What is it exactly that insurance companies look for when pricing your business? Yes, your accident record plays a big role in the rate you pay, but so do the steps you’re taking to reduce claims in the future. Zurich Canada’s David Sheepway and Colleen McKenzie, director of commercial automobile, offer a few tips that can make you look better while under the microscope.

Don’t Bend or Break: Reducing accidents is a no-brainer if you want to cut down your insurance premiums. And that means preventing every accident: even seemingly insignificant fender-benders can make a deep dent in your ledger. One chargeable accident may cause a vehicle’s premium to jump 45% the following year, Sheepway says.

Beyond your rate of accidents, insurance companies want to see how you analyze the cause of your accidents and how you try to prevent them from reoccurring. As an underwriter, McKenzie says she looks for a written operations manual that covers accident reviews, remedial action taken, and a follow-up review process. Both McKenzie and Sheepway recommend maintaining an accident register. It can help you spot patterns and show you where to focus your training efforts.

Know the Rules: Stay current with safety rules and review your carrier abstract on a regular basis. That takes discipline, and it doesn’t go unnoticed. “At small fleets, one person usually is doing everything, so paperwork gets left behind,” says Sheepway. “Nobody is doing the compliance part of it.” Companies that do a good job at managing compliance really stand out.

“We look at how many safety violations there are, which we use to score whether the risk is acceptable to us, and what pricing we’re going to attach,” adds McKenzie. “We expect the carrier to know what’s on their record, to take it seriously, and show us that they discussed what action to take as a result of a violation.”

Where are You Running? Clearly define your area of operation. McKenzie says fleet managers should be as precise with the underwriter as possible. “We’re rating carriers based on their fuel-tax mileage report,” she says. “If your fuel tax report applies to only two vehicles running interprovincially, if you don’t advise your underwriters that the report applies to only these two trucks, they’re going to assume that the fuel tax report applies to all vehicles in your fleet and apply that rate straight across the board.”

In addition, insurance companies will look at U.S. operating authorities to disclose states where carriers can operate, and states where the carriers operate most frequently. “That means if you have authority in California, but don’t use it, the underwriter will assume you have California exposure and hit you with a higher premium is if that is not clearly stated,” she says.

In With the New: After showing the underwriter a vehicle turnover plan that goes beyond just maintenance, it’s important that you document how you’ve trained drivers to use that new equipment. “A number of accidents occur with the change to new equipment,” says McKenzie. “If you take a long-term driver who’s been in a late 80s model and move him into a 2001 with all this new technology, he may not be used to how the tractor and trailer are going to react. We want to see what you do with a driver in a new vehicle.”

Every Bit Helps: One way to show you’re a good safety risk is to demonstrate that you’re a good business risk.

For starters, come up with a bona fide business plan. If you’re prepared and surrounded by good, proven people, you’ll be accepted at a better rate. Also, anything you can show that will make you stand out in areas such as loss prevention, customer satisfaction, or driver turnover can be used as a tool. Don’t be afraid to present awards and accolades. It sure can’t hurt.

“If you’re new, but have really good rapport with customers, that tells us you’re serious and more likely to maintain a contract,” says McKenzie. “The more you can give your underwriter, the more your underwriter can understand you-and the risk-and price it to the exposure.”