What are the insurance liabilities of running a grey fleet?

An employee’s personal vehicle insurance may not cover business use and if that is the case the employer could be liable in case of an accident.

Legally it falls to the employer to check whether their grey fleet drivers have valid insurance in place to cover them for driving for business purposes.

Unfortunately, it is an area that can often get overlooked. A significant number of drivers, and the businesses they work for, fail to check that the relevant cover is in place.

Checking their drivers have valid insurance in place creates an additional administrative burden so many businesses use a third-party checking service. The benefits of doing this include:

• Reduces administration.
• Data is stored on a central system and available for future checks.
• Checks can be automatically repeated at agreed intervals.
• Online systems provide a useful audit trail and demonstrate duty of care.
• Third party providers offer additional related checking services such as MOT and licence checks.
• Helps employers meet legal responsibilities and provides peace of mind.