The truth about rising insurance costs and how fleet managers can take control

UK fleet insurance premiums are rising, and the pressure is coming from several directions at once: more vehicles on the road, more complex repairs, rising fraud, and higher theft. To understand what's behind it, and what fleets can do, we hosted a webinar with insurance broker 1st Choice Insurance. This piece pulls together the practical steps that came out of that session.

You can't control the market forces pushing premiums up, but you can control your claims performance, and that's what insurers price on at renewal.

Summary

• Premiums are rising on forces you can't control: more vehicles on the road, costlier repairs, more fraud, and more theft.
• What you can control is your claims performance, and that's what insurers price on at renewal.
• Cut claims frequency with telematics and targeted driver training.
• Gather evidence with dashcams and trackers and report every incident fast.
• SMS Energy saved £7,000 in hire costs on three claims last quarter by using the FleetCheck Driver app to report same hour, same day.

Why are fleet insurance premiums rising?

• Increased road incidents – 769,000 vehicles were registered for the first time in the UK in Q1 2026, up 5.1% from Q1 2025. More vehicles on the road means more incidents, and more claims.
• Repair costs and vehicle technology – Around 70% of new cars now come with advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS). The sensors and cameras these rely on need recalibration even after a minor incident. With technology getting more complex, the average claim is going up.
• Fraudulent claims – Crash-for-cash scams, staged accidents, fake injuries, and ghost-broking are all rising. Insurance fraud adds roughly £50 on every annual premium, so honest policyholders carry the cost.
• Vehicle theft – Police in England and Wales recorded over 135,000 vehicle thefts in 2025, up 15% on the previous year. Theft claims are rising on both volume and value, as thieves target higher-value vehicles and keyless entry systems.

How can you reduce your insurance premiums?

• Identify and manage risk – Monitor claim frequency and use your claims data to challenge excessive claims and find your high-risk areas. Run structured quarterly reviews with your insurers and brokers to track performance and spot trends before they cost you.
• Driver training and incentives – Use telematics to monitor driving behaviour, then target training where the data shows you need it. Training can cut accident frequency by up to 60%, and usage-based insurance programmes built on telematics can deliver 15-25% savings. Keep drivers current on Highway Code changes and tell them clearly what you expect.
• Technology solutions – Dashcams, alarms, trackers, and in-app incident checklists help you dispute false claims, prevent theft, and gather evidence. Whether or not they lower your premium directly, they protect you against false insurance claims.
• Regular policy review – Your fleet and your risk change over time. Review your cover regularly so you're not underinsured or overpaying.
• External factors – Train staff to spot fraud red flags, track weather alerts, and set clear driver protocols for adverse conditions.

Does increasing your excess lower your premiums?

Sometimes. A higher voluntary excess can lower your premium, but you'll pay more out of pocket when you claim, and how much you save depends on your insurer and claims history. Some insurers offer discounts for higher excess contributions.

This works best if you have the financial means to cover a larger bill when an incident happens. If a single claim would strain cash flow, the saving isn't worth the exposure.

Does speed matter in FNOL reporting?

Yes, and more than most fleets realise. Reporting within the first 60 minutes of an incident, the "golden hour," helps stop costs inflating before you've had a chance to manage the claim.

Enforcing that with drivers has always been hard. Apps like FleetCheck Driver streamline it: drivers store their insurer and accident-partner details in the app and make contact straight away, which means faster escalation and quicker settlement. The app also holds your full accident history going back years, so you can pull up claims details, uninsured losses, trends, and repeat offenders whenever you need them.

We've seen the benefits of this firsthand with our customer SMS Energy. By reporting accidents same day, within the hour, using the FleetCheck Driver app, they saved £7,000 in hire costs on just three claims last quarter. Their FNOL rate sits at 75% same day, well above industry average, and their claims performance earned them a significant rebate from their insurer.