Van Owners Running Corporate Manslaughter Risk
(firmenpresse) - LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM -- (Marketwired) -- 06/28/13 -- Five years on from the introduction of the Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act, AXA Business Insurance warns that many businesses with company vans are not following the most basic of steps to protect themselves against potential prosecution in the event of an accident.
Estimates suggest that a third of all traffic accidents in the UK involve someone who is at work at the time and may account for over 20 fatalities a week.(1) Yet the study from AXA, one of the UK's leading business insurers, among 300 businesses with vans suggested that nearly half (45 per cent) are totally unaware of the term Corporate Manslaughter.(2)
As well as a general lack of awareness, the research from AXA revealed three main areas of concern in the way businesses manage their vans: poor admin in relation to the paperwork for drivers and vehicles; unchecked damage to van bodywork and windscreens and; a casual attitude to core maintenance required to keep vehicles safe.
Darrell Sansom, managing director at says: "Corporate Manslaughter is a very serious charge that carries an unlimited fine. While the number of businesses who are simply unaware of its existence is alarming, our research shows that negligence is apparent among those who are both aware and unaware. We want to warn businesses that keeping on top of relevant HSE legislation is vital to avoid leaving themselves exposed."
Key findings of the research revealed:
Poor admin
State of (un)repair
A lack of maintenance
The Highway Code recommends that core maintenance, such as checking tyre pressure and fluid levels, is done on a weekly basis.(3)
Darrell Sansom, concludes: "Sadly as an insurer, we all too often see the results of people failing to comply with rules and regulations designed to keep road-users safe. And while we know that often there is no intent to break the rules we also know that complacency can carry a very heavy price-tag."
Some tips for keeping your company vans and drivers safe
Notes to Editors
Research was carried out on-line in June 2013 among 300 businesses with one or more company vans.
About AXA Business Insurance
AXA Business Insurance is part of AXA Insurance UK plc, which belongs to the AXA group of companies. With us, you choose the business insurance that's right for you. We offer public liability, employers' liability and professional indemnity insurance online to start ups, sole traders, self-employed people and small businesses. In addition we offer van insurance and landlord insurance. AXA Business Insurance also runs which provides resources to help protect and grow small businesses.
You can follow AXA Business Insurance on Twitter , for business insurance help, and , for the latest business news. You'll also find AXA Business Insurance on and - and you can watch expert guides and business case studies on the AXA Business Insurance channel.
About AXA
The AXA Group is a worldwide leader in insurance and asset management, with more than 163,000 employees serving 102 million clients in 57 countries. In 2012, IFRS revenues amounted to Euro 90.1 billion and IFRS underlying earnings to Euro 4.3 billion. AXA had Euro 1,116 billion in assets under management as of December 31, 2012.
In the UK AXA operates through a number of business units including: AXA Wealth, AXA Commercial Lines and Personal Intermediary, AXA Personal Direct and Partnerships, AXA PPP healthcare, AXA Ireland and an independent distribution business Bluefin. AXA employs over 12,000 staff in the UK.
The AXA ordinary share is listed on compartment A of Euronext Paris under the ticker symbol CS (ISN FR 0000120628 - Bloomberg: CS FP - Reuters: AXAF.PA). AXA's American Depository Share is also quoted on the OTC QX platform under the ticker symbol AXAHY.
The AXA Group is included in the main international SRI indexes, such as Dow Jones Sustainability Index (DJSI) and FTSE4GOOD.
It is a founding member of the UN Environment Programme's Finance Initiative (UNEP FI) Principles for Sustainable Insurance and a signatory of the UN Principles for Responsible Investment.
(1) Source - HSE:
(2) Under the Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act, introduced in April 2008, business owners could find themselves facing criminal charges in the event that a vehicle they are responsible for is involved in a fatal accident caused by a failure to follow health and safety legislation set down by HSE. This could apply to whether they were personally driving or a member of staff was behind the wheel.
(3)
Contacts:
Enquiries
AXA Business Insurance
Miranda Seymour
press office 0208 246 6853/07966 549413
Themen in dieser Pressemitteilung:
Unternehmensinformation / Kurzprofil:
Datum: 28.06.2013 - 15:00 Uhr
Sprache: Deutsch
News-ID 274381
Anzahl Zeichen: 0
contact information:
Town:
LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM
Kategorie:
Insurance
Diese Pressemitteilung wurde bisher 551 mal aufgerufen.
Die Pressemitteilung mit dem Titel:
"Van Owners Running Corporate Manslaughter Risk"
steht unter der journalistisch-redaktionellen Verantwortung von
AXA Business Insurance (Nachricht senden)
Beachten Sie bitte die weiteren Informationen zum Haftungsauschluß (gemäß TMG - TeleMedianGesetz) und dem Datenschutz (gemäß der DSGVO).
