The cost-of-living crisis is creating new potential grey fleet dangers as drivers’ personal finances come under increased pressure.

FleetCheck MD Peter Golding

FleetCheck has warned that even people on perceived good incomes are looking to save money and drivers using their own cars for business are being tempted to cut corners.

Peter Golding, managing director at the fleet management software specialist, warned: “There are several ways in which they might try to achieve this. One is to postpone routine maintenance, either in the shape of regular servicing or in delaying replacing wear items like tyres and brake pads. Another is that they might reduce their insurance cover to third-party only or not bother with the business element of their policy.

“We are already hearing anecdotal feedback that this is happening on some fleets and it is clear that fleet managers need to be extra-vigilant when it comes to the checks that they make on grey fleet drivers and vehicles.”

FleetCheck highlighted last month that the recent fall in company car numbers reported by HMRC almost certainly meant that the grey fleet was growing, probably as a result of drivers moving out of their fleet cars during successive lockdowns.

And while the company believes that such drivers will be tempted into the company car fleet in the longer term, due to the low-tax opportunity offered through EVs, grey fleet management will become a growing challenge in the interim – due to both shortcuts in expenditure and more/older private cars being used on company business.

“It’s certainly an area where we are looking to offer increased support to our customer base and we expect other suppliers in the fleet sector to be doing the same. This is going to be one of the big issues of 2023 and beyond for our sector, we believe,” Golding affirmed.