A good quote comes back fast and accurate – if the request is too. This list shows what's worth preparing for a quote request: if the vehicle list already exists, the whole thing takes about 30 minutes. The why is covered in the needs assessment article; here's the itemised list.
- The quote request package has five parts: fleet, usage, claims history, deductible principles, needs.
- The claims list is requested from the insurer – it's worth starting this one first.
- Special cases (superstructures, plant and machinery, international, financed) deserve their own line.
- The package goes to every insurer with the same content – that's what makes the quotes comparable.
The five parts
- ☐ Fleet: the current version of the vehicle list – registration number, category, age, value, superstructure
- ☐ Usage: activity, typical routes (urban/national/international), annual mileages, base locations, driver pool (dedicated/shared)
- ☐ Claims history: an itemised claims list for several years, with statuses – requested from the insurer
- ☐ Deductible principles: the company's deductible per category, and whether there's an internal small-claims fund
- ☐ Needs: a list of extras (level of assistance cover, courtesy car, legal protection element), any special requests
The special cases
Flag anything separately that falls outside the standard template: vehicles with a superstructure and its value (refrigerated transport article), plant and machinery with road use (plant and machinery article), international routes and destination countries, financed vehicles with the lender's requirements, passenger transport activity, mixed private-business use. The rule: whatever's left out now surfaces at claim time instead – on worse terms.
What you don't need to prepare
You don't need to: write insurance jargon (I translate the questions into insurer language for you), state a target premium (the market answers that), and you don't need drivers' personal data for the quote request either. The package consists of business data – the personal data involved is minimal, and it's handled under the Privacy notice.
The process from here
I send out the finished package in a consistent format to the competing insurers; the quotes that come back go into the comparison table – with content lines, not just premiums. Turnaround depends on how busy the market is (longer during the renewal season) – we agree the exact schedule when we start. The first step is the simplest one: a 20-minute conversation, and from there we start building the list together.
What happens if something's missing?
The list isn't an exam: if one piece of data is missing, the quote request can still go ahead – you just need to know what's missing and what effect that has. The claims list can be requested, but for a fleet, putting it together typically takes one to three weeks – which is why we start that one first; a separate law obliges the insurer to issue the MTPL claims-history certificate. What can't be bridged is data that doesn't match reality – a gap is better than a wrong figure, because the insurer will query a gap, but will quote against a wrong figure. In practice the first round is rarely perfect, and it doesn't need to be: the gaps can still be closed during the needs assessment – that's part of the process too.
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