Many companies are surprised how quickly their vehicle fleet reaches fleet size: two vans, a few cars – and it already makes sense to think in terms of a fleet. The MTPL threshold is fixed by law; the casco-side threshold is set by insurer practice – here are the essentials: what changes, and how to approach the switch.
- The statutory threshold for fleet MTPL is five vehicles under the same policyholder; the threshold for casco-side fleet management varies by insurer.
- The pricing logic is different in a fleet too: what counts is not individual rating, but the fleet's own claims experience.
- The key issue when switching is aligning the renewal dates and rethinking the casco cover.
- With few vehicles, a fleet policy is sometimes not the right route – it's worth saying so at the outset.
What exactly is the threshold?
The key point: the statutory MTPL-fleet threshold is five vehicles under the same policyholder as registered keeper; the threshold for casco-side fleet management varies by insurer – so it's worth asking even with a smaller fleet. The specific, current answer comes from requesting a quote – for a fleet, this is individual risk assessment, so it typically takes a few business days to turn around.
What changes once the threshold is crossed?
With individual MTPL, the premium is driven by a rating system and tariff tables. The logic is different for a fleet: the insurer prices the whole fleet as one – based on vehicle composition, usage and, above all, claims record. This can be both an advantage and a burden: a good claims history can secure a more favourable position, while a worsening claims history can move the premium for the entire fleet. Details: fleet MTPL vs. retail MTPL and pricing based on loss ratio.
The practice of switching
The renewal dates of existing individual contracts rarely coincide – so planning the switch is a timing exercise: which contract can be terminated when, how the common renewal date comes together, and where a gap in cover must not appear along the way. It's worth rethinking the casco cover at the same time: which vehicle, and at what deductible. The switching process article sets out the timetable step by step.
During time spent in the fleet, the bonus-malus system doesn't shape the premium – vehicles there typically neither gain nor lose their individual rating class; this depends on the insurer's fleet policy conditions. A previously earned class can only be carried over to a new individual contract within 2 years of the old contract's termination – after a longer spell in the fleet than that, the exiting vehicle typically starts again from the base rating class. It's worth discussing this before the switch.
And what if it (still) doesn't pay off?
With few vehicles and heavily mixed usage, individual contracts sometimes turn out to be the better solution – when that's the case, I say so, and point the question towards kotelezo.biz / casco.biz. Moving to fleet insurance isn't a goal in itself, but a tool: it's the right choice only if it genuinely takes the burden off you.
Typical situations from practice
A few realistic examples of where the question comes up. At a growing SME, after the second van and the third car, the fleet quietly reaches fleet size – it's just that no one has put it into one table yet. At a family business, private and business use mix together, and the question is more about which vehicles even belong in the corporate framework at all – that's what the mixed use article covers. At a start-up, several vehicles arrive at once, and everything depends on how it's set up from the start: renewal date, casco cover, deductibles. In all three situations, the first step is the same: a vehicle list, claims history, and a short conversation about what the market can bear – inside a fleet policy or outside it.
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