DATA analysis conducted by fleet and driver management expert, TTC, suggests that up to three million people who drive their privately owned vehicle for work – grey fleet drivers – could unintentionally be doing so with invalid insurance.

One in five grey fleet checks conducted by TTC fail, with nine in 10 of these failures due to lack of appropriate insurance cover for driving private vehicles for work purposes. With around 14 million people now choosing to use their privately owned vehicle for work instead of a company car, TTC’s data highlights that a significant number of these drivers and the businesses they work for, are neglecting their duty of care.

Business car insurance covers a private car driver to use their car for any work-related purposes, over and above commuting. This includes visiting clients, travelling to meetings or moving between sites.  It is the responsibility of the driver to ensure business insurance is in place.  In addition, throughout the UK, it is a legal requirement under the Health and Safety at Work Act for any grey fleet vehicle to be verified roadworthy and legal by the driver’s employer. Organisations must be able to evidence that their grey fleet employee holds a valid driving licence, business insurance, vehicle MOT and that the vehicle is taxed.

Jim Kirkwood, Chief Executive of TTC said: “While many businesses are following their duty of care and being responsible, a significant number are failing to do even the most basic checks on a regular basis.  And with the UK’s grey fleet on the rise post pandemic, it’s worrying that the one in five failure rate hasn’t improved since we first voiced our concerns back in 2014.

“There remains a fundamental need for companies to employ robust and efficient processes to manage driver compliance, and this includes ensuring their drivers are fully aware the responsibility to have adequate business insurance sits firmly with them personally.”

TTC helps businesses manage driver compliance, risk and learning through a simple-to-use, cloud-based platform that reduces the time and complexity of conducting and updating checks manually. It conducted close to 1 million checks last financial year, and more than 260,000 in the first quarter of this year, helping to protect its clients and their drivers from unnecessary risk while simultaneously freeing up resources to focus on the core business and fleet management requirements.