Driver profiling is a key factor to helping fleets cut their insurance costs, according to fleet management specialist Mercia.

Fleets with high levels of electric vehicles (EVs) on their books are likely to see lower accident levels, further boosting cost-saving on insurance.

At a time when many insurers have been increasing premiums across the board, with one well-known comparison website claiming that premiums have risen by 43% over the last 12 months, Mercia has been able to reduce a client’s insurance costs by up to 25%.

Mercia, the fleet management division of EV salary sacrifice specialist Fleet Evolution, worked with London-based broker, Konsileo Commercial Insurance, to analyse the results from a client’s 1,000-strong vehicle fleet, and was able to demonstrate that a number of best practice interventions were key to driving down insurance costs.

These included driver profiling and remedial behaviour training where appropriate, spatial awareness training for those involved in car park or kerbside incidents, licence checking and vehicle risk management and assessment.

The fleet analysed included a high number of EVs and on analysing the impact of such vehicles on accident statistics, Mercia and found that they were safer than combustion-engined equivalents with lower accident rates. While EV repair costs were slightly higher per vehicle, the lower rate of accidents meant that overall repair costs were lower.

Mercia put this down to the high levels of advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) typically found in the latest EVs, such as lane departure warning, lane assist, automatic emergency braking, forward collision warning, parking assistance and blind-spot monitoring.

Head of Mercia Fleet Management and founder of Fleet Evolution, Andrew Leech, said that the company had adopted an innovative approach when working with Konsileo. “(We looked at) the analysis cost-by-cost, to identify the interventions that were most likely to impact on the accident levels and repair costs on the fleet.

“High on the list of bes- practice interventions was AI-enhanced driver profiling using a traffic light and points-based system to identify the most at-risk drivers and to implement remedial training where appropriate.

“The carefully selected interventions across the fleet led to us securing a 25% reduction in insurance premiums – at a time when insurance costs generally are on the increase.”

Leech added that the interventions work for fleets of all sizes. “We would be happy to discuss with smaller clients how these processes and interventions can help them reduce the cost of their insurance premiums,” he said.