How new legislation is affecting bus and coach fleets
CLA (Risk Solutions) Ltd
The effects of climate change are having a major impact on bus and coach operators throughout the world.
Many of the world’s capital cities are looking at ways of reducing vehicle emissions and congestion in their central districts by imposing congestion charges and permits or restricting some types of vehicles altogether.
Paris and Rome are looking at banning tourist buses from their centres to encourage visitors to use more eco-friendly options.
Alternatively, bus and coach operators are having to review their fleets to make their vehicles more environmentally friendly by using new technology such as all electric vehicles.
London will see the world’s first hydrogen-powered double-decker bus on its streets in 2020. Southampton is experimenting with buses that clean the air from a filter system on the roof.
Birmingham is preparing for its clean air zone in 2020 along with other major cities to ensure only compliant vehicles can operate within the designated area.
Electrification of bus and coach fleets Forecasts carried out by a variety of sources predict that electric buses operating in Europe will increase massively by 2025.
In a press release by the Mayor of London in 2018, the goal of Transport for London was: “TfL aims to have 240 electric buses running on the network and for all new double-deck buses to be zero-emissions or hybrid, with every single-deck bus in central London to be zero-emission by the following year. Ultimately, by 2037 all buses in London will be zero-emission.”
The West Midlands recently received funding from the Department for Transport to support the purchase of 17 new electric vehicles.
The funding includes infrastructure such as charge points. Other regions are benefitting from similar funding.
The next five years are probably going to see the biggest change to our transport networks in recent history.
These changes will also affect the costs to maintain vehicles such as damage repairs, battery replacement and the effect, if any, this will have on insurance premiums.
Bus, coach and minibus insurance
There are reports that suggest electric cars are more expensive to insure and providers are difficult to find.
The insurance industry is still accumulating historic data regarding the cost of repairs and insurers will minimise their risks and potentially raise premiums until these vehicles become more mainstream.
Other reports consider that because electric cars are less powerful and have a reduced range, they are less likely to be stolen, therefore premiums should be less.
As more data becomes available and electric car use increases, it is expected that premiums will reduce.
The same applies to electric commercial vehicles.
Again, this can sometimes make it difficult to find the best insurance policy for your needs at a reasonable price. This is where a specialist insurance broker can help.
At CLA Risk Solutions we can search the entire market for the right policy for your individual business.
Whether you are running petrol, diesel or zero emission vehicles or a combination.
One vehicle or a fleet of vehicles, we can call on years of experience within our team to find suitable cover for all your requirements.
This can include additional cover such as:
• Unsatisfied court judgements
• Compensation for court attendance
• Legal expenses arising from health and safety and corporate manslaughter legislation
• Defective premises
• Leased premises
• Contingent liability (for non-owned vehicles)
• Car park and cloakroom liability
Call CLA Risk Solutions for all your vehicle insurance requirements on 0121 321 4600.