Claims service overtakes price as fleets prioritise operational resilience

Fleet operators are placing greater emphasis on insurers' ability to keep vehicles on the road, as downtime continues to drive up operational costs.

Research commissioned by Direct Commercial found that 72% of brokers now consider claims handling "business critical" when recommending commercial motor insurance, with service quality increasingly outweighing premium alone.

The shift reflects the growing recognition that the true cost of an incident extends well beyond the repair bill. Missed deliveries, replacement hire, overtime and customer disruption can quickly outweigh any saving made on the insurance premium itself.

As a result, insurers are increasingly investing in dedicated claims teams, digital claims tracking and repair networks that help fleets return vehicles to service more quickly.

For fleet managers, this also highlights the importance of measuring vehicle availability rather than simply recording downtime. Tracking repair duration, replacement vehicle usage and the causes of delays provides a clearer picture of operational performance and helps identify where claims processes, workshops or suppliers may be slowing recovery.

Insurance is increasingly becoming part of a fleet's wider resilience strategy rather than simply a financial safeguard.

Similar Stories

Back to blog