The tension on insurance prices in the TRM has intensified in recent months. The situation is getting worse and could even get worse with the arrival of electric trucks and the resurgence natural disasters. Focus on a worrying phenomenon.
Mission impossible? At the end of the year, most insurance brokers are looking for solutions from carriers to try to lower their insurance bills. “Finding a service provider is becoming more and more difficult, because companies have become wary of transport, considered a risky sector,” explains Axel Morvant, broker at the Morvant firm.
Many have turned away from this profession which is subject to numerous hazards: road accidents, damage to goods, theft and claims… “Insuring a carrier exposes you to risks whose costs have increased,” continues Axel Morvant. Result: insurers have made significant price increases, particularly for professional traffic liability and fleet insurance.
Average increases of around 8% to 10%
“Concerning companies with decent results, i.e. a claims-to-premium ratio of less than 0.55, the average increases observed for 2023 were of the order of 8% to 10%. Those with degraded risks experienced higher increases, up to more than 30%,” explains Virginie Bellec, of the Bellecour brokerage firm in Lyon. “Fewer and fewer players agree to cover the risks of TRM. Some big manufacturers have withdrawn and we can now count the service providers active in this sector on the fingers of one hand,” even assures Axel Morvant. And the situation is worse for express courier and delivery companies under 3.5 t, which have to deal with only two service providers.
“The risk bearers have withdrawn one after the other and the choice is even more reduced for companies with a fleet of more than 100 vehicles. »
As for the passenger sector, it is even worse, since there is only one left, Axa. “The risk bearers have withdrawn one after the other and the choice is even more reduced for companies with a fleet of more than 100 vehicles,” notes Yann Chevalier, corporate account manager for the Guemas firm. “We have moved from an oligopolistic system to a few systemic players who must ensure profitability,” adds Damien Hecquet, director of the brokerage company Coeos. Service providers have become very vigilant and it happens that good deals end up without an insurer, or that conditions are imposed on them that they had not considered. “Insurers are content to keep their customers without seeking new ones through an aggressive policy. Which makes risks difficult to place,” regrets Damien Hecquet.
Recourse to the central pricing office on the rise
A carrier who has suffered an increase in his insurance premium has 30 days to change insurer. “This is where many turn to brokers, who cannot perform miracles,” warns Axel Morvant. At the end of October, Yann Chevalier received 2 to 3 requests from new customers per day. “We will not be able to guarantee them a solution,” he warns. And for good reason, in 50% of cases, these companies have already contacted all market players in vain.
It has become even more difficult to find a provider willing to cover professionals with a poor claims history. “Those who have a frequency of claims beyond the average for the profession are automatically excluded. Insurance companies don’t even bother to study their file,” warns Axel Morvant. “The actors who still cover the TRM are overwhelmed with requests and only take the right files. The bad ones will go to the central pricing office (BCT),” predicts Yann Chevalier.
“Now is not the time to rotate the wallet to get better terms. »
The administrative authority responsible for guaranteeing the insurance obligation may impose coverage of the civil traffic liability of a transport company on an insurer, at the rate it has decided, after studying its file. The Guemas cabinet, which did not have a file to prepare for the BCT two years ago, processed five in 2023 and expects to have around ten on the table this year. “This is not the time to rotate the portfolio to obtain better conditions,” confirms Damien Hecquet, who advises his clients with a good partner to entrust him with all of their contracts. “In the event of a problem in a sector, the insurer will hesitate to cancel a client for whom it covers the fleet, the goods, the premises, the comprehensive insurance and the mutual insurance,” he says.
Tension on the multi-risk market professional
To compensate for the compensation that insurers had to pay for damage caused by floods and hail, the prices of professional comprehensive insurance have also increased. Forced by its poor results into a technical recovery plan, MMA, which insured many carriers, therefore carried out numerous portfolio terminations and price increases. “The insurer imposes surcharges of 30 to 50% on its customers identified as “bad risk”. As a result, we find ourselves with tons of office and logistics building files to replace, for which other insurers are vigilant and expensive,” says Yann Chevalier.
In addition to inflation, insurers’ pricing must also take into account the 793 million euros that urban violence cost them in 2023 and the bill of 6.5 billion euros linked to natural disasters. “The only solution to lower the fleet insurance premium is to reduce the number of accidents through prevention,” encourages Damien Hecquet.
“Install dashcams to film what’s happening outside the truck.”
And again. “This just allows us to limit the increases,” assures Yann Chevalier, who reports that one of his clients, who had suffered a 100% increase in his fleet insurance last year, was still subject to an increase. cyclical rate of 13% for 2025, despite drastic efforts to reduce its loss ratio. To try to limit the bill, the broker recommends setting a very high deductible and installing dashcams to film what is happening outside the truck, but also in the cabin, because cell phone use is a big problem. cause of accidents. He also advises not to declare anything that can be settled amicably and to waive all risk for vehicles more than five years old.
The bill could amount to the next few years
Damien Hecquet encourages companies to set up post-accident interviews to understand what happened and prevent it from happening again. “Because if there is not a drop in claims, the years to come will be complicated for carriers,” he warns. Tomorrow worse than today? Yann Chevalier considers that the widespread use of electric vehicles, the price of which is high, will contribute to further increasing the price of insurance.
Because in the event of theft, the bill will be higher for insurers. These vehicles are also subject to a fire risk linked to lithium batteries. Furthermore, insurers have warned that the price of multi-risk home cover will be multiplied by two in the next five to seven years, in order to take into account the explosion in the number of natural disasters.
This will affect individuals, but also professionals, who could see their local professional insurance increase by 10 to 20% per year. “All these increases, transport companies will have to be able to pass them on to their customers by increasing their prices, otherwise they will all disappear,” worries Axel Morvant.
VC
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Cyber risk poorly taken into account
Caught by the throat by the price of compulsory insurance, carriers neglect cyber risk. “In small businesses, we still consider that this only happens to others,” regrets broker Axel Morvant. However, there are contracts that are not too expensive for good coverage and a significant offer. » For this type of insurance with coverage and support in the event of an attack, you need to count on between €700 and €800 in premiums for a company with a few dozen trucks.
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Some figures
In 2021, 2,545 injury accidents involved a heavy goods vehicle in mainland France. Heavy goods vehicles are involved in 15% of fatal road accidents. In 2022, 408 people died in an accident involving a truck in France.
A heavy goods vehicle is stolen every 2 hours in France. Truck and cargo thefts increased by 10% in 2021 compared to the previous year. The average cost of a claim in the road transport sector has soared due to the rise in prices of vehicles and spare parts. It varies between 5,000 and 50,000 euros, or even beyond, depending on the nature of the accident and the damage caused.
Source : SDES
