£2.6 Million Recovered for our Fleet Customers in 12 Months: Uninsured Loss Recovery Case Study
sopp+sopp’s market-leading Uninsured Loss Recovery solution, launched in December 2023, has to date recovered more than £3.5 million in non-fault incident costs on behalf of our fleet customers - £2.6 Million in the past 12 months alone.
Our dedicated Loss Recovery Team is headed by Steph Farrar - sopp+sopp’s Third-Party Claims Director - helping fleets to identify, intercept, and retrieve costs from at-fault third parties under a variety of incident circumstances.
From recovering vehicle repair and replacement costs, to calculating and recouping lost earnings from vehicle downtime & damaged cargo, our solution works fast to engage third parties and their insurers, securing high recovery success rates.
Here, we break down the performance of sopp+sopp’s Uninsured Loss Recovery solution over the past 12 months, and explore a case study involving a legacy claim - which was previously rejected by the client’s previous supplier.
Learn more about sopp+sopps Uninsured Loss Recovery service here:
Fleet ULR: Non-Fault Incident Costs Recovered
sopp+sopp launched our Uninsured Loss Recovery solution in December 2023 after recognising the sheer volume of non-fault incident costs which were previously written off by our fleet customers.
With over 20 years of experience in Fleet Accident Management, we understand just how costly road incidents can be for operators.
It’s not just the cost of repairing or replacing the vehicle that has an impact - but ancillary costs like damaged cargo, extended periods of vehicle downtime, and lost earnings - which can stack up significantly, and can be challenging to quantify.
Our dedicated Loss Recovery function seeks to solve this challenge - helping fleets identify eligible ULR claims quickly, calculate costs with high accuracy, and ensure they’re recovered swiftly, in full, from the liable third party.
“Time after time we talked to fleets who had no solution in place for ULR, simply absorbing the costs of non-fault incidents, because it was too complex and time-consuming to recover the losses themselves.
We also saw customers outsourcing their ULR to other providers, and being wrapped up in endless admin and legwork to facilitate the recovery of costs that they shouldn’t be exposed to in the first place.
This is why we decided we had to create a better solution for our customers to get their costs back when they’re hit by an at-fault party.
That’s where the Recoveries department came in! We have designed a service to take the hassle, confusion and complexity of Uninsured Loss Recovery out of our customers’ hands, and put their hard-earned cash back in their pockets.”
- Steph Farrar, Third Party Claims Director, sopp+sopp
Our market-leading record of fleet loss recovery:
The results of the past 12 months of our Uninsured Loss Recovery solution speak for themselves:
Total cash losses recovered: £2.6 Million
Average client recovery: £3,600
Average days to secure payment: 80 days
Paid within 7 days of billing: 10% of claims
Paid within 30 days of billing: 51% of claims
Steph Comments:
“Efficiency is at the heart of everything we do. We’re always on the front-foot with ULR claims, initiating liability and indemnity investigations as soon as the FNOL is reported to sopp+sopp, and making contact with the at-fault insurers immediately.
This puts us in a great position to have losses settled swiftly once repairs are completed, because the defendants are well aware of our involvement, and have already completed their liability enquiries, with our assistance, long before the invoices were available.”
ULR Case Study: Legacy claim unfrozen & costs recovered
sopp+sopp’s ULR solution has high success rates across even the most complex cases, as evidenced by the below case involving a previously rejected legacy claim, taken on by our team after more than a year of inaction from the previous supplier.
In April 2024, sopp+sopp were instructed on a significant number of legacy claims, which had been left unresolved by our customer’s incumbent supplier.
One particular claim had been unresolved for over 12 months, after being rejected by the supplier due to what they projected as a poor prospect of success.
Our customer requested for sopp+sopp’s recovery team to review this particular claim, and attempt recovery of the surrounding costs. Here’s how the claim, and our approach transpired:
1. Specialist fleet vehicle damaged by unsecured barrier
In December 2023, our customer’s specially adapted vehicle was struck by an unsecured barrier during routine work at one of their clients’ facilities, causing significant structural damage - with the driver only narrowly avoiding injury.
The vehicle was deemed a total loss, with an estimated repair cost totalling over £20,000. However, our customer’s incumbent ULR supplier rejected the recovery claim, suggesting that the driver displayed negligence, and therefore success would be unlikely.
2. After 18 months of inaction, sopp+sopp take the claim
sopp+sopp’s Loss Recovery team were handed the legacy claim in April 2024, and requested to investigate the circumstances to gauge whether recovery was possible.
Our team accepted the case, due to the significant losses incurred by our customer, and our shared belief in taking a bespoke, case-by-case approach to every claim we handle.
We worked collaboratively with our customer to not only gain understanding of the incident’s circumstances, and the impact, but also support them in ensuring the best possible chance of recovery.
3. Our market-leading ULR team begins investigation
Our recoveries team began conducting an intensive investigation into the incident circumstances, the damage sustained, and the actions taken by the operators of the site where the incident occurred.
We quickly found that the governing body responsible for the site had already conducted a thorough investigation, which confirmed that the gate had not been properly secured prior to the incident, causing it to swing open as the vehicle was passing.
In addition, the report recommended that a new quick-deploy mechanism should be fitted to prevent the occurrence of any future incidents. We considered this finding to be an admission of negligence from the site, which gave us leverage to approach the insurer for settlement.
4. Findings presented to the insurer, but liability initially rejected
Our Recoveries team presented this report, and its findings, to the site’s public liability insurer - who initially rejected liability, citing CCTV footage which showed the driver driving past the open gate upon entering the site.
They argued that the driver had a duty to report the unsecured gate as a hazard at this point, and therefore was liable for the incident upon exiting the site.
However, sopp+sopp responded by stressing that it lies within the site’s own responsibility to secure such fixtures appropriately, not the driver employed by a third-party supplier.
This successfully placed the focus back on the site’s accountability, and away from the suggestion of negligence on the driver’s part.
5. Case law & precedents utilised to ensure cost recovery
Throughout the process, sopp+sopp’s skilled team referenced relevant case law, and legal precedents, to stress the site’s liability for the unsecured gate, and the resulting incident.
This resulted in the liability insurer reviewing their previous conclusion of driver negligence, and ultimately re-engaging with our customer’s uninsured loss recovery claim.
6. Costs recovered & returned to our fleet customer
As a result of the skilled and determined efforts of our Recoveries team, the liability insurer agreed to a 50% contributory negligence admission - enabling us to secure a payout of over £10,000 on our customer’s behalf.
This ensured the fleet was shielded from the financial hit of the vehicle’s replacement, even after 18 months of inaction, and a prior rejection from their previous ULR supplier.
Payout was achieved in just 140 days from instruction, including the duration of our investigation, despite the significant freeze in action on the fleet’s behalf.
“Liability and indemnity are often not a straightforward matter, but our Recoveries team are tenacious about investigating fault, and will use all the tools at our disposal to ensure the best possible outcome for our customers.
Where others might shy away from a tricky negotiation, we will embrace the opportunity to gather and present any available evidence to secure a win for our clients. We fight for our customer’s money as if it’s our own!”
- Steph Farrar, Third Party Claims Director
Reclaim Non-Fault Incident Costs With sopp+sopp
sopp+sopp’s in-house Uninsured Loss Recovery provision empowers our fleet customers to minimise the costs associated with non-fault claims.
Our Motor Recoveries team works closely with our accident management specialists to ensure at-fault parties are identified swiftly and accurately, and engaged consistently to facilitate the best possible outcomes for our customers.
Cutting non-fault claims costs for our fleet customers
Our team works proactively to minimise the cost of non-fault claims for our customers. From the moment the incident occurs, they work to account for any costs incurred as a result, and engage third parties and their insurers to recover them where possible.
Steph comments:
“ULR has immense cost-saving benefits for our fleet customers; reimbursing them for the losses incurred from vehicle damage, associated hire claims, recovery and storage, damaged goods, as well as lost revenue from extended vehicle down-time, and any other reasonably-incurred costs resulting from the accident.”
Liaising with third parties & their insurers on your behalf
sopp+sopp liaises with third parties and their insurers on your behalf to recoup any costs eligible.
We’ll ensure third parties remain engaged throughout the process, and are invoiced consistently for any costs for which they are liable.
Delivered in-house; tailored to your fleet
Having our ULR function in-house enables us to tailor the process to your fleet’s unique requirements and policies, putting your brand and its reputation at the heart of our strategy.
We collect and utilise data throughout our partnership to identify your fleet’s specific challenges, obstacles, and opportunities - using this intelligence to promote an adaptive, responsive ULR service.
Steph explains:
“As everything is done in-house, in a custom-built process designed to plug-in seamlessly with our existing operations, customers can expect a coherent, end-to-end service, putting their vehicles back on the road and money back in their pockets.”
Seamless integration with your accident management process
Our ULR provision is integrated seamlessly with the rest of your accident management process, meaning we can work quickly to capture costs, identify liability, and settle eligible claims directly.
Steph comments:
“By offering this service as part of our wider accident management provision, we can streamline claims from inception to settlement, commencing investigations into liability and insurer involvement as soon as a new claim is reported.
This means settlements can be obtained faster and more efficiently once invoices become available. It is also a very hands-off process for our fleet customers, as instructions are automatically generated from FNOL, involving no extra admin for the fleet managers”
Operated on a ‘no-win, no-fee’ basis
We perform Uninsured Loss Recovery on a ‘no-win, no-fee’ basis for our customers, meaning there’s no risk to their brand of business, no matter the outcome.
This means they can harness the cost-saving benefit of ULR without the need for excess administration fees, or additional service outlay.
To learn more about sopp+sopp’s Uninsured Loss Recovery provision, or any of our other Fleet Accident Management services, get in touch today for a no-obligation chat!