News analysis: Will NCDs for fleets catch on, and what does the future hold for the CV sector?

Matthew Collins has a warning for traditional commercial motor insurers. After nearly four decades working in insurance, the Ascend Broking Group managing director has witnessed countless shifts in the landscape. 

Now, he says, direct players are edging into mini-fleet, putting mounting pressure on insurers around service standards and claims handling. 

Pointing to Admiral’s data-led approach, which includes multi-van cover and fleet solutions via partnerships, he says: “Certain insurers are so inefficient in the way that they deliver the product to brokers and the service to clients, they are leaving the gate open.”

No-Claims Discount conversion is a case in point.

For brokers, it’s good news that last year Allianz announced it will reinstate NCD conversion on Acturis, while Zurich enhanced SME fleet e-trade by accepting NCD history.

But it raises important issues: why so few insurers have offered it until now, whether they can manage a more mixed risk profile, and where innovation ultimately lies in an increasingly threatened advisory market.

Benefits

Brokers value NCD conversion, but moving individually insured vehicles onto mini-fleet policies has been difficult, with insurers typically requiring clean Confirmed Claims Experience.

Fragmented records often make individual risks unattractive to underwriters.

We’re making a little glacial step change of something that should have been done 10 to 15 years ago as common practice.

Jon Newall, Prosura

Insurers are now accepting NCD history as a proxy, allowing brokers to consolidate vehicles into mini-fleets without full CCE.

Zurich says its move last September to accept NCD histories for new e-traded fleet business was driven by broker feedback, helping SMEs manage vehicles under one policy while reducing admin and improving Acturis efficiency.

Allianz commercial motor head Gerry Ross says one in five mini-fleet quotes now involve NCD conversion, while Aviva says it has offered the option for years through manual underwriting, giving insight into NCD quality and claims reliability.

Aviva mini-fleet product can now scale from 1 to 30 vehicles before larger risk handover to the mid-market team. 

Glacial pace 

Prosura founder Jon Newall says ‘very useful’ NCD conversion can help growing businesses involved with multi-vehicle operations. 

But he labels the pace of industry adoption as ‘glacial’. Too many SMEs are left without an underwriter to carry out the conversions. 

“There’s literally a handful of insurers that do it. We’re getting more and more each year, but it should just be common practice. It’s not rocket science. 

“It’s one of these things where we’re making a little glacial step change of something that should have been done 10 to 15 years ago as common practice. But we’re now patting ourselves on the back as an industry for doing it.”

Even with Allianz, Aviva and Zurich now accepting NCD conversion, insurers are still likely to be selective – particularly where risks originate from aggregator platforms.

This is particularly acute for firms that have grown via aggregators but now want the flexibility of an advised broker sale. 

Collins says he has come across clients with 10 or even 15 policies needing conversion. 

“The appetite is very, very small, and the reason for that is there’s no consistent way of obtaining data from those kind of insurers we’re talking about – those on the aggregator sites.”

Technology 

Data and systems are often seen as barriers to change, but technology itself appears to be less of a constraint here. 

Simon De Ferry, chief insurance products officer at Acturis, says the software provider has long supported NCD on fleet products. 

However, he says adoption ultimately depends on an individual insurer’s product design and rating complexity, with Acturis continuing to work with insurers to unlock more of the platform’s capability.

Zurich echoes this view. Nikki Lidster, head of SME at Zurich UK, says wider adoption of NCD conversion is being held back more by product design and operational complexity than by technology alone. 

Lidster argues that close broker collaboration, ongoing platform investment and responsive innovation are essential to making NCD conversion workable and relevant for today’s evolving SME fleet market.

“At Zurich, we listened closely to broker feedback and recognised the market demand for a more flexible solution that supports SMEs as they scale up and transition to fleet-rated insurance,” she says. “We have made it a priority to provide a proposition that brokers have asked for, and the response has been overwhelmingly positive to the propositional changes.”

Risk challenge 

While brokers are encouraged by more insurers accepting NCD conversion, it has sparked discussion over the risk profile. Are insurers taking on worse or better risks?

Toby Clegg, CEO of Clegg Gifford, believes that when structured correctly with well-selected and vetted risks, aggregation can be beneficial. 

It gives insurers a spread of risk across under-used vehicles while reducing administrative costs.

“That’s why Admiral has done so well on it,” he says. “You can see the logic – under-utilisation, more premium in the pot and everything contained in one policy.”

Nonetheless, NCD conversion does rely on proxy data, raising questions over how much uncertainty insurers are absorbing.

Ross strikes a cautious note, pointing to the underwriting profile Allianz is managing: “There are different factors to consider, as we don’t tend to have access to as much historical claims data, and NCD conversion tends to be for younger companies who don’t have an established fleet.”

Step into fleet

Collins, who has ample experience of SMEs seeking to convert price comparison-sourced policies, understands the risk profile means there is ‘a premium to be paid’.

To manage the risk, NCD conversion should be treated as a probationary step into fleet. This means higher initial pricing and performance-based discounts, allowing businesses to earn their way into standard fleet once a verified claims history is established. 

He also stresses the crucial role a broker plays in carrying out the due diligence. “We can’t compete with what a potentially inferior product provides online, at that online price. It’s impossible – it needs to be a premium product at a fair rate, but which provides the flexibility and access to many other things that brokers offer.”

Collins’ Ascend Broking team’s due diligence approach appears to be exactly the kind Zurich likes. Zurich wants to attract and underwrite risks presented as good by brokers, based on NCD. 

Lidster says brokers’ high due dilligence plays a role: “This level of oversight and rigour is reflected in the overall deal of performance and the quality of risks submitted.”

Zurich’s early data shows NCD conversion attracting a broadly similar risk profile to its traditional fleet-rated business, although – in line with Allianz’s observations – it is seeing a skew towards smaller fleets and businesses with fewer years of trading. 

Ultimately, Lidster says, NCD conversion supports responsible SME growth, rewarding positive claims history with improved terms and pricing as businesses expand.

Innovations and solutions 

As insurers balance flexibility with underwriting discipline, attention is turning to what comes next.

Brokers report claims is emerging as the next major focus – with faster repairs, clearer communication and reduced downtime seen as critical for small fleets balancing cost and continuity.

Collins says: “It’s a very slow process, that only penalises the client, not the insurer.”

The natural advantage lies with insurers that operate their own in-house accident repair networks.

By controlling capacity directly, they can secure repair bookings more quickly, authorise work without delay and streamline the supply chain. Artificial intelligence will bolster efficiency.

Explore

Aviva, which owns repair specialist Solus, is “continuing to explore areas that could add value for our brokers and customers, leveraging the breadth of Aviva’s expertise including our Solus garage network”.

But while physical control of repair capacity delivers immediate gains, it is data – and how insurers harness it – that increasingly defines the next phase of innovation.

This is where advancement in telematics can make a real difference. 

Telematics gives a live, predictive view of risk. For fleet, this matters. 

Driver mix changes constantly. Seasonal peaks, gig drivers, temporary staff, all of that makes historical NCD increasingly blunt. Behavioural scoring adapts in near real time.

Data

Andrew Brown-Allan, EVP Growth (EMEA) at IMS, works at one of the world’s leading telematics partners, partnering with fleet insurance firms. He says IMS is actively working with a major US data provider on portable driver safety scores, exploring how behaviour-based metrics – already more mainstream in North America – could be shared between insurers, creating a contributory database that mirrors no-claims discount.

He believes the UK can learn from North America, and claims it’s a myth UK insurers are more sophisticated on data. 

“I think it was true at the time. It’s no longer the case. I think they’ve become much more thorough in the way they use their data.”

Appetite

For now, insurers appear focused on refining existing solutions.

Whether NCD conversion becomes standard practice or a narrow offering will depend on insurers’ appetite for risk – and their willingness to innovate, perhaps spurred by pressure from direct players. 

Brokers welcome the progress, but the real test will be how far the market is prepared to go. 

Especially given Collins’ warning for traditional fleet carriers looking more prescient in recent weeks given the news of Admiral’s acquisition of MGA Flock, and the pair’s plan to win more intermediary business.

For all the latest industry news direct to your inbox, sign up for our daily newsletter.