Fleet and commercial vehicle insurance
The one class where insurance is compulsory by statute in order to drive at all, and where the difference between companies is not whether they buy it but how they negotiate a whole portfolio.
What it is
Insuring a fleet splits into two planes worth keeping apart. The first is compulsory motor liability, which the statute imposes on every motor vehicle in order to drive, and whose cover amounts the statute itself fixes. The second is everything else: damage to your own vehicle, liability above the compulsory ceiling, roadside assistance, legal defence and downtime — all bought voluntarily, and where the real negotiation happens.
What distinguishes a fleet from a pile of separately insured cars is the management: one policy on portfolio terms, vehicles added and removed without recalculating the whole contract, claims experience measured in aggregate, and a renewal negotiated on consolidated data. At a company running commercial vehicles, that treatment is usually worth more than any difference in unit premium.
Speak to a technical adviser: 932 419 400
At a glance
- Compulsory, bodily injury
- €70m
- Compulsory, property damage
- €15m
- Above the compulsory ceiling
- Voluntary cover
- Broker registered with the DGSFP
- J0140
Fleets hold two contracts of opposite natures. One is compulsory and its amounts are fixed by statute; the other is voluntary and is where everything gets negotiated.
The consolidated Spanish Motor Liability and Insurance Act sets out in article 4 the compulsory cover amounts: €70 million per accident for bodily injury, whatever the number of victims, and €15 million per accident for property damage. And it adds two qualifications that tend to be overlooked.
The first is in paragraph 3: where compensation exceeds the compulsory cover amount, it is paid from that cover up to its ceiling and the remainder falls on voluntary cover or on whoever is liable. Which means the company's own balance sheet, where none was bought.
The second, in paragraph 4: where the accident occurs in another EEA state with a vehicle normally based in Spain, that state's limits apply, unless the Spanish ones are higher. For a fleet that crosses borders, that turns motor insurance into one more piece of the international programme.
Where a fleet is actually won
Not on unit premium, but on three structural decisions.
The first is segmentation. Putting a whole portfolio on comprehensive overprices the old vehicles; leaving it all on liability leaves the new ones exposed. Tiering by age, value and use — comprehensive, comprehensive with excess, third party extended — is where premium is recovered without losing cover.
The second is documented claims experience. A renewal is negotiated on frequency and average cost by segment, by site and by driver. The company that arrives with that in order argues the loading; the one that does not, accepts it.
The third is the real cost of downtime. In an operating fleet, the expensive part of a loss is rarely the third-party payout but the days the vehicle is not earning. Assistance and a replacement vehicle weigh more on the accounts than the premium difference between two quotes.
Why through a broker
As a brokerage registered with the Spanish insurance regulator, the Dirección General de Seguros y Fondos de Pensiones, under reference J0140, New Brokers acts on the client's mandate, not on any insurer's behalf.
In fleets the value sits less in the initial placement and more in what follows: handling additions and deletions without reopening the contract, centralising reporting, chasing the open claims that distort the statistics, and arriving at renewal with your own numbers in hand. It is unglamorous administrative work that decides the premium for years afterwards.
What is covered
Compulsory motor liability
The cover the statute requires in order to drive, with amounts fixed by the rules themselves rather than by anything agreed in the policy.
Voluntary motor liability
The layer responding above the compulsory ceiling. Without it, anything exceeding the statutory amounts falls on whoever is liable for the accident.
Own damage to the vehicle
Comprehensive cover with or without an excess, usually differentiated by age and vehicle type within the same fleet.
Fire, theft and glass
The intermediate sections that let older vehicles be covered without going fully comprehensive, useful for tiering a mixed portfolio.
Legal defence and recovery
Defence of driver and company, and recovery against the liable third party, handled centrally across the fleet.
Roadside assistance and replacement vehicle
The cover that reduces the real cost of a loss in an operating fleet: not the damage, but the days the vehicle is not working.
Occupants and driver
Injury to the driver and passengers, which motor liability does not cover in respect of the at-fault driver themselves.
Goods and equipment carried
The load and any tools or equipment fitted, which motor cover does not include and which need their own section or a transport policy.
Mobile plant and special vehicles
Forklifts, platforms and self-propelled machinery, under a regime distinct from ordinary cars and commercial vehicles.
Fleet and claims management
The service that comes with the policy: a single reporting route, tracking of open claims and frequency analysis by driver and by site.
Limits and deductible
| Item | Statutory regime |
|---|---|
| Bodily injury (art. 4.2.a) | €70 million per accident |
| Property damage (art. 4.2.b) | €15 million per accident |
| Excess over those amounts (art. 4.3) | Falls on voluntary cover or the liable party |
| Accident in another EEA state (art. 4.4) | That state's limits, or Spain's if higher |
| Quantifying bodily injury | Assessed under the statutory scale |
The amounts in this table are those set by the consolidated Spanish Motor Liability and Insurance Act as currently in force, not the terms of any particular policy. The statute also provides for automatic updating should the European Commission raise the EU minimums. Voluntary cover, limits and excesses are governed in every case by the specific conditions.
New cover
Request a proposal and terms
We analyse your activity and your real exposure before approaching the market.
Request a proposalExisting client
Download your certificate
Your certificates, policies and requests are available in the client area.
Go to the client areaWhat is not covered
In a fleet, what falls outside almost always has to do with who was driving, on what licence, and what the vehicle was being used for.
Driving without a valid licence, or by a driver not authorised under the policy conditions.
Driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs — with the particularity that compulsory cover does indemnify the injured party and then pursues recovery against the driver.
Use of the vehicle in trials, competitions or sporting training.
Carriage of people or goods outside the use declared in the policy.
Goods carried and undeclared fitted equipment, which belong to a transport policy or an express section.
Damage to your own vehicle where only liability cover was bought — the most frequent mismatch in mixed fleets.
Wear, mechanical breakdown and maintenance, which are not loss events.
Vehicles without a current roadworthiness test where the policy expressly requires it.
When you will be asked for it
A serious accident with multiple casualties
A company vehicle causes an accident with several seriously injured people and the compensation exceeds what was expected.
What it means
Compulsory cover responds up to €70 million per accident for bodily injury, whatever the number of victims. Anything above the statutory amounts falls on voluntary cover or, where none was bought, on whoever is liable.
An accident in another EU country
A vehicle normally based in Spain suffers a loss in another EEA state whose compulsory limits are different.
What it means
The limits of the state where the accident happens apply, unless the Spanish amounts are higher, in which case those govern. It is why a fleet operating internationally gets reviewed alongside the international programme, not in isolation.
A mixed fleet on a single basis
The company runs new cars, ten-year-old delivery vans and self-propelled plant, all on the same cover basis.
What it means
Putting the whole fleet on comprehensive overprices the old vehicles for no reason; leaving it all on liability leaves the new ones exposed. Tiering by age and use — comprehensive, comprehensive with excess, third party extended — is where premium is recovered without losing cover.
How it is arranged
Inventory and segmentation
We build the schedule of vehicles with registration, type, age, value and actual use, and group them by cover basis rather than insuring them one by one.
Aggregate claims analysis
We review frequency and average cost by segment, by site and by driver. That is the data a portfolio is negotiated on, and the data companies rarely have in order.
Placing it as a portfolio, not a pile of policies
We negotiate fleet terms: premium by segment, differentiated excesses, an additions and deletions procedure that does not reopen the contract, and profit-sharing clauses where volume allows.
Day-to-day management and renewal
We centralise reporting and the tracking of open claims, and reach renewal with the claims record documented instead of accepting whatever loading the insurer proposes.
Covers that work alongside this one
Transport and cargo
Motor cover does not extend to the goods being carried: two contracts, two regimes, two sets of limits.
General, employers' and product liability
An employee injured while driving on company business also opens the employers' route, beyond the motor policy.
Property damage and business interruption
Fixed machinery answers under the property policy; self-propelled machinery that drives on the road, under this one. The boundary is drawn vehicle by vehicle.
International programmes
A fleet crossing borders meets different compulsory limits in each country, which requires coordinating local cover.
Construction and inherent defects
On site, machinery insured under contractors' all risks sits alongside vehicles that drive on the road and need motor cover.
Frequently asked questions
How much does compulsory motor cover pay in Spain?
The amounts are set by statute, not by the policy: €70 million per accident for bodily injury, whatever the number of victims, and €15 million per accident for property damage. The statute also provides for those amounts to be updated should the European Commission raise the EU minimums. Anything beyond those figures falls on voluntary cover or on whoever is liable for the accident.
What does voluntary cover add if compulsory cover is already that high?
Different things, not more of the same. Compulsory cover only covers third-party liability: it does not cover your own vehicle, theft, fire, assistance, legal defence, or the at-fault driver. In an operating fleet the real cost of a loss is usually not the third-party payout but the days the vehicle is off the road.
Is a single fleet policy worth it?
Generally yes, and not for the premium but for the administration: additions and deletions without reopening the contract, one point of contact for claims, and a renewal argued on aggregate claims experience rather than vehicle by vehicle. Savings also come from tiering by age and use instead of applying one basis to the whole portfolio.
What happens if the accident is in another European country?
If the vehicle is normally based in Spain and the accident occurs in another EEA state, that state's cover limits apply; however, where the Spanish amounts are higher, the Spanish ones govern. For a fleet operating internationally it is worth reviewing alongside the rest of the international programme.
Does the lorry's policy cover the goods it carries?
No. They are two separate contracts under separate regimes: motor cover answers for damage caused by the vehicle, while the goods answer under a transport policy, with domestic limits calculated by weight. It is one of the most expensive misunderstandings in the sector.
What information do you need to prepare a proposal?
The schedule of vehicles with registration, type, age, value and actual use, the claims record of recent years with frequency and average cost, the policy on use and authorised drivers, and the current policies with their specific conditions and renewal dates.
This information is for guidance only and is not binding. Covers, limits and exclusions are governed in all cases by the specific terms of each policy. New Brokers Correduría de Seguros, S.L., registered with the DGSFP under reference J0140.