisations understand the value of fleet risk reduction initiatives and how they can generate quantifiable results.

The Benefits of including Claims

An enduring risk reduction strategy relies on regular analysis and review of data that comes from all aspects of road risk, including claims.  Many fleets look at licence check results and online assessment results for clues as to how to proceed but often miss an important ingredient - a real understanding of claim causation.

A short-sighted risk reduction strategy omits to really understand why accidents happen and key objectives may fall short as a result.  Equally, where a company’s internal procedures may be having an influence on accident rates, risk reduction initiatives will have only a limited effect.

By studying the causes of claims within a fleet it is possible to identify the most common incident types which, in turn, will lead to decisions about the changes that need to be made to reduce accident frequency.

These changes could include training but they may also require a rethink on other things such as car park geography (if this is where most minor incidents are occurring) or journey planning for drivers, for instance.

Of course, accidents occur throughout the year, which means information is accumulating to form trends and exceptions. So once a fleet includes accidents within the scope of risk management, we need to take a longer-term view.

The Long Term View

A difficult message to get across is the importance of a longer term view of risk management as many fleets see the process as having an end date.  In truth, drivers need a constant drip-feed of the safety message and management need to make sure future changes to company policies do not impact road safety negatively.

If a fleet operator has ticked all the safety boxes by implementing a broad risk reduction scheme, management may assume the job is done and then implement operational changes that undo all that good work.  Logically, a short term fix does not apply to safety culture change.  Such a broad-reaching and long-term objective takes time; it is fragile and can be quickly and easily undone.

From our research, fleets are good at fixing one-off problems but not so good at consistently applying long-term changes.  Equally, when under pressure, a reaction to an immediate business need will cause safety to slip down the priority list.

As a result, specialist help from an outsourced supplier (that is only focused on reducing accident frequency and cost) may be the way to achieve the long term view.

How RVM Can Help

RVM’s expertise in fleet accident management led to the development of our all-encompassing road risk management programme: Full Circle. 

The reason an inclusive solution is better for fleets is because it is simpler, cheaper and more accountable because all the data is in one place via one portal controlled by one team on one number under one contract and for just one monthly payment.

Working in response to client feedback, Full Circle from RVM represents an outsourced and packaged solution that facilitates consistent and long-term action directly with drivers.

Outsourcing all aspects of risk to one supplier also solves other fleet challenges such as:

• Assessing risk data from several suppliers or sources
•  Setting fleet-wide risk tolerance policies
•  Monitoring the success of risk reduction measures
•  Measuring results against agreed safety policy objectives

Full Circle integrates the principal elements of a road risk program including:

• Driver profiling 
• Driver training
• Licence checking 
• Grey fleet monitoring 
•  Accident management

Not only does this integrated approach allow a fleet to refine its risk reduction policies in line with internal and external influencing factors but it uses accident management as a tool to refine risk tactics as well as to prove if those tactics are working or not.

Permanently Lower Your Fleet’s Risk - Enquire now about Full Circle with RVM Fleet Services

To pay a fee or not to pay a fee? In fleet accident management, that is the question.

Outsourced fleet accident management has been available as an alternative to in-house and Insurer claims departments for nearly thirty years. The industry prevails for many reasons but now exists in different forms and with different interests.

In theory the service should be tuned according to the fleet’s priorities, provide more transparency (with which better decisions can be made) and also save everyone both time and money. In practice, the service is very often inflexible, income streams are hidden and the scheme is not set up to add value along the whole chain.

Furthermore, fleets who buy the service need to be aware of the fundamental differences that exist between a zero fee scheme and one in which the scale of the income receiveable by the service provider is both known and controlled.

Levels of transparency 

In the case where a fleet chooses to pay a fee for fleet accident management, it is reasonable to expect the service provider to really focus on lowering the cost and frequency of claims. This is because rebates and commissions paid to the service provider (in exchange for volume) can be set at a level that will not inflate the charges made.

Objectives can thus be aligned and both supplier and customer are pulling in the same direction. In the case where a fleet chooses a zero fee scheme, the principle of deriving income from sub-contractors is understood although very often the scope and scale of that income is not.

Of course, the fleet also has less room to complain about charge levels if the scheme is ostensibly ‘free’. The issue here is that very often there are no constraining factors on the scale of commission paid because it is hidden in a contract between the accident management provider and its sub-contractor and by consequence the more claims-related transactions there are, the more income is available.

Potentially, in this instance, objectives are therefore not aligned and conflict emerges as the service provider seeks income and the fleet seeks savings.

Warning Signs 

Sadly, not all fleet accident management providers offer the same transparency and service as we do. One of the greatest challenges for fleet managers is in understanding how and why this might impact them. First let's tackle the anwer to "why".

For most fleets no news is regarded as good news. In other words if the scheme doesn't create complaints and requires little intervention, most fleets regard it as a success. This is despite the fact behind the scenes the scheme may be out of control. That brings us neatly to "how" lack of transparency can impact a fleet.

The following points should provide food for thought:

• Recently we wrote an article on the importance of measuring average repair cost which suggested that, as a metric, a fleet could use it to identify if your choice of accident management supplier was wise.

• Other visible indicators might include how flexible your supplier is in choosing sub-contractors (such as repairers, hire companies, solicitors and recovery agents).

• Clearly management information is useful when examining how the fleet ‘behaves’ but claims reports are often quite poor in showing how the supplier (and its sub-contractors) has ‘behaved’.

• Does the fleet enjoy the benefit of co-operation between its Insurer and its accident management supplier? If these parties are frustrating each other then the only loser is the fleet itself – as premiums rise.

• Fleets expect their supplier to recover uninsured losses where there appears to be an opportunity to do so. Lack of transparency could be shrouding poor performance in establishing liability, lack of assertive recovery techniques or indeed slow reimbursement of cash to the fleet.

Zero Fee Mechanisms 

The points above make for grim reading for those fleets that enjoy a zero fee arrangement but are not sure if that benefit creates an unacceptable compromise in terms of what they end up paying. Here at RVM we understand how and why the zero fee mechanism has flourished and we appreciate that fleet managers need options if there’s no budget for fees but still a need for the service.

Due to lack of transparency, fleets go into zero fee arrangements thinking rebates and commissions payable to the service provider will be set at levels that simply compensate for the lack of a fee. In reality the income represents a level of compensation that may go well beyond that.

Nobody wants nasty surprises in business because it means someone should have known what was happening and therefore the fall-out from it is usually serious. For that reason, we believe true transparency is mandatory if your goal (as an accident management provider) is long-term contracts with fleets who value the benefit of knowing exactly what’s going on. Ethical business practice is the cornerstone of our organisation.

How transparent is your accident management service? Contact us for an evaluation.