At the Council we only insure Third Party with insurers and have chosen to self insure for our own damage. It should be noted that our vehicles are only covered when they are used for business use only. Vehicles should not be used for private use as there will be no insurance cover in place should an incident occur.

Where an incident occurs and our vehicle has caused damage to a third party vehicle, we will submit a claim to our insurers. There must have been fault on the part of the driver for a claim to be accepted and the vehicle must have been used on council business at the time of the incident.

If a third party causes damage to our vehicle, we will pay for our own damage out of the insurance fund, but we will then recover the costs from the third party.

If damage is caused to our vehicle only as a result of a specific incident, then payment for the cost of repairs will be made out of the insurance motor fund.

The majority of council vehicles are operated through the Transport Operations Group (TOG), although some vehicles, mostly school minibuses, can be insured directly through the Risk Management & Insurance team. For the latter vehicles, insurance certificates will be issued by the Risk Management & Insurance team and TOG will hold certificates in respect of vehicles under their management.

If you are involved in accident:

Within 48 hours
You must notify your supervisor or the Transport Operations Group if appropriate. They, in turn, must notify the Insurance Team.

Within seven days (five workings days)
Completed claim forms must be forwarded to your supervisor or the Transport Operations Group as soon as possible as the claim form must be received at the Insurance Team within seven days of date of the accident.

Please note

• All estimates, invoices and hire invoices must be forwarded to the Risk Management & Insurance Team as soon as possible.

The Risk Management & Insurance Team must be advised of any additional information or changes as soon as possible, for example if it becomes known that a hire vehicle will be necessary.

The following should also be noted:

• Only damage consistent with a specific incident will be covered, the insurance is not there to cover damage due to normal wear and tear and maintenance.
• Prompt notification of a claim is imperative in order that the circumstances of the claim can be considered and any third party notified promptly so that a recovery can be obtained. Any claim received after a two month period will not be accepted as our position could well have been prejudiced by such a delay
• Anyone driving their own car on Shropshire Council business must have their own motor insurance extended to cover business use.
• Anyone driving a vehicle belonging to Shropshire Council must undergo the Drivers Assessment scheme which is operated by the Road Safety Team. Please note that pool cars are excluded where they are not carrying members of the public.

Motor Accidents and Full Disclosure - please click on the link here to read a useful article