After fleet MTPL, the next question is always casco: is it needed for everything, and does it make sense to insure it all together? The right answer is rarely “all or nothing” – it's more of a smart matrix, in which the decision is made vehicle group by vehicle group. This is the approach that sets it apart most from retail casco.
- Casco covers damage to your own vehicle – in a fleet, you can decide vehicle group by vehicle group which one it makes sense for, and at what level.
- The deductible is a strategic tool in a fleet: how small claims are handled, and protecting the loss ratio, both depend on it.
- For a financed vehicle (leased or bought on credit), casco is typically a requirement from the lender – there, the financing agreement governs.
- Putting MTPL and casco out to tender together gives a stronger negotiating position – but the decision is still made element by element.
The casco matrix: what cover for which vehicle?
The vehicles in a fleet aren't all alike. Full casco is justified for new, valuable or key vehicles; on older, low-value units, the premium for full cover can already be disproportionate – there, partial cover (for example theft, natural hazards, glass damage) or a deliberate decision to go without is the answer. It's worth rebuilding this matrix every year: what needed casco last year may not need it this year. The logic behind the levels is covered in the cover levels by vehicle category article.
Deductible and small claims: the fleet speciality
In a fleet, small claims – a parking bump, a mirror, a windscreen – come in large numbers, and every notification weighs on the claims record. In many fleets, the well-judged strategy is therefore to set a higher deductible and settle small claims from the company's own budget, keeping the insurance for genuinely large claims. Where's the line? Claims frequency and average claim size show that – the weighing-up is covered in detail in the small claims dilemma and the deductible policy article.
Financed vehicles: the fixed line item
For leased vehicles and those bought on credit, casco is typically not a matter of choice: it's a requirement from the lender, together with the conditions – deductible limits, beneficiary clauses. Here, the financing agreement always governs; the details are set out in the registered keeper–owner–leasing article.
Together or separate?
Taking out fleet casco as a single policy is administratively simpler, and putting it out to tender together with MTPL on a common renewal date typically gives a stronger negotiating position. In return, the terms and conditions are uniform, which isn't always ideal for a fleet with mixed composition – in practice, a hybrid solution is often the result: the core fleet handled as one, special vehicles handled separately. For a privately used, one- or two-car situation, retail casco is the right choice: casco.biz covers that in detail.
A separate question for very large fleets
For extensive fleets, the idea of partial self-insurance also comes up: the company builds its own claims reserve and keeps the insurance only for the large claims it couldn't otherwise manage. This is already a matter of financial planning – reserves, risk tolerance, accounting – but the logic is the same as with small claims: insurance needs to be there where a claim would shake the company, not where it's merely inconvenient. Finding that line is a calculation: claims frequency, average claim size, extreme values – it's worth doing this calculation as part of preparing for renewal, with up-to-date claims data. The decision is always the company's; my job is to lay the figures and the alternatives out clearly on the table.
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