Fleet Insurance

A fleet policy doesn't add new types of coverage. It insures the same parts as a commercial auto policy, written once for the whole group of vehicles instead of vehicle by vehicle.

If the fleet includes tractors or heavy straight trucks, those units bring CVOR, cargo and filing requirements covered on our commercial truck page. Mixed fleets are common, and one program can hold both.

Ontario's automobile insurance regulation defines a fleet as a group of not fewer than five automobiles in which at least five are commercial vehicles, public vehicles or vehicles used for business purposes. The vehicles must be under common ownership or management, and any leased for more than 30 days must be leased to the same insured. Other provinces and individual insurers set their own thresholds, so five is a useful rule of thumb rather than a national standard.

Crossing the line changes more than the price. Under the same regulation, two Insurance Act protections that apply to ordinary auto policies don't apply to fleet policies:

The practical effect is that fleet renewals are negotiated, not filed. Start the renewal early, with current loss runs and a clean vehicle schedule, so there is time to respond if terms change. Our renewal season guide sets out a timeline.

The main structural choice in a fleet program is how vehicles get on and off the policy. Each method trades administration against the risk of a vehicle slipping through.

Blanket coverage is the most convenient and the least forgiving at renewal. Sovereign Insurance's broker guidance notes that a vehicle owned before the policy term but missing from the schedule won't be covered under the blanket, that a claim on an unscheduled vehicle requires proof it was bought during the term, and that in Ontario the 21B blanket fleet endorsement itself must be signed and returned. A 50/50 adjustment compares the vehicles at the start and end of the term and charges half the difference. A pro-rata adjustment charges for the exact time each vehicle was on the policy.

Blanket fleets suit groups of vehicles with the same coverage and deductibles, and owners who keep good records of additions and disposals. Fleets with irregular vehicles or frequent class changes are often better on a reporting basis.

A business with five vans can insure them on one fleet policy or on separate commercial auto policies. The coverage is the same. The economics and administration are not.

Our post on fleet policies versus individual commercial auto walks through the switch point in more detail.

On a fleet, the drivers are the risk. An underwriter reviewing a fleet wants to see that you choose drivers deliberately, check their records, and act when a record changes.

In Ontario, a 3-year driver record shows demerit points, active fine suspensions, and Highway Traffic Act and Criminal Code convictions and suspensions from the past three years. Anyone with the driver's licence number can order one, at $12 uncertified or $18 certified. Fleets ordering 100 or more records at a time are referred to the Ministry of Transportation's Authorized Requester Program. Get the driver's written consent as part of hiring, and re-check each record at least once a year.

Drivers with serious convictions don't have to end a relationship, but they do need a decision: exclude them from driving, restrict them, or accept a higher rate with the insurer's agreement.

For heavy commercial vehicles, some of this is regulation rather than choice. Ontario requires certified electronic logging devices for drivers who had to keep daily hours-of-service logs, with penalties applying from January 1, 2023. Drivers who stay within a 160 km radius of their starting point and return there, rentals of 30 days or less, and vehicles older than model year 2000 are among the exemptions. Most light fleets of cars and vans fall outside these rules entirely.

Voluntary telematics is a different tool. GPS tracking, harsh braking and speed scoring, and forward-facing cameras help a fleet do three things insurers care about: coach risky drivers before they have a claim, recover stolen vehicles, and defend disputed collisions with evidence. Some insurers recognise documented programs in pricing, and almost all recognise them in claims outcomes. Our post on how telematics cuts commercial auto costs covers what to measure.

Hypothetical. A plumbing contractor runs 14 vans on a blanket fleet policy renewing on April 1. In February it buys a used van and puts it into service. At renewal, the office sends the insurer last year's vehicle schedule, which doesn't include the February van.

In June the February van is in a collision. Because it was owned before the April term started and wasn't on the signed schedule, the blanket's automatic coverage for newly acquired vehicles doesn't reach it. The contractor now faces a coverage dispute on a vehicle it has been paying to run every day.

The fix costs one afternoon: reconcile the vehicle schedule against ownership and lease records before every renewal, have an owner sign it, and send it with the renewal submission. Had the van been bought in May, after the term began, it would have been covered automatically and charged at the end-of-term adjustment.

Small fleets are priced much like commercial auto: vehicle by vehicle, driver by driver. As a fleet grows, its own claims history carries more weight, because there is enough data for an underwriter to rely on. That is the real benefit of fleet rating. It rewards a good record and exposes a poor one.

Our post on why commercial auto costs what it costs explains the rating factors in more depth, and our risk management services help build the safety file underwriters look for.

Fleets often place better as part of a full program with liability and property. See bundle and save.

On a fleet, claims management is a pricing tool. Every claim reported late, defended badly or left open with a high reserve shows up in the loss runs the next underwriter reads.

Our claims team supports fleet clients through adjustment and reserve reviews, and our guide to how a business claim works explains each stage.