Adding or removing a vehicle is routine – but only if there's a checklist behind it. This checklist gives the steps for both directions (a vehicle coming in, a vehicle going out) in tick-box form; the background explanation lives in the vehicle change article. Copy it into your own internal system, or ask me for a formatted version.
- When adding a vehicle, the guiding rule is: no gap between taking possession and the start of cover.
- When removing a vehicle, the key is documenting the exact date and the lapse of insurable interest.
- The closing step is the same in both directions: the vehicle list updated, the confirmation saved.
- When in doubt (trade plates, a transitional situation), the rule is: ask, don't assume.
Adding a vehicle – a new vehicle arrives
- ☐ Data collected: registration number, chassis number, registration document details, category, usage
- ☐ Casco decision made (full / partial / none + deductible) – per the matrix
- ☐ For a financed vehicle: the lender's requirements (casco, beneficiary) recorded
- ☐ Notification sent on the day of purchase (to me or via the portal)
- ☐ Confirmation received and saved – start-of-cover date checked
- ☐ For use abroad: Green Card requested
- ☐ Glovebox kit set up: European Accident Statement + claims cheat sheet
- ☐ Vehicle list updated, driver assignment recorded
Removing a vehicle – a vehicle leaves
- ☐ Date of removal recorded (date of sale / end of lease / date taken out of circulation)
- ☐ Documentation of the lapse of insurable interest in hand (contract, decision) – copy filed
- ☐ Removal notified, confirmation saved
- ☐ Premium settlement checked: pro-rata adjustment, any refund tracked
- ☐ Any open claim on the vehicle? – closure checked
- ☐ Glovebox papers and Green Card removed, accessories handed over against an inventory
- ☐ Vehicle list updated – the row archived (not deleted: it may still be needed for the claims history)
Replacement – both directions at once
When you replace a vehicle, both lists run at the same time, ideally matched to the same day – the aim being no day without cover, and no double premium either. Pay particular attention to the casco decision: the new vehicle typically deserves a higher level than the one leaving – decide this at the moment of replacement, not “at some point”. Confirmations matter doubly here: two dates need to line up exactly.
Special cases
Trade plates, a vehicle not yet registered, a temporary withdrawal, a seasonal stand-down – separate rules apply to these, and here the checklist simplifies to a single point: ☐ question sent, answer documented. Assumption is the main source of errors when adding or removing vehicles; asking costs nothing. For the background: when cover starts.
Rolling the checklist into everyday use
The list works when it's part of the process, not decoration: it's worth building into the purchasing and sales routine – whoever buys or sells a vehicle on the company's behalf should also be responsible for starting the checklist, the same way they're responsible for signing the contract. In practice this is a shared document or a short form: the person initiating it fills in the data block, and the fleet manager takes it from there. The discipline of saving the confirmation deserves particular emphasis: those few clicks are the simplest way to prevent disputes. After the first two or three vehicle changes, the list becomes routine – from then on it's not admin, it's reflex.
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