This article was created in partnership with Europcar.
As the winter season fast approaches, roads across the UK become inevitably more dangerous and car accidents sadly begin to rise. According to data from Admiral, insurers see an average rise of 25% in car accidents claims in November, with 23% of Brits admitting that they’ve been involved in a car accident when driving in wintery conditions.
And as the weather changes so too does insurer demand for replacement vehicles. In a recent interview with Insurance Business, Leigh Broomhead (pictured), strategic account director at Europcar, explained that it’s all about ensuring you have the right supplier in place sooner rather than later.
“The changing weather, the early nights and late mornings all compound themselves into the perfect scenario for an increase in accidents on the roads,” he told IB. “As such, as we go into the winter season, there’s an inevitable increase in claims frequency experienced by our insurer partners which correlates to an increase of up to 30% in new hire requests.”
Here, according to Broomhead, the challenge for insurers is making sure they have the right vehicles in the right groupings to facilitate a like-for-like transaction with the customers.
“[It’s about] having a supplier who's able to align themselves to the GTA principles and gives them flexibility when delivering,” he added.
At Europcar, an all-encompassing strategy is just part and parcel of the deal. As Broomhead told IB, his team is all about ensuring availability during this high demand period, especially given the increased volume around claims and vehicle repairs.
“Having worked in the sector for a number of years, we have a wealth of data to give us the insight into the frequency of claims and replacement vehicle requirements,” he explained. “There's obviously going to be a surge across the winter months. So it's about planning in advance more than anything and making sure we've got the right vehicles within the right groupings in the right locations. We see a lot more claims frequency in the major cities and surrounding areas, so we make sure that our fleet is moved accordingly at the right times.”
As Broomhead went on to explain, another core pillar of Europcar’s approach revolves around transparency when dealing with customers. As Broomhead told IB, support here begins with cost mitigation.
“That’s a key one for insurers,” he explained. “[It’s about] having transparency in terms of the costs associated with any rental. It gives insurers the assurance that no matter what vehicle they select, they already know what the price per day is up front - and they're able to apportion that on to their claims respectively. This gives them a better understanding of what the total cost of a claim may be in advance so that they reserve accordingly.”
Something that runs throughout Europcar’s customer care is its unwavering ability to meet people where they are - both in terms of location and expectations. Its flexible and innovative delivery and collection service is already making waves across the UK, enhancing customer satisfaction over the intense winter months.
“We have a centralised insurance support function,” Broomhead told IB. “That takes the end-user through the journey of authentication into our services and gives them key information on the services we provide. By having that centralised, we're able to direct bookings outwards to our wider station network - it also enables us to identify the correct vehicle based on the customer's need.”
This is essentially where the Europcar Delivery and Collection service comes in. Underpinned by connected vehicle technology for optimised fleet utilisation this service means that vehicles can be delivered to customers within as little as four hours anywhere in the UK.
What’s more, it boasts continued access to the entire Europcar UK fleet of around 40,000 cars and vans, including a growing proportion of EVs, supporting like-for-like provision aligned to the expectations of Consumer Duty as well as customer demand. And it’s something that Broomhead is understandably proud of.
“We've been able to broaden the number of vehicle groups that we actually hold on our fleet too,” added Broomhead. “That means we're able to identify the correct vehicle to cover the customer's like-for-like requirements and, by having our insurance team on hand, they're able to support customers directly after an accident. That first call is typically within 30 minutes to one hour of the accident being reported to the insurer and then to us.
“This means they're not left in a vulnerable position for too long and they're able to get back to their day-to-day routine within 24 hours of the accident.”
Find out more on how Europcar can help you and your teams here.
