Nigel Grainger brings together a related set of skills that all fleets require, to greater or lesser
degrees, but which may not have the staffing or the skills to fulfil those needs.
Bringing his wealth of experience in all areas of fleet management he offers a bespoke service through his company Fleet Risk Consultants, providing you with a cost effective fleet that complies fully with your 'duty of care' requirements.Potential Pitfalls When Hiring Vehicles
Chris Lodge of ASB-Aspire has put together this article that we feel you will find useful.
Be very careful what you sign up to if end up in a hired or “courtesy” vehicle whether on a credit hire basis or if provided by your own insurers.
Many hire companies will attempt to sell completely unnecessary “insurance” which you do not have on your own vehicle and frequently cannot therefore be recovered from a negligent third party.
A typical example is an additional daily payment which provides for a waiver of an excess. This may be dressed up with various different names but in reality if your company has a policy excess of say £500.00 and the same excess would apply the vehicle hired, why would you suddenly take out an “insurance” to cover you for this payment usually an excessive daily rate?
Technically, this is not an insurance policy, merely an additional daily rate to reduce the cost to you if the vehicle is returned damaged.
Hire companies often use a very low basic daily rate but by the time you have added additional drivers and other “benefits” the daily rate can look very different – and frequently there is no legal expenses insurance included.
In the commercial sector, several hire companies charge a daily rate for Road Fund Tax (the RFT fee -usually just over £1.00 per day) but often the other driver’s insurers will refuse to pay this whereas if the daily had been slightly higher but had incorporated the RFT fee, there would be no problem. So it is preferable to use a company that charges an incorporated RFT element.
If the vehicle is being supplied on a credit hire basis, check out what liabilities you may have if the credit hire company cannot recover the full amount of the invoice. Many credit hire companies will include an insurance so that you are ultimately covered against any personal liability in these circumstances and this is a very reassuring benefit.
When recovering hire charges for companies, we often find that there is a refuelling charge added and quite legitimately. Most hire contracts provide that the vehicle must be returned with a full tank of fuel. If the hire company has to fill it up, the cost per litre is likely to be very much higher than if your driver had bothered to fill up just before returning the vehicle.
So before you or your employee signs on the dotted line (having provided a credit card), look closely at the charges your company may end up paying and tell your employees to check with you first if they are in doubt and to act responsibly when hiring.”
Nigel Grainger
Senior Consultant