By: 11 February 2015
Abuse of corporate insurance policies is on the rise, says APU

Drivers are routinely abusing corporate insurance policies by incorrectly accepting responsibility for accidents, because they wrongly think their personal No Claims Bonus will not be affected.

The accusation has come from anti-motor fraud specialist, Asset Protection Unit (APU), which has found an increasing number of erroneous insurance claims through its use of telematics, accident reconstruction technology and forensic techniques.

The trend is believed to result from either a lack of awareness or the desire for financial gain. APU says that either way, it results in corporate insurance premiums increasing.

In a recent APU case, six personal injury claims topping a total of £32k were dismissed after a telematics device installed by APU’s sister company In-Car Cleverness, contradicted the driver’s account of the accident. The device was installed on the car of the individual who claimed fault for the accident. The collision, between two vehicles rounding a bend in Widnes, resulted in multiple personal injury claims involving all drivers and passengers.

However, intervention by APU, which analysed the vehicle’s telematics data, enabled the insurer to refute the claims.

Neil Thomas, director of Investigative Services at APU, said: “After an accident, determining fault is often complex and is reliant on the drivers’ versions of events. Any business with a fleet of vehicles knows how hard it is to keep its drivers safe, avoid accident disputes and prevent an often large insurance premium from rocketing.

“Fleet drivers, by their very nature, are most likely to be working and pushed for time when accidents happen on the road, so they are perhaps even more likely to admit fault quickly in order to get on with their day.

“But if they are doing so believing that it won’t impact on their personal insurance, they are sadly wrong and will be in for a big shock when they come to renew.”

“Some drivers simply don’t know that accepting liability on their corporate policy usually hits their own private insurance. Others, unfortunately, accept liability if there is a cash incentive to do so,” added Thomas.