Major fleet insurer Lumley Insurance has given this year’s best-performance accolade to supermarket giant Woolworths, which it says has “inspired excellence” in fleet risk management.

More than 120 fleet and risk professionals attended Lumley’s annual Motor Benchmark Awards in Sydney last week and were given information and statistics to help benchmark their own fleet.

National Motor Risk Services Manager Corporate Robert O’Shea says with 93% of car crashes involving driver error, the key to success lies in a well-structured fleet risk management program.

He told insuranceNEWS.com.au the average claims rate has decreased to 30% over the past three years from 37%, due mainly to reasonable weather conditions and the steady economic climate up until the past year.

“The next three years will hopefully see an improvement in the rate as more organisations monitor their costs more carefully,” he said.

But while the global financial crisis has encouraged fleet managers to closely monitor their costs, it has also led to the cost of claims per vehicle increasing by 10% due to a rise in the price of parts as new vehicle sales slow.