The TCO effect of ADAS

1. Consider the investment in lease cost to include ADAS features:

2. The repair cost which is substantially higher given the extra technology and more complex repair

Some repair types for parts which are equipped with these extra features have increased quite a bit.

We noticed as well that more parts are replaced then repaired and that this technology requires a recalibration in order to function properly when the vehicle is put on the road again. In the last 10 years, the average repair cost increased by 17%.

3. The knowledge and behaviour of the driver

Drivers often aren’t possessing the necessary knowledge or having the right expectation of the different systems present in their vehicle, which results benefits aren’t used to the full extend or create new dangers in case of over-relying.

Taking into account both positive & negative impacts we came to a ROI of 0.35 for direct costs. If you take into account indirect costs then the ROI will be even higher and potentially even neutral.

How can ADAS become financially beneficial?

Does this mean you shouldn’t add these safety features in your vehicles? Certainly not. However, for the time being and with the current state of maturity of ADAS, the human factor still has the greatest impact on safety and accident costs. Therefore, it is still most favorable to improve driving behavior.

There are a few actions you can take which will help you turn prevention programs into a financial benefit:

1. Deep dive into your damage statistics, which will create transparency in both circumstances in which most incidents happen as which drivers are provoking them
2. When having insight on the type of incidents you can install the most appropriate ADAS features.
3. For drivers with an increased risk, you can work out a safety program or support them in becoming a safer driver.
4. Create attention in your processes (eg. vehicle delivery) or in your safety communication to the functionality of ADAS in order to boost the drivers knowledge
5. ADAS features are becoming less expensive or are part of standard equipment of the vehicle. Control if some partners, like insurers, are giving support to these installations.

Next to the financial impact, the social impact is beyond any question positive. Avoiding physical injuries, human suffering due to accidents is priceless!

Further information and analysis of the TCO effect of ADAS

Fleet360, gave an expert session recently for a Link2Fleet session on TCO & driver impact of ADAS for fleet owners.  

Explore the findings:

Dutch Session

French Session

Any questions?

If your company would like assistance with making a business case for investing in ADAS systems starting from an analysis of your accident statistics, or more in general if you want to discuss the advantages and content of a bespoke safety or prevention program, please reach out to us for a chat.

The post The TCO effect of ADAS versus the TCO effect of prevention programs appeared first on Fleet360.

4 ADAS features have a major impact

• Automatic emergency braking system (AEB)
• Blind spot detection
• Lane assistance systems
• Automatic parking

In terms of the turnover potential in the repair workshop it appears four driver assistance systems have a clear impact on limiting car damage and for each of these ADAS the penetration rate has been projected with a low, high and realistic scenario.

Of all new cars sold in 2018, 45 percent were already equipped with an automatic emergency braking system (AEB) and without a mandatory requirement from the (European) government, around 90 percent of all new cars will have this system by 2030.

This results in 11 percent less damage and 5 percent less turnover. Blind spot detection and lane assistance systems each result in a 5 percent decrease in damage and a 1 percent decrease in sales, while automatic parking leads to a 5 percent decrease in damage and a 3 percent decrease in sales.

All this combined leads to an expected 23 percent decrease in the number of claims and 9 percent less turnover for workshops of repair shops.

Development of damage repair potential as a result of ADAS

Specialism

Repair or replacement of ADAS increasingly means that specialist knowledge and skills are required. This is because bumpers, grilles, car windows and other parts are equipped with sensors, radars and cameras that have to be readjusted and recalibrated after disassembly and assembly.

This also requires special equipment. The technology also has an effect on regular work, as (re) mounting a bumper or towbar, or installing a new windscreen, may already require calibration. As with the forecasted developments regarding electric cars, it is also important to delve into this matter with regard to the increase in ADAS for all body repair shops and car companies.

This BOVAG research helps to determine to what extent investments in training and equipment are required or which partnerships can be entered into to prepare for the near future.

Recognition & awareness

Incidentally, the study shows that many drivers aren’t even aware of the presence of driver assistance systems in their vehicle. ADAS are used by many car manufacturers as a marketing tool with their own names, which does not benefit recognisability and unambiguity.

An emergency braking system is called “Active City Braking” by one brand and may be called “Front Assist”, “Active City Stop” or “Automatic Emergency Braking” by others, with different abbreviations and icons being actively promoted.

The systems work largely identically, but can deviate on crucial elements. One system, for example, only slows down, while the other comes to a complete stop if necessary. However, the driver must be able to recognise such safety systems in any car and trust that they function the same. By creating a standard, the driver does not have to read in every time.

Conclusion

• In the short-term ADAS has barely impacted on turnover, maintenance and repair
• ADAS does lead to less damage and vehicle repair costs
• Driver knowledge is & will be key to structurally reduce cost

Further information and analysis

Fleet360, gave an expert session recently for a Link2Fleet session on TCO & driver impact of ADAS for fleet owners.  

Explore the findings:

Dutch Session

French Session

Any questions?

If your company would like assistance with making a business case for investing in ADAS systems starting from an analysis of your accident statistics, or more in general if you want to discuss the advantages and content of a bespoke safety or prevention program, please reach out to us for a chat.

The post The Impact of ADAS on vehicle repair costs appeared first on Fleet360.

This reduction in mileage has an immediate impact on some operational costs, the most visible being fuel cost but also the maintenance and tires components are influenced. When all your employees are driving less mileage, the risk on incidents will also decrease substantially.

What is the impact on insurance spend?

Companies which are traditionally insured, ie. fully covered with an ‘own contribution’ in case of an accident, will see a decrease in their accident contributions. But companies which are bearing a larger part of the risk themselves (eg. stoploss, self insured for casco cover) will have a much bigger profit than companies in the first situation were the insurer is benefiting most of the reduced risk.

Which actions can we take to pay for our real use or share profits of this windfall?

If you have vehicles which won’t be used for a longer period, you can consider suspending the insurance. For this you need an official approval of your insurer and you need to take into account certain obligations, like that you need to park them on a sealed parking lot and declare that these vehicles under no circumstances will be used.

If your insurer or lease company didn’t pro-actively contact you with a proposition you can reach out to them in order agree on a profit share on this reduction in risk. For these 2 months we are talking about +/- 17% of your premium payment. This can be higher if the vehicle use will remain low in the coming months. Consider next to the obvious covers MTPL and Casco also you legal aid, driver insurance and road assistance.

Steven Mertens

The profit share itself can be executed in many ways:

• It can be allocated a one-off refund on this years premium
• It can be part of next years premium which will operationally have less impact for the insurer
• It can even be an investment in prevention – this will guarantee an even longer benefit than only this insurance period

For a longer term benefit we advise companies to re-assess their risk position at the next renewal date and consider the medium to long-term impact of this crisis on your fleet. If we all will work more from home more, the mileage will structurally decrease compared to previous years and also, your fleet size might vary.

The re-assessment can be under the form of a change in risk position, whether an increased deductible on own damage or a change of the insurance structure, for instance a stop loss. It is also a good idea to include profit share in your insurance policy, in that way you are sure of benefiting financially when accident costs would fall. 

When performing this exercise, it is always good practice to invest in the safety of your drivers. By doing so you will be able to perpetuate your improved loss statistic and take care of the safety of your employees on the road.

ANY QUESTIONS?

If your company would like guidance in making a business case for the optimal insurance set up, or if you want to discuss the advantages and content of a bespoke safety or prevention program, please reach out to us for a chat.

The post Can I reduce insurance spend during COVID-19? appeared first on Fleet360.

In some markets, like the Netherlands, the last few years have been characterised by intense competition and waning profitability, forcing some companies to transform their operations or to stop operating in those markets. 

A wide range of regulatory, risk and economic factors determine insurers’ calculations of premiums. Premiums are set in proportion to expected risks and need to cover not just expected claims but also operational and administrative costs and other obligations. All these factors differ widely from one country to another, which explains the varying levels of average premium across Europe. 

Due to that variation in average premium volume per country, there is also a difference in the appetite of the insurers per country. But in the larger EU markets, like Germany, UK, Portugal, Sweden, Belgium premium insurance rates are increasing between 5-10% and in France, Spain and the Netherlands above 10%. Next to premium rates the acceptance process applied by the insurers becomes more strict, as well as the limits & level of deductibles. 

Only for Italy, Ireland, Norway and some Nordic countries the premium rates remain more or less stable. 

Therefore corporate fleets should create insight in their insurance portfolio. By this we mean not only premium payments, but also damage statistics and coverage over the past years. This will be the basis to analyse if the insurance structure is the most appropriate one, if the premium rates per individual cover are acceptable and last but certainly not least how accident cost & frequency are evolving.  

Transparency in accident statistics will also allow to take the appropriate in measures in terms of prevention, both to the equipment as towards the ‘individual’ driver.  

Ultimately this will be the driving factor to ensure that your insurance cost will be the same in the future. 

Fleet360 can help by creating the necessary transparency in order to ensure an appropriate coverage at the best possible conditions. We do this based on a potential assessment, which is a unique method of giving a quick and comprehensive insight into the potential of clients motor insurance, enriched with our benchmark data.  

Once the program is installed we provide a dashboard reporting to monitor all key components to maintain the benefit towards the future, as well as the set up of prevention program to create a safety culture within the company. 

Contact us for more information and a discussion on how we can help you with your insurance set up. 

Installing the appropriate insurance structure and monitoring your insurance spend saves you both on premium rates and taxes. During an assessment we typically identify potential savings for our customers of over €100 – per vehicle per year. Insurance spend can be further driven down by actively working on prevention. Take control of your rising fleet insurance rates!

Steven Mertens

The post Motor fleet insurance rates are rising in Europe appeared first on Fleet360.

People who don’t want a device in their car are probably also bad drivers. They therefore pay a higher premium.

We are talking about the black box in cars that records how and sometimes where you drive. Not everyone has to drive around with such a black box, however, those that do have an immediate advantage. This makes it clear that the current insurance discussion revolves around the use of behavioral data. This helps inform insurers about the relative risk a driver poses.

So, will we soon be paying our insurance policies with our privacy? How far do we let insurers have access to our daily patterns? Big data is also a key topic in the insurance industry. It opens doors, but also involves risks and touches on fundamental privacy principles.

What data are insurers interested in? And what is it used for?

Historically, insurers are actually big data users “avant la lettre”. They have a huge internal databases containing historical data. For example, the number and nature of claims or information that the insured themselves entrust to insurers. Moreover, this data is becoming ever finer and more precise. For example, the location of a car accident can be determined more accurately.

In addition to the so-called internal data, insurers increasingly have so-called external data. Open data from governments or universities about specific studies, but also more and more online data such as web browsing behaviour, internet searches, apps or data from social media.

At present, insurers use big data analysis primarily in the context of risk management and that is only on the basis of internal data. But “big data” analysis is also used in the context of profiling for direct marketing, determining risks and linked pricing and for example to estimate the cost of certain repairs.

For a long time, the risk was determined on the basis of statistical models. Big data analysis makes risk assessment and therefore pricing more and more precise. In the long term, premiums can even be fully individualised. Insurers will use big data analysis in the future for personalisation of insurance premiums, in the understanding that the principle of solidarity must remain the starting point of any insurance policy.

Specialised car insurance is already being offered for young people. If they install a black box in their car, they can get up to 50% off on their premium. In this way they can bring the price of their insurance to the level of a normal driver.

Steven Mertens

As a result of this though, there is increasing concern about privacy. Now, the right on privacy remains respected, as everyone will have the choice to share data in exchange for certain benefits. If someone chooses not to do so, they can still get an insurance. The only sacrifice are the benefits and discounts. The European regulation, which entered into force in 2018, are clear. The data that you share as an individual is your property, and you can decide for yourself what happens to this data.

Behaviour coach

It is also possible to control driving behavior via certain applications.

Stimulating behavior that limits risks is not new. For example the bonus-malus system used by the insurers has been around for decades. Insurers see positive stimulation of good risk behavior as part of their assignment. Studies also show that more and more people are open to this if it gives them an advantage.

Fleet360 also believes in measuring, increasing awareness and adjusting driving behaviour. By doing this it is important to reward drivers who evolve positively. In this way it becomes a win-win situation, the driver takes advantage but also the company, for its part it will see the claims and claim cost decrease and it will meet its CSR obligation.

In addition to insurance reviews, Fleet360 also offers fully integrated prevention programs to its customers, including communication programs, a driver application app to help measure indicators and driving patterns (including the ability to drive EV) and e-learning modules for desktop training.

The verdict

Technology is all around us, our smartphones, in vehicles and on our wrists. The impact of it all is inevitable. Suppliers will tailor their offering and reward good behaviour. So, as a driver you can embrace these changes and ultimately benefit from them. For example better driving whilst commuting or smarter mobility will enable you to benefit both financial and physically.

Steven Mertens

Contact us for more information and a discussion on how we can tailor your safety and prevention program.

The post What are your thoughts on vehicle insurance and privacy? appeared first on Fleet360.

Self driving vehicles should reduce the number of accidents. The sensors that are already present in cars today provide extra ears and eyes and contribute to safer traffic. In a further evolution, cars will also communicate with each other. They will drive closer together and determine the distance to their vehicle ahead. Thanks to the direct interaction and exchange of information between vehicles, road signalling and the traffic lights drivers or the vehicles themselves will be able to anticipate traffic situations in time.

In a transition phase, in which both the safe autonomous driving vehicles will have to share the traffic with the unpredictable, unsafe human drivers, it is taken into account that this will mean an increase in the number of accidents.

In addition, the perception of the self-driving vehicle is much wider, and its responsiveness is immensely faster. Automated response to an event is within 0.00001s, while a normal driver needs 0.5s to respond.

In terms of numbers, parking damage is the most common, but they will almost disappear because vehicles will park themselves on sensors at pre-designated locations. In a next phase in which we will migrate to predominantly car sharing forms, the need for parking will drastically reduce because vehicles will be constantly in use.

Along with the expected fall in the number of accidents, the number of serious accidents will hopefully also fall. If the fall in the number of (major) accidents is realised, it would not only lead to a fall in the number of victims, but possibly also in the average insurance premium.

The self-driving vehicle will also follow the legal requirements of the road code more accurately and the on and off board technology and connections with the various systems will make it easier for the police to detect possible traffic violations and to intervene. This will, for example, drastically reduce the number of disputes that are currently settled through the legal assistance insurer’s.

Sensors that are installed in all vehicles may have also secondary applications – such as improvement of weather forecasts, detection and prevention of crime, detection of fugitives, infrastructure conditions (such as damaged road surfaces). This data is then sent to the various companies who can then take faster and more targeted action to increase driver safety.

On the other hand, it should be kept in mind that the average cost per claim is likely to be higher than it is today in terms of repairing material damage as a result of the expensive technology that is present in the bumpers, bodywork, headlights, the dashboard etc.

What are the Autonomous driving levels 0 to 5?

Level 1: This driver-assistance level means that most functions are still controlled by the driver, but a specific function (like steering or accelerating) can be done automatically by the car.

Level 2: In level 2, at least one driver assistance system of “both steering and acceleration/ deceleration using information about the driving environment” is automated, like cruise control and lane-centering. It means that the “driver is disengaged from physically operating the vehicle by having his or her hands off the steering wheel AND foot off pedal at the same time. The driver must still always be ready to take control of the vehicle, however.

Level 3: Drivers are still necessary in level 3 cars, but are able to completely shift “safety-critical functions” to the vehicle, under certain traffic or environmental conditions. It means that the driver is still present and will intervene if necessary, but is not required to monitor the situation in the same way it does for the previous levels.

Level 4: This is what is meant by “fully autonomous.” Level 4 vehicles are designed to perform all safety-critical driving functions and monitor roadway conditions for an entire trip. However, it’s important to note that this is limited to the “operational design domain (ODD)” of the vehicle—meaning it does not cover every driving scenario.

Level 5: This refers to a fully-autonomous system that expects the vehicle’s performance to equal that of a human driver, in every driving scenario—including extreme environments like dirt roads that are unlikely to be navigated by driverless vehicles in the near future.

Self driving vehicles are linked to alternative powertrains and require strong and well established communication lines and a safety culture to fully embrace the benefits. Are you ready for this? How can we help you?

Hans Damen

The post How will your company prepare for self driving vehicles? appeared first on Fleet360.

Electrification, driver mobility and rising insurance costs have all been on the agenda. Whilst at the same time, fleet cost reduction continues to be the umbrella covering most national and international fleets of all sizes.

Understanding how the inner mechanics of your fleet policy work can have a significant impact on its efficiency and future suitability for the changing requirements. Fleet insights are therefore key to measuring and comparing your current policies to best practice within your sector and the wider fleet market.

However, are you fully aware of these details? Do you really have full grasp of your contracts that may have remained unchanged for years?

This is where our fleet insights programme can help.

You can now carry out a review of your current ‘AS IS’ situation to see how things stack up now without the need for a full blown tender. The current fleet Insights programme consists of the following:

Risk & Safety INSIGHTS

Having a driver care programme in place can significantly reduce your fleet costs.
Our programme will analyse the history of your fleet activity to identify trends of driver accident rates, and fuel usage. We analyse driver behaviour, the vehicle and the journey to help establish a safety culture to help reduce driver risk and ultimately reduce fleet costs. VIEW IN SHOP

Fleet Insurance INSIGHTS

Fleet Insurance premiums are on the rise and for most companies it is not clear as to why this is the case.
Our DNA of transparency runs through our Fleet Insurance product. Being truly independent, we benchmark your current terms and conditions, your claims cost and accident statistics to uncover where significant savings can be made. VIEW IN SHOP

PowerTrain INSIGHTS

Disruptive times can create a lot of questions for you an your company.
We can help you benchmark your fleet against market trends and peer thinking. We will provide you with a roadmap to implement the correct powertrains in your fleet aligned to your mobility needs and corporate culture. VIEW IN SHOP

Contract INSIGHTS

Are you getting the best out of your supplier contracts?
Our legal counsel offers a unique combination of in-depth international legal expertise while applying a thorough know-how and experience on integrating mandatory corporate general standard terms and conditions. As these general terms and conditions are typically designed to cover all sourcing and supplier relationships, it is challenging to integrate them with your fleet management and leasing supply chain. We can help you to review existing contracts and provide support to align your organisation current best practices. VIEW IN SHOP

Policy INSIGHTS

Are you getting the best out of your international policy framework?
Our Fleet Policy programme helps those responsible for fleet to build an international policy and setting up a framework with a national appendices structure. We will check for completeness and a detailed benchmark of current regulations versus market standards.We can help you to review existing policies and provide support to align your organisation with current best practices. VIEW IN SHOP

We are running a launch promotion.
Get 20% off any of our INSIGHTS *

Get in touch for a voucher code

PROMOTION ENDS 31.12.2018.

* Offer valid on online purchases made before 31.12.2018. To redeem , an online promotion code must be entered at checkout and is valid for one-time use only. This offer is not redeemable for cash or gift cards, nor is it valid toward previous purchases. Offer may not be combined with any other coupons, discounts, offers, or promotions. Void if altered, copied, transferred, auctioned or sold. Offer valid on INSIGHTS items items only. Other restrictions may apply.

The post The true value of fleet INSIGHTS appeared first on Fleet360.

According to the article published by a leading Insurer, damage repair cost on electric vehicles are approximately 25% higher than cars with internal combustion engines. There are several reasons for the considerable difference in repair costs. One has to do with the vehicle construction.

Expensive consequences of design

One example is the location of the plug-in connection that impacts repair cost. Typically these are located on the front or back and therefore are susceptible to damage in minor collisions. A second shortcoming is the location of the battery. In many cases the battery packs need replacing even in minor collisions which yields a relatively high invoice. Supply and demand is also a factor when considering  the repair expertise that is need. EV repair specialists are currently in short supply and only a limited number of garages have the knowledge and resources to carry out EV repair work. The result: a money-consuming move to the nearest address that is adequately equipped.

EV Accidents

Data analysis shows that EV’s are significantly less involved in accidents: around 25%. There wasn’t a ready-made answer to the question why. Is it because this new category of vehicles is proportionately equipped with more safety and driving assistance systems? Or is it more about the limited use of these vehicles, often as a second car, with a modest radius of action and therefore fewer kilometres on the road surface?

Our observations and questions

On inquiry, a number of large repair chains in Belgium and the Netherlands indicated that repairs to electric vehicles on average are around 30% more expensive. The share of non-standardised work (described in Informex) has seen a rising trend in recent years, where there was a sharp decline for vehicles with a combustion engine. The average cost also showed an increase during the same period, because of a few factors:

• such as a higher degree of specialisation that is required
• infrastructure adjustments
• expensive training
• longer lead times due to the exclusivity of parts

However, it was indicated that these findings should be taken with a pinch of salt, since the share of electric vehicle repairs represents still a very limited proportion of the total.

Though EV repair costs are currently higher than these for similar repairs on vehicles with a combustion engine, the total damage cost for EV’s isn’t necessarily much higher. It is our own 115.000 km experience in an EV that can confirm that users are planning their trip more thought out and driving in a more defensive manner which makes EV’s less involved in incidents. Furthermore, due to the regenerative braking and the energy saving of that, EV drivers tend to be more pro-active in traffic. Next to that we estimate that repair cost will go down once more EV vehicles are on the road and the volume of repairs will be more substantial.

This topic underlines again the importance for fleet owners to have transparency in their insurance spend, claim cost and risk profiles of drivers.
Fleet360 is consistently saving 10 to 25% on insurance spend for our clients.

Get in contact for a chat.

The post Electric Vehicles and damage repair cost appeared first on Fleet360.

Hans Damen provides an overview as to why choosing the right insurance is such a hot topic for multi-nationals.

Learn more in Insurance.

The post Choosing the right Insurance appeared first on Fleet360.