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Allowing employees to drive a company or personal vehicle on company business isn’t something you should do on a whim. Your affiliate has a responsibility to ensure everyone driving for company business fits within the Driver Acceptability Guidelines as set forth by the Insurance Company.
So far in 2013, there have been 90 Auto claims filed in the insurance program, totaling nearly $200,000 in claim payments. By ensuring your drivers meet the requirements, we can be sure that we’re sending safer drivers out on the roads, and aim to reduce the number of accidents and claims.
How do you know if an employee is an acceptable choice to drive on business?
In order to cover your employees on your Auto policy, you must submit a Motor Vehicle Record (MVR) for each person to the insurance company. A MVR will indicate any violations and their dates of occurrence.
To obtain the MVRs for your employees, you can:
- Ask them to request a copy of their MVR from the state Division of Motor Vehicles (DMV)
- Utilize a third-party service to order MVRs. A simple Google search will give you a list of companies who offer this service.
If the insurance company finds that a driver does not meet the acceptable guidelines, they will either charge an additional premium for your Auto policy, or they will exclude that person as a driver from the policy. Your best bet is to do your due diligence and check your employees’ driving records to determine whom you can allow to drive, and whom you cannot.
Below is a snippet from the Driver Acceptability section of the ACE Auto Underwriting Guidelines that will help you make any determinations about a driver before submitting them to the insurance company for consideration:
Driver Acceptability
Eligible drivers must:
- Be at least 18 years of age
- Have a valid license (CDL if required)
- Have at least 3 years experience driving any specialized vehicle (i.e. passenger van, limo)
- Have NO Type A violations in the last 5 years
- Have no license suspension or revocation in the last 3 years
- Have no more than a total of 3 Type B Moving Violations in the last 3 years
- Have no more than a total of 3 accidents (regardless of fault) in the last 3 years
- Have no more than a combination of 4 accidents and Type B violations in the last 3 years
- If the driver is a new hire to the risk, training must be provided and it must be documented that the driver is prepared to drive the specialized vehicle (i.e. passenger van, limousine, etc.)
Type A violations include:
- Driving while intoxicated
- Driving under the influence of drugs
- Negligent homicide arising from the use of a motor vehicle (gross negligence)
- Operating a motor vehicle during a period of suspension or revocation of privileges
- Using a motor vehicle for the commission of a felony
- Aggravated assault with a motor vehicle
- Operating a motor vehicle without the owner permission/authority (grand theft)
- Permitting an unlicensed person to drive a motor vehicle
- Reckless driving/careless driving
- Speed Contest
- Hit and Run (BI or PD) driving
Type B violations include:
- All moving violations not listed as Type A
If you are aware of an employee who has any known violations, you must not allow or even consider allowing them to drive on business—in either a company-owned vehicle or their own personal vehicle. If you do and an accident occurs at the fault of your employee, it doesn’t matter whose vehicle is involved—your affiliate can still be held liable for damages and injury!
If you have any questions about the eligibility of an employee to drive on business for your affiliate, call Scott Dunwiddie at 888.553.9002 or email him at habitatsafety@locktonaffinity.com.