In a typical vehicle fleet, 20 percent of the drivers will be involved in some type of loss in any given year, from the smallest windshield break to the total loss of a vehicle. When loss is involved in these types of circumstances, it is especially valuable for the business to have an experienced fleet manager handling the situation.
    From a fleet manager’s perspective, the key elements of handling loss and processing claims include the following:

Initial Incident
Most lease customers are given a designated phone number to use in the event an incident should occur. Often this is a toll-free call. Generally, when a customer calls with an incident, an initial report of the accident is taken. Safety is the most important issue, so it is important to know how many people and/or vehicles were involved, if there are any injuries and if emergency medical assistance is needed. After determining that everyone is okay, the fleet manager can decide with the customer the next best step to take. Options may include emergency roadside assistance, towing, body shop, rental car or a combination of two or more of those.

Minimize Costs
Once the customer is back on the road, the fleet manager can begin processing the accident to ensure that the vehicle gets the highest quality service at the lowest possible price. Start by making sure those reviewing the damage on the vehicle are qualified technicians in the specified damaged area.  For example, for body repair damage, the technician should be trained in auto estimates and body repair.  For mechanical damage, it is best to work with technicians who are ASE Certified. Both will be helpful in ensuring that the proper repairs are done with safety at the forefront, with the highest quality workmanship and at the most cost-effective price. It may also be possible for the technician to flag any warranty work that should be included as well.
    Furthermore, a fleet management company may maintain a nationwide network of repair facilities that can be recommended to customers. Having these relationships can enhance the fleet manager’s ability to work closely with the body shops on behalf of the customer to secure advantages. These can range from comparing pricing to ensure the body shop is competitive and monitoring repairs to control downtime, to arranging rentals, monitoring rental invoices and ensuring the overall quality of the repairs.

Maximize Subrogation
In the unfortunate event of damage to or loss of a vehicle, customers who have paid for vehicle insurance want the paece of mind that they will be taken care of promptly and professionally. Companies with fleet managers who handle this for them appreciate having someone on their side who can work with all parties involved in filing the claim on their behalf. A fleet manager who is trained in subrogation can aggressively analyze each and every claim to determine the likelihood of collecting and provide customers with an accurate picture of the situation.
    When processing a claim, fleet management companies will also typically obtain all of the legal information necessary to assist the customer in the collection process. These items might include police reports, vehicle registrations and insurance information. Ultimately, fleet managers want to minimize the collection time for their customers and they do this by staffing trained subrogation experts who provide uncompromising attention to each claim.    

Risk Management Reporting
Because fleet management companies work so closely with their customers’ losses, they are actually the best resource to their customers for risk management. At Enterprise, we make our loss control staff available to our customers to help them understand reports, as well as losses. Furthermore, sharing loss data at first report in an easy-to-read, easy-to-understand format with the customer is an invaluable way of keeping the lines of communication open and keeping customers informed.  

Connie Albright, Enterprise Fleet Management national claims manager contributed to this article.