Amsterdam, 08 February 2012 – TomTom has made a landmark move into the insurance market by providing the technology behind a new insurance product, which bases premiums on driving behaviour.

TomTom has teamed up with insurance broker Motaquote for the launch of Fair Pay Insurance – a product that rewards ‘good’ drivers with lower premiums.

“Our entry in the insurance market with our proven fleet management technology puts us at the forefront of a move that could help to revolutionize the motor insurance industry,” said Thomas Schmidt, Managing Director TomTom Business Solutions.

“We offer a unique combination of navigation, traffic information and telematics which opens up great opportunities for insurance companies to promote greener, safer driving and create a ground breaking portfolio of new insurance products.”

“We are delighted Motaquote have recognized this potential in the launch of such an innovative product.”

Fair Pay Insurance gives drivers control over their own policy by using driving ability and behaviour to allocate premiums, rather than so-called risk factors such as postcode, gender, and age or vehicle type.

“We’ve dispensed with generalizations and said to our customers, if you believe you’re a good driver, we’ll believe you and we’ll even give you the benefit up front,” said Nigel Lombard, Managing Director of Fair Pay Insurance.

“This is unlike some other telematics-based schemes where you may have to prove your ability over a number of months. So if you think of your insurance as your car’s MPG – the better you drive, the longer your fuel will last. It’s the same with Fair Pay Insurance, good drivers get more for their money and in that sense they will pay ultimately less.”

Drivers who sign up for Fair Pay will benefit from a specially-developed TomTom PRO 3100 navigation device, which includes Active Driver Feedback and LIVE Services. This means policy-holders can be alerted to driving events, such as harsh cornering and sharp breaking, and benefit from accurate traffic information updated every two minutes.

They will also have a LINK tracking unit fitted in their vehicles, allowing driver behaviour and habits to be monitored. This information can then be viewed by the policy-holder in their driver dashboard, an online tool that details journey and driver behavior data, and in regular email bulletins.

GPS Fleet Tracking systems help you get the most out of your employees, both in the office and in the field.

In five key areas

1: Saving you money

By reducing the amount of fuel used to carry out the same tasks, GPS Fleet systems repeatedly prove to save fleet operators money. Whether this is achieved through reduced idle times, more accurate monitoring of private use or through more direct journeys, the money saved on fuel can result in the system paying for itself in as little as six months! Many Fleet customers have saved up to £1,000 a year per vehicle, on reduced fuel costs alone. Case studies are available upon request.

2: Servicing your customers

No matter what market you operate in, standing out from the competition by providing first class customer service is vital. Telematic Fleet systems provide powerful information at a glance, empowering you to keep customers informed whilst maximising the efficiency of your drivers. Through LIVE vehicle tracking, your team can provide accurate arrival times, search for vehicles closest to a chosen location, generate detailed journey reporting for proof of service, and educate drivers on efficient routes.

3: Aiding productivity

Ensuring the productivity of your workforce is a very difficult task, even with the most loyal and committed employees. Coupled with this is the burden of administration involved with owning and operating a vehicle fleet. Fleet Tracking systems automatically capture data on vehicle usage, meaning you can generate detailed and powerful reports at a click of a button – without the legwork! LIVE vehicle monitoring also helps you ensure your vehicles and drivers are where they should be. The impact a fleet tracking system has on driver behaviour is particularly interesting. The initial, and often negative attitude drivers have is quickly replaced with a sense of acceptance and reassurance that their safety and wellbeing are of importance to their employer. Furthermore, the knowledge that their location is being monitored results in a reduction in vehicle abuse and more direct and efficient journeys.

4: Helping you comply

The Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007 came into force on April 6, 2008. If senior management have shown gross negligence to the health and safety of their workforce and a death occurs, an offence of corporate manslaughter or corporate homicide now applies. Perhaps more significantly, individual senior managers can now be held personally responsible for the health and safety of their employees. Fleet tracking systems automate the monitoring of vehicle usage and reminds your team when vehicle services are due, when tyres and cam-belts need replacing, help to identify drivers that drive excessively fast, and when vehicles are being used improperly. LIVE vehicle tracking also lets you produce detailed journey and incident reports.

5: Helping reduce your footprint

CO2 emissions from corporate travel can account for over 25% of a company’s carbon ‘footprint’. Emissions from travel are highly visible to staff, investors and customers, and often linked to the perceived environmental impact a business has on the environment. Reducing the carbon use of your vehicle fleet is an obvious area for you to target in order to reduce your overall carbon use. GPS Fleet tracking systems provide you with the ability to calculate how much carbon your fleet is using, empowering you to take measures to reduce or offset this use. It does this through an intelligent Carbon Usage Calculator that automatically considers vehicle type, engine size, fuel type, miles travelled and variable speeds.

Road Angel Fleet’s products provide tangible benefits to fleet operators, and considering their low cost, deliver outstanding return on investment.

According to TomTom research Companies fail to offer fuel-saving driver training.

London, February 2, 2012 – More than half of businesses operating vehicle fleets do not offer their employees training on safe, cost-efficient driving a new study has revealed.

According to research, commissioned by fleet management specialists TomTom Business Solutions, 54 per cent of companies have not introduced formal training to improve their employees’ driving style – even in the face of rising fuel prices.

A more economical driving style typically results in fuel consumption savings of around 14 per cent, according to Safe and Fuel Efficient Driving (SAFED), the Department for Transport’s programme to improve standards among commercial vehicle drivers.

However, the study discovered that 35 per cent of companies do not even offer their drivers fuel-saving tips, even though 83 per cent believe their staff are guilty of speeding.

“Appropriate driver training can have a significant impact on a fleet’s cost base,” said Giles Margerison, Director UK & Ireland for TomTom Business Solutions.

“Heavy acceleration, braking and excessive speed have the biggest negative impact on fuel economy and it is important employees are made aware of the knock-on effects caused by bad driving habits.

“Alongside company-set benchmarks for performance, fleet management tools are a cost-effective way to promote greener, safer, more efficient driving. Globally, our systems account for savings of around £1.3 million each day.”

A further 80 per cent of those questioned believed their drivers were involved in harsh driving practices but only 27 per cent offered incentives for employees to improve their miles per gallon – and cut costs as a result.

Innovations such as OptiDrive and Active Driver Feedback from TomTom Business Solutions enable managers to set clear benchmarks and take measures to improve driver behaviour. Active Driver Feedback going one step further to actually inform the driver in real time so they can correct their behaviour on the move.

Managers and employees can together benefit from monitoring real-time and historic information on RPM, gear selection, fuel consumption and driving style, allowing them to correct inefficient or unsafe practices.

In addition, dynamic routing provided by live services such as HD Traffic and IQ Routes mean drivers can avoid wasting time and fuel sat in traffic, and get from A to B along the quickest, smoothest route.

Click here http://youtu.be/aR7IF-OkPTk for advice from TomTom Business Solutions’ UK Director Giles Margerison on how to promote greener, safer, drivers by giving them immediate feedback on their performance behind the wheel.

By harnessing the power of GPS technology, Road Angel is leading the way in developing products that make driving safer, more enjoyable and more efficient for UK motorists, promoting safer, more efficient driving.

Road Angel have just introduced the new Trac-It SVR

The UK’s first interactive stolen vehicle recovery product
– The owner can see where their vehicle is 24/7, 365 via their own secure online tracking system web portal
– Alert the owner if their vehicle is stolen
• Secure Operating Centre (SOC) works with the Police to recover stolen vehicles
– Lets the owner review breadcrumb trials of their journeys, how many miles travelled etc.

Stolen vehicle recovery
• When Trac-It is ‘armed’, an alert message will be sent to the owner by SMS text message and/or email, when:
– The vehicle is moved, or
– The vehicle is moved outside a geographic ‘safe area’ (Security Fence)
• A  Secure Operating Centre (SOC) will also receive the automated alert message and contact the owner
– If the vehicle has been stolen, the SOC will contact the Police and assist them to track and recover the vehicle

Journey Tracking
• When Trac-It is ‘disarmed’ the unit goes into Journey mode
– It sends its Longitude and Latitude co-ordinates to the Trac-It computer servers every 60 seconds
– The owner can view breadcrumb trails of journeys when they finish their journey(s), including miles travelled etc.
– Journey information is stored for 3 months on the system

Technical Bits
• Size: 66mm x 33mm x 15mm
• Weight: 45g
• GPRS communication for alerts and configuration with, GSM SMS fallback. Quad-band GSM/GPRS for worldwide deployment – 850/900/1800/1900Mhz.
• Latest ultra-sensitive Assisted GPS receiver
• RF Beacon for localised detection, 433Mhz/868Mhz
• Accelerometer for movement detection
• Internal 1100mAh battery for long life operation
• Alerts by SMS text message and/or email if the tracked items battery is low (11.8 volts or less), or if the unit is disconnected
• Plus many more features
For More Information
• For further product information please visit www.raysmith.co.uk
• To discuss Trac-It further, please contact Ray Smith on:
– Phone: 01368 860800
– Contact us:

Fleet Tracking from the Specialists

Vehicle fleet tracking for everybody might be becoming even more important for your pocket now that we have a new government. Who knows what schemes they will come up with, prepare for the squeeze now and think about protecting your assets and finances with one of our vehicle tracking solutions. There are cheap and cheerful pay as you go fleet tracking systems out there and they may fulfil some of your asset management needs but can work out very expensive in the long run. If you own any size of fleet you can benefit from a financial lease package from Road Angel Fleet that will deliver exactly a tailor made package for you.

There are so many fleet tracking products out there, how do you decide which one to choose?

There are so many Fleet Tracking fitting companies, how do you decide which one is best?

Obviously I am going to tell you that I believe Ray Smith CarAudioStuff and Road Angel fleet products can’t be beaten. Thirty six years in the industry, Ray has seen all sorts of new technologies come and go, we were in on the ground floor as they say when it came to introducing many new toys to the motor driving public in Scotland. We were fitting car phones when they were the size of a house brick  and weighed several pounds. When you think of the amount of  MP3 data an iPod holds and yet not that long ago Ray and his boys were fitting eight track cartridge players or cassette decks. Ok so what has all that got to do with Tracking? Well experience and technical ability married to a dedicated forward looking supplier of quality products and a willingness to please our customers is what distinguishes Ray and his staff and Road Angel Fleet Tracking products.

Whether it be a motorbike, van, car, truck, bus, piece of plant or even a toolbox or briefcase we can track it and give you reports on its movement, start stop and all points at sixty second intervals in between, viewed on an internet map, mobile phone or even emailed to you triggered by events at times of your choosing.

There are fleet tracking products offered by companies that have recently folded and gone into liquidation. These companies were not progressive and flexible enough to move with the technology. They have left Fleet operators with a headache. If you have one of these systems please contact us. Road Angel Fleet are backed by huge resources and although we are not the biggest firm in the country we can arrange through Road Angel and our nationwide specialists fitters to fulfil any size fleet in any part of the UK, all backed up with the Ray Smith guarantee of satisfaction.

Call us now on 01368 860800 or email us for an instant call-back and no obligation quotation.