Posted: Thursday, 10 July 2014
Later this summer, the landscape of driver licence information will change drastically thanks to an online database that will make individual driver information easily accessible to insurance companies. Once the database becomes available, insurance companies will no longer have to rely on the honesty of their customers to determine the level of risk they pose. Insurers will be able to conduct their own online licence checks quickly and easily.
As The Telegraph explained in a story published July 4 (2014), insurance companies currently ask drivers to report all of the necessary licence information needed to make rate decisions. Insurers are obviously depending on drivers to be honest in their answers. However, they are also smart enough to know that a certain percentage of drivers will not be.
The Association of British Insurers told The Telegraph that approximately 23% of adult drivers in the UK provide information that is incorrect. Nevertheless, insurance companies would rather live with that margin of error than have to deal with the time-consuming and expensive process of checking licences through the Driver & Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA). That will change as soon as the database goes online.
MyLicence is the name chosen for the new database and the programme to accompany it. Insurance companies, brokers, and insurance comparison websites are being urged to sign up for the service in advance of the database being made live. Those who do sign up will be able to check driver points with nothing more than an individual's licence number. The information will be as up-to-date as possible, instantly accessible by members at any time.
As for consumers, they are being told the new system offers them the potential of saving money on their insurance premiums by making sure that every driver is treated fairly and according to their actual driving histories. However, the message has done little to allay fears about online security and privacy. MyLicence will have to prove itself over time before consumers are ready to trust it.
Regardless of how anyone feels about MyLicence online licence checks, the fact is that the era of electronic data is here. Companies like ours have been offering licence-checking services to companies across the UK for several years. Our services make it possible for operators and fleet managers to keep track of their individual drivers and the licences they hold. Without services like ours, commercial operators would have to spend a tremendous amount of money and time performing routine checks.
Our service makes checking the licences of company drivers as easy as can be. Just furnish us with the necessary information and let us do the rest. The results are returned directly to you in no time at all. There is no waiting around, no dealing with the DVLA, and no need to trust that your drivers will simply be honest with you.
The UK's insurance companies will begin online licence checks later this summer in order to protect themselves against risky drivers. You should be doing the same in order to protect your company. Fleet Licence Check is here to help you do just that.
Source: The Telegraph