Author, Casey Craig, Account Executive, Rancho Mesa Insurance Services, Inc.
We are going into uncertain times as some commercial auto carriers are electing to no longer write new business in California. This is leading to other carriers, that are still willing, to be overwhelmed with requests for insurance quotes. Carriers are limited in the increases they can take from one policy period to the next and have had increasingly bad losses which have made it impossible to be profitable. This will lead to carriers inevitably charging more over time as the losses have become staggering. Let’s take a look at what you can do as an insured to help your company look like a better risk for these carriers and mitigate premium increases.
Increase Limits
Increase limits for employees that drive their personal vehicles. California’s minimum limits for auto insurance have not been raised in over 50 years. With vehicle costs and medical bills exponentially increasing over that time, it is easy to see how most drivers in California are underinsured if any serious accident occurs.
The Protect California Drivers Act will go into effect January 2025 which will increase the minimum personal auto insurance limits from $15,000/$30,000/$5,000 to $30,000/$60,000/$15,000. This will help Californians, but also consider increasing the limits your company requires for your employees. It will help insulate your company further and lead to more carriers potentially being willing to insure your company’s drivers.
Install GPS
Install GPS and have someone at the office track drivers. Insureds tend to use GPS as a reactive tool, if a vehicle goes missing they can track it and potentially recover. Or, if a driver gets a ticket, they look back to see if the driver was speeding or has an issue of speeding. If used properly, this can help your company find unsafe patterns before they lead to an accident. You can track speeding, hard turns, and excessive breaking. Being able to identify poor drivers before an accident happens can lead to substantial savings on your insurance premiums.
Implement Driver Training
Proactive and reactive driving trainings can go a long way. Rancho Mesa’s SafetyOne™ website offers online driver training. Driver training history is stored and available for review at any time. So, companies can prove to carriers they take driver safety training seriously.
Seeing where the industry is moving, it would be smart to ensure you are staying ahead of trends. Meeting with your insurance broker to make sure you have the proper fleet safety program in place is vital.
If you have any further insurance questions or would like to discuss your fleet safety program, please contact Casey Craig at (619) 438-6900 or ccraig@ranchomesa.com.