Haulier negligence raises premiums

A recent FTW article that highlighted the alarming increase in truck hijacking caused by the sloppy procedures adopted by hauliers in employing foreign nationals, galvanised one of our readers into action. “Surely the simple solution would be for the insurers to lay out a protocol to be adopted and used strictly by the employers, failing which the cover on the goods and the vehicle would be voided,” said John Bewsey. “When their own money is on the line, watch how quickly the employer will do the job properly,” said Bewsey, who sent his suggestions to Mike Brews, chief operating officer of insurers Associated Marine. “I also feel indignant about this negligent behaviour because if the insurance company loses money they react by increasing their premiums to all of us – so I end up paying for some of this irresponsibility,” Bewsey added. “Whilst we have noticed the increase in claims where foreign nationals are employed, we are currently investigating whether or not the problem is with the particular haulage company or with foreign nationals across the board,” said Brews. “In some cases, we have specifically excluded foreign nationals as drivers or co-drivers.” As a rule, each policy is analysed on its merits, said Brews. “The result is that those clients with high volume or severity of claims would be penalised while the clients showing active risk controls with a resultant good claims record would benefit from wider cover and lower rates.” This, he said, encourages the clients to complete thorough background checks on the drivers (local and foreign nationals) as well as implement other risk control measures such as tracking systems and ad hoc armed escorts. “We feel that this attitude towards the haulier industry has shown results in the long run and does not prejudice the good clients.”