Reducing Third Party Claims Costs

Published On : 22 Feb 2021

Keeping control of Third Party costs in fault Road Traffic Incidents is a major challenge for Motor Fleet Insurers, which is made easier by your Insurers being able to liaise directly with the Third Party as quickly as possible after the event to take control of the claim.

Many Insurers have previously concluded that prompt reporting can have a huge impact on these Third Party costs – Allianz estimate that a claim valued at £5,000 if reported within 24 hours increases to £20,000 if reported on day 30*, and according to Fleet News, FMG (one of the leading UK accident Management company) estimates that overall incident costs can escalate from £1,000 to £10,650 if the necessary third-party information isn’t captured at the time; an increase of 965%^

The traditional method of waiting for drivers to return to their business to fill out claim forms, which are then sent to the brokers for onward transmission to your insurers can potentially rob your insurers of the ability to control the Third Party costs – hire cars at wildly inflated costs and injury claims are the two areas where tradition is almost certainly costing you. It is estimated that notifying your Insurers from the scene of a fault accident generates an average credit hire saving of around £460 per claim, which increases, to £537 per claim** where a Third Party has been successfully persuaded to move from a credit hire into a spot hire provided by them.

Therefore, if you need to contact Pen about a new claim under your Motor Insurance Policy, there is a new number to call 0344 243 8860. This number is a true 24/7 service, and will work in tandem with the existing OHES 24/7 Environmental Response.

We suggest that wherever possible, your driver makes the call from the scene of the incident, to enable your insurers to take control of the claim, and if it’s one that is your fault, that quick involvement will help keep a lid on the third party costs.

Reminding your drivers to take pictures and/or video of the incident scene will also help with fraudulent claims – claiming excessive damage repairs costs or significant injuries after a low-speed impact, or that there was a car full of injured passengers can be easily refuted with images that show a different story, and Insurers can (and do) help the authorities pursue these fraudsters through the legal system.

* https://www.allianzebroker.co.uk/content/allianzebroker/en_gb/application/content/documents/quotesme/motor-claims-notice/_jcr_content/documentProperties/currentDocument.resacom6670-claims-notice.pdf

** FMG study January 2021

^ https://www.fleetnews.co.uk/fleet-management/accident-management/winning-the-firstnotification-of-loss-race