What to look for in a good accident management service

The immediate priority of the operators should be the safety and wellbeing of the driver. Even minor accidents can produce shock and confusion. So the trained operator will check whether the driver or anyone else are injured, that they are safe, that they have onward travel, and that they know what they need to do following an accident. They should also offer emotional support.

Road incidents are an expensive outing for businesses, costing thousands in repairs, insurance premiums and vehicle downtime.

Good accident management companies can help to minimise the expense by capping repair costs. Their specialist knowledge and leverage with repair shops means that they can extract the best possible pricing on labour, parts, and paint.

Likewise, their clout and expert supervision means that repair shops are more likely to prioritise work for that valued client, reducing the downtime, returning vehicles to manufacturer standards.

To that end you should expect your accident-management provider to employ IMI Accredited repairs specialists who will scrutinise quotes to ensure that the repairs are appropriate, and that pricing is reasonable.

Improved repair technology, including Small Medium Area Repair Technique (SMART), means that minor damage, including scratches and scuffs, can be arranged at a convenient time and location such as driver’s workplace or private driveway, and usually completed in a day.

This saves time and money since a bodyshop may take days to complete a paint repair – and charge more.

Avoiding future increases in insurance premiums is a less obvious but important aspect of the benefits of outsourcing accident management.

By capturing images third party details at the scene the accident management company can not only better assess liability, it can also reduce the insurance claim in at-fault cases.

Managing the fallout of accidents as efficiently as possible and minimising the impact on your business is essential – but not sufficient. Clearly, reducing accidents themselves, their frequency and severity is the best solution for fleets and of course for your drivers.

A good accident management provider can offer trend analysis of how and why accidents in your fleet occur, benchmarking your data against that for similar fleets. They will also enable you to assess whether any of your drivers are particularly at risk and would benefit from driver training.

At KINTO all our teams are housed under one roof, and accident management have a close dialogue with our downtime, technical, rental and account management, meaning KINTO accident management is able to draw on a wealth of experience and information.