Lately we have experienced claims coming in whereby staff have driven client’s company vehicles without permission only to damage or worse still, write off the vehicle whilst under the influence or without possession of a license.
In terms of your policy, in order for cover to prevail to you must prove to the insurer that in the normal course of their business that they have procedures in place to ensure only licensed drivers are permitted to drive the insured vehicles. If you do not have procedures in place then there is no cover in terms of the motor policy.
We need to reiterate the huge importance in avoiding this situation. The Insured needs to make sure that unlicensed staff members are not able to gain access to these vehicles for this very reason. Insurers will not pay out claims resulting in incidents like this.
Some suggested procedures could be:
In terms of your policy, in order for cover to prevail to you must prove to the insurer that in the normal course of their business that they have procedures in place to ensure only licensed drivers are permitted to drive the insured vehicles. If you do not have procedures in place then there is no cover in terms of the motor policy.
We need to reiterate the huge importance in avoiding this situation. The Insured needs to make sure that unlicensed staff members are not able to gain access to these vehicles for this very reason. Insurers will not pay out claims resulting in incidents like this.
Some suggested procedures could be:
- Keep keys in a central place - the person needing to drive signs the key out and keys are locked away at night
- Key individual/s (KI) are allowed to keep keys and anyone wanting to drive has to request key from KI
- Keep copies of the driver license of all authorized drivers (this should be standard practice already and used in addition to point 1 and 2)
We hope these simple and easy to implement suggestions are of use to you and your operation.
Source: SATIB Insurance Brokers
