Fleet insurance is critical to businesses that use vehicles as part of their operations, spanning delivery companies, tradespeople, private hire operators, and beyond. But in the last year, it has become harder for these businesses to insure their vehicles, as fleet premiums have risen by as much as 50%, driven by the rising cost of claims.
This has sparked an increased demand for smart solutions that leverage technology to keep premiums as fair and accurate as possible for customers while enabling MGAs to remain profitable. Added to that, fleet insurers are also responding to changes in the motor market, with the increased popularity of electric vehicles, which differ to petrol and diesel versions in terms of cost and complexity of repairs.
In a changing market, MGAs are competing to innovate their product offerings and how they operate to overcome these challenges and put themselves at an advantage for customer attraction, experience, and growth. With that in mind, these are our picks for the top ten most innovative fleet MGAs out there.
Direct Commercial Limited (DCL)
DCL is one of the most comprehensive commercial vehicle underwriters on the market, writing haulage, road transport, logistics, courier and waste industry business, and beyond. It is a testament to the company’s constant focus on innovating its offering, through technology, underwriting expertise, and customer service. For example, its Camatics offering combines insurance and CCTV technology to track driver behaviour, journey data, and accident footage, to accelerate claims and reduce costs. Meanwhile, Haul In One is a flexible, full-cycle, online portal that provides a streamlined way to cover 1 to 5 vehicles on a single policy for a wealth of trades.
Nirvana is leveraging the latest AI, IoT, and telematics technology to offer customers lower premiums and fleet safety management tools while reducing its own loss ratios. The company claims to have analysed more than 20 billion miles of real-world driving, to build a data pool that powers its AI models and promises more accurate risk assessment, underwriting, and pricing. Customers can earn up to 20% off their premiums upfront, plus its safety platform enables fleet managers to see data from across its vehicles and drivers, along with actionable insights, to reduce the risk of claims. Having recently raised $80m in its Series C round, Nirvana looks to be onto something special.
Recently acquired by Specialist Risk Group, Capulus provides insurance for underserved areas of the fleet market, including self-drive hire, haulage and courier, passenger transport, and own goods. It has built a strong reputation for its niche underwriting expertise and service, including its own online claims portal.
Flock offers tech-powered insurance to fleets spanning taxis, long-term rentals, and couriers. Its data-driven, real-time approach can price connected vehicles on a per-second basis, for more accurate and competitive pricing, along with the potential for premium rebates, and more personalised renewals. Through its portal, it also proactively helps fleet owners to manage risk, through digital safety insights and recommendations. Plus, its claims process is fully digitised, offering a variety of channels for making claims along with online claims tracking.
UK-based MGA, Brightside, specialises in covering clients who may struggle to get insurance elsewhere, across motor, home and business insurance. This includes fleet cover, and it is one of the few MGAs on the market specifically marketing a multi-vehicle product specifically for electric vehicles. Designed to cover plug-in cars/hybrids, electric cars, electric vans, alternative fuel cars, and low-emission vehicles, the product enables fleet owners to cover numerous EVs at the same time. It can even cover a combination of cars, vans, and HGVs with electric, hybri,d or standard engines. The company also invests heavily in technology, making it easy to apply, and enabling competitive pricing.
High-definition Vehicle Insurance (HDVI)
Founded by a group of insurance and trucking experts, Chicago-based HDVI is revolutionising the world of trucking insurance using the latest technology. It has integrated telematics, safety tools, and service to help trucking fleets better benchmark safety metrics and engage with drivers. Their policies also reward safe driving with up to 20% discounts on policies, helping trucking companies reduce premiums, which have increased significantly over the last decade. As a result of its approach, HDVI is growing rapidly, having secured $40 million in funding in February.
Unicorn is the UK-based managing general agent (MGA) of US-based wholesale broking giant Amwins. Focusing on car and van fleets of 10 or more vehicles, the company recognises the critical importance of managing vehicle downtime and containing repair costs. It does this through a network of over 200 repairers, the capability to manage mobile repairs, and an express maintenance service, so vehicles can be back on the road as quickly as possible.
A Lloyds Coverholder, Ornella Underwriting is an Irish MGA, providing cover across a whole range of personal and business risks. Its fleet offering takes a proactive approach to risk, using a highly experienced risk surveyor who can help clients protect their employees and other road users. The company can consider over 1,000 trades for fleet insurance, covering businesses with five or more vehicles.
In a world where technology is gradually taking over, Century offers a more personal approach, writing highly bespoke insurance solutions for diverse business fleets. Having written motor fleet insurance since its inception in 2011, its underwriters are experts in the market and take a flexible approach to working with brokers to find solutions to complex risks.
One of the leading MGAs for non-standard insurance products, Prestige partners with Aviva to offer its multi-vehicle product, which is rated on the number of drivers instead of number of vehicles. Distributed through Prestige’s network of 600 brokers and affinity partners, it can be accessed by brokers on the Covernet broker portal. Features and benefits include social, domestic and pleasure (SD&P), up to seven Class 1 vehicles, and vehicles value up to £175,000.
Constant innovation is critical as an MGA, but it is only possible with the right mid to back-office systems to drive operational efficiency, reduce manual administration, and provide data visibility and reporting.
Insly’s low-code software is built by insurance specialists for MGAs, and it is flexible and scalable to your business needs. With a modular approach, the Insly platform covers the entire insurance lifecycle and integrates seamlessly with existing software and systems.
We work with several leading fleet MGAs and the benefits are clear, with clients seeing fast ROI through improved processes, reduced overheads, a shorter sales cycle, and greater profitability.
Explore our new fleet insurance page to discover how Insly is helping MGAs scale smarter.
