Firms fail to check private vehicles used for business

A damning new report reveals that fleet managers are still failing to check the details of staff who use their own car for business.

In a recent study, a leading fuel management company found that while it is routine procedure to check an employee’s driving licence before handing over the keys to a company car, more than a third of businesses fail to carry out similar checks for employees who use their own vehicles on company business.

The report also found that while fleet managers’ greatest concern in relation to this so called grey fleet is whether vehicles have business-use insurance, 52% still do not have a policy to check insurance details.

Roadworthiness, including maintenance, servicing and overall reliability were also cited by 23% of fleet managers as a major concern.

However, the report suggests that more than 75% of own-vehicle drivers are not required by their employers to produce a valid MOT certificate.

An even greater number, 83.6%, fail to check if private vehicles used for business are regularly serviced.

There are now some one million non-company owned vehicles on Britain’s roads being used for business although many people in the industry believe that the issues highlighted in the study will lead to a return to company car schemes.