Although some rental businesses are already using telematics technology to tackle accident rates as well as theft and fraud, In-car Cleverness says not every business has embraced it. It added that an overhaul of technology used within the rental sector could help save the industry £5m – or £5,000 for each business – in insurance bills annually.

Paul O’Dowd, sales manager at In-car Cleverness, explained: “Technology is a game changer for any business with a fleet of vehicles, but analysing the rental sector alone our customers are typically able to slash insurance costs by 20% or more.

“Some businesses negotiate a substantial contribution to the cost of adopting the telematics technology itself, and so can benefit from a lot more than just cutting insurance bills.” 

Steven Cooke of Next Vehicle Rental added: “Our insurance company actually contributed the cost of the roll-out of telematics across our fleet. They are actively supporting us to reduce vehicle theft and losses. As a result, its contribution amounted to an insurance saving of over 18%.”

In-car Cleverness added that implementing telematics could also help utilisation, maintenance and residual values be managed more efficiently.