LIVE and work in the South East? Finding that your dealer fleet is getting damaged regularly?
Well, according to insights by motor industry software specialist DCML, you’re not alone, as in the period 2008-2013, a quarter of all claims for dealer fleets were in the South East.
With the average claim totalling £2,972.03 for damage to their own fleet vehicles and third party costs.
The South East’s high incident quota was followed closely by London, with 21% of claims made by garages in the capital. Incidents involving London’s dealer fleet cars were costlier than those in the South East, as London dealers claimed an average of £3,455.74 for incidents involving their fleets.
Putting trade insurance policies under threat, the most expensive average claims recorded were in the South West. On average, £2,051.40 was claimed for damages to dealer vehicles and a staggering figure of £5,915.79 was paid on average in third party claims.
Statistics from DCML’s database of over 1,000 dealers show that unsupervised courtesy vehicles take more frequent knocks than demonstrators, with service departments filing almost two thirds of reported damages compared to just one in six claims made by sales departments.
Of the four different departments, the highest average claim was made against bodyshop courtesy cars, with all claims including those for damage to their own vehicles and third party costs averaging £2,539.93.
Vince Powell, Managing Director of DCML commented: “It is important that dealers are fully aware of factors that may influence the number of incidents that take place, and the subsequent impact this has on their own motor trade insurance policy. Insurance costs can easily spiral when claims mount up.
“By identifying the concentration of claims, we hope to remind dealers that this is a significant and sometimes business critical issue. Anything that can be done to minimise risk and ensure demonstrator and courtesy cars remain a profitable part of the business should be considered, including offering a day-rate insurance option to courtesy car users, which we can provide as part of the Dealer Car Manager software package.”
