Is your driving licence photocard up-to-date?

There was a lot of publicity last year to remind people to check their photo card licence, but that was last year… We are still finding out-of-date photocards in every batch of licences we check. So here’s another reminder: Put the renewal date in your diary!

The photo card part of your driving licence is only valid for 10 years, even though your paper licence may be valid for much longer. Many drivers fail to spot that their photo card licence automatically expires after ten years and has to be renewed and believe, wrongly, that their new-style licence was for life.

At the heart of the confusion is the small print on the credit card size photo licence. Just below the driver’s name is a numbered series of dates and details. The crucial dates (mine are numbered 4a and 4b) should be 10 years apart and the latter is the expiry date.

A spokesman for the DVLA said: ‘It is important that photocards are updated every ten years to ensure the police and other enforcement agencies can identify whether a driving licence is being used fraudulently.’ The maximum fine for using an out-of-date photocard licence is £1000.

The DVLA will send you a reminder when your photocard is due to expire, so do take notice of this letter and send off a new photo to get your new card issued. (The Association of British Insurers and the Department for Transport said that insurance cover was not affected if drivers failed to update their photocard.)

If you have a lot of drivers licences to check why not let UK Fleet Manager take over this responsibility for you, and you can get on with running your business. We have a fast-track checking facility direct to the DVLA, and will organise renewals for your drivers if necessary.

Mark James

Mark.james@ukfleetmanager.co.uk

Six Effects of the Emergency Budget on Company Fleets

I have analysed last week’s Emergency Budget for implications on fleet costs. There are two main areas – changes to Capital Allowances and the rise in VAT from January 2011 to 20%.

These are the six issues that you need to take notice of now:

1. Leasing costs are likely to rise due to changes in Capital Allowances.
2. Recovering expenses of buying company vehicles will take longer (Capital Allowances again).
3. Leasing costs will rise as you can recover only 50% of the VAT (VAT rising by 2.5%).
4. Purchasing vehicles outright will be more expensive – you cannot claim any VAT back if your drivers use them privately.
5. VAT increase will affect all fleets cash flow in terms of fuel costs.
6. Insurance premium tax increase will add to costs for every fleet.

Will your fleet costs rise next year?

Changes to Capital Allowances see the rates that companies can claim back for the expense of buying a company vehicle reduced. The rate has been reduced to 8% -  this will be applied to cars emitting more than 160g/km of CO2.

The cost of company cars that emit less than this benchmark can now be reclaimed at a rate of 18% down from 20% before the budget.

From January 2011 leasing a car should be more attractive from a VAT perspective. Currently the difference between buying and leasing is a VAT cost of 8.75% (zero recovery on buying against 8.75% recovery on a lease). However the VAT cost of buying against leasing will be 10%.

Lastly, insurance premium tax has been increased by 1%, to 6%, so this will also add to fleet costs.

On the plus side the Chancellor gave companies a much-needed reduction in Corporation Tax, which will go some way (for businesses that pay Corporation Tax) to off-setting the other fleet cost increases.

Although the Chancellor did not raise Fuel Duty this time, we are already facing increases announced previously – 1p in October and another 0.76p in January next year – plus the increase in VAT of 25%. This all adds up to and extra 4.6p per litre to fuel prices from January. Most companies, of course, can recover the VAT increase, but it still has cash-flow implications.

Call me if you would like to review your fleet funding strategies before the VAT rise in January next year. I will go through all the figures, presenting alternatives to you and suggest ways to save money and reduce your fleet costs.

Save money by calling UK Fleet Manager on 01527 910999 today.

Mark James

Mark.james@ukfleetmanager.co.uk

Courtesy Car Calamity – Adding Insult to Injury

Were you disappointed by your last ‘courtesy’ car?

It’s bad enough having an accident, but when the courtesy car arrives it is bound to be the type of car you dislike most. And it is likely to be so small that you can’t fit your legs under the steering wheel, or the essential things you need to do your job in the boot. We’ve all been there!

This will never do!

UK Fleet Manager can provide you, and your family and friends, with a free courtesy car, the same as your own car, if you are involved in an accident caused by an identifiable and insured third party that was not your fault – such as a rear-end shunt.

We will

• immediately provide a like-for-like courtesy vehicle within hours
• liaise with your insurance company
• organise the recovery of your vehicle
• make sure the repairs are completed promptly and to a high standard
• handle all the communications with the third party
• recover any uninsured losses on a ‘no win, no fee’ basis.

All this will save you time and inconvenience and you won’t have to think about it again until your own car is returned.

All you do is obtain the third party details at the accident scene, and then call

0844 928 5682 before you call your insurance company. Our customer care team will then deal with everything for you.

UK Fleet Manager can help you with accident management and much more to make your drivers perform better. Contact me if you would to make a BIG difference to your company today.

Mark James

Mark.james@ukfleetmanager.co.uk

Companies missing out on thousands of £££s when selling ex-company vehicles

I can advise you on how to get the best price when you dispose of company cars

Many fleets are missing huge opportunities to maximise the residual values on their old company vehicles by not seeking help from professional re-marketing companies. The net effect of disposing of vehicles using a professional management programme can literally mean over £500 per vehicle.

There are many routes to market for used vehicles with varying levels of sales values and risk exposure to the seller. You should carefully consider all of these options in order to maximise your results.

You could consider the following routes to market:

• Part exchange to new car dealers – fast but low value, and no liability on condition.
• Sales to traders – slower and low value, but no liability on condition.
• Sales to driver’s family – slower, higher value but your company is liable for the vehicle condition.
• Sales to the public via internet – slower, higher value but again, your company is liable for vehicle condition and the sales can be time-consuming.
• Sales at car auctions – fast, opportunities for far higher values, with no liability on condition.

At UK Fleet Manager we offer a full auction management programme which ensures vehicles are correctly marketed, presented and offered at the optimum auction location, with results far exceeding dealer part-exchange or trader purchases. Your vehicles can be collected at short notice from any location and are fully insured during the process.

Call me now for individual valuations on your vehicles, or for further advice on sales programmes.

Mark James

01527 910999

Mark.james@ukfleetmanager.co.uk

Check your drivers’ licences or face a large fine

Statistics highlight that over 8 million UK drivers have 3 or more points on their licences. The authorities will check the licence of any driver who is involved in a serious or fatal road traffic accident.

If you don’t regularly check or verify your employees’ driving licences you are failing in your corporate duty of care under the Health and Safety at Work Act. Your company risks unlimited fines if your drivers are found to be on the road without a valid licence, or are ineligible to drive the vehicle in their control.

Employee driver checks should be an essential part of your risk assessment policy. Driving licence verification using the DVLA data should be undertaken on an annual basis.

These are 5 of some of the most important things you should be checking:

1. Do you take both paper and plastic copies of the DVLA licence for each driver every year?
2. Is the licence registered at the correct home address?
3. Does their licence category allow them to drive or tow with your vehicle?
4. How many penalty points are on their licence and do you assess higher risk drivers with 6 or more points?
5. Has the driver ever been banned previously and what was the reason.

At UK Fleet Manager we offer an online service direct with the DVLA to ensure your business is compliant and up to date with the latest driver data. Contact me if we can make a BIG difference to your company.

Mark James

o1527 910999

Mark.james@ukfleetmanager.co.uk

Creating better driving habits saves money – fact!

Getting staff to improve their driving techniques is guaranteed to deliver major savings on your vehicle running costs. Several studies have concluded that you can make significant savings on

• reduced fuel consumption
• lower insurance premiums
• general wear and tear of vehicles

SAFED has suggested that typical savings could be over 10%, but you may feel that spending money in this area is considered a luxury. However, investing now could see the cost recouped in less than six months.

BRAKE, the road safety charity, is also campaigning for companies to do more to improve driver’s awareness of safety issues — helping to reduce accident rates, and improve the overall safety of your drivers. This also addresses your corporate health and safety obligations.

These are some of the steps you could take now:

1. Introduce a compulsory driver assessment programme
2. Communicate the purpose and benefits of the programme
3. Monitor spend levels against each driver
4. Offer additional training to drivers
5. Maintain the corporate road safety message

UK Fleet Manager can help you with this and much more to make your business perform better. Contact me if you would to make a BIG difference to your company today.

Mark James
Mark.james@ukfleetmanager.co.uk

Recession Busting tips for fleet operators

After payroll, vehicles are the most expensive cost to your business, and the ability for you to pro-actively reduce these costs has never been of more critical importance.

Many companies have successfully introduced initiatives to focus on vehicle cost reduction, with related reduction in carbon emissions, and have made considerable savings. At UK Fleet Manager, we constantly monitor this type of activity across the corporate fleet sector and make ‘best practice’ recommendations to all our clients.

These are our Top 5 Recession Busting tips:

1. Get a grip on fuel use – analyse cost and consumption by driver and set targets.
2. Control your servicing – you’d be amazed how many garages overcharge, so challenge them!
3. Look at tyre replacements – are they wearing out too soon, or damaged? Why?
4. Reduce vehicle ‘downtime’ – find out why your vehicles are spending time off the road.
5. Get your drivers to work smarter – are they using technology to its full potential? Train them for example, in journey planning.

UK Fleet Manager helps with practical guidance on these, and much more to make your business perform better. All it takes is a call to ask us how we do it. Contact me if you would like us to make a BIG difference to your company today. 

Mark James
Mark.james@ukfleetmanager.co.uk

Do you know the true cost of vehicle accidents to your business?

When one of your company vehicles is involved in a road traffic accident you will be faced with some immediate costs such as insurance excess and replacement vehicle hire, but have you considered the hidden costs?

These costs are more difficult to quantify but taken together, the total cost of an accident can run to thousands of £££s. Have you considered 

• The cost in time taken to process the insurance claim and deal with third parties
• Time taken to reclaim for uninsured losses
• The cost of a driver being off work through injury
• The vehicle’s ‘downtime’ and any loss of business reputation
• Potential reduced resale value on a ‘repaired’ vehicle
• The impact on your insurance premiums at the next renewal

According to industry figures, 97% of all incidents are caused by driver error, meaning that they WERE avoidable.

UK Fleet Manager can help you draw up an effective Risk Management Policy and driver development programme to help you reduce and even eliminate these costs. Contact me if you would like to know more about how we do it.

Mark James
Mark.james@ukfleetmanager.co.uk

Drivers take serious risks by not checking their tyres regularly

How often do you inspect your company car tyres? Many of you never inspect the condition of your tyres and rely solely upon the garage to check. If you rely on fitting tyre pressure sensing equipment, be aware that they cannot report on tyre defects, or irregular wear.

A recent poll of company car drivers found that the majority of drivers did not even know how to check them properly. This could have serious consequences if a tyre is damaged or under-inflated. Michelin Fleet carried out a random check of over 3000 company vehicles and discovered that almost 50% of the vehicles either had one (or more!) illegal or under-inflated tyres.

So, do you check your tyres each week? This is recommended as a formal responsibility for drivers as part of their company vehicle policy. They should check the following every week:

• Check tyre pressures are correct for the tyre size and loads being carried
• Check the tread depth by feeling the wearing bar on the tyre
• Check for uneven tread wear on the outer edges and centre of the tyre
• Check for damage to the side walls
• Don’t forget to include the spare wheel

UK Fleet Manager can help you draw up an effective Company Vehicle Policy and communicate it to everyone involved. Contact me if you would like to know more about how we do it.

Mark James
Mark.james@ukfleetmanager.co.uk

Spending valuable time dealing with vehicle problems?

Time really IS money — never has this been more important than in today’s challenging economy. You should be looking at every minute you spend working to make sure you are adding value to your business, rather than wasting valuable time dealing with unnecessary problems.

And yet I find many directors and business owners who are still dealing with day-to-day vehicle problems from their drivers. I am sure you feel that it takes your seniority and influence to get things done right. Have you dealt with:

• breakdowns
• service bookings
• chasing parts on order
• serious accidents 

However, the truth is you have more important skills, vital to running your business, and the specialized knowledge, contacts and sheer buying power possessed by a professional fleet manager is needed here.

At UK Fleet Manager, we can provide you with a unique fleet management service that takes over all these messy problems and frees up your time to get on making your business a success. We can also save you a great deal of money off your fleet costs.

There’s a win/win if ever I saw one. Contact me to see how we could make a BIG difference to your fleet costs.

Mark James

Mark.james@ukfleetmanager.co.uk