BP Mitchell lowers insurance premiums with new Durite camera kits

An aggregates specialist has reduced its insurance premium and successfully fought ‘crash for cash’ claims after upgrading its vehicle camera systems.

BP Mitchell Haulage Contractors Ltd is a leading provider of aggregates for the construction sector. It operates more than 60 trucks, predominantly tippers as well as 10 mixers and five articulated vehicles. The Hatfield-based company, which produces its own aggregates, holds FORS silver accreditation.

BP Mitchell is upgrading its camera systems from a six-channel to an eight-channel DVR system from Durite, which includes moving from smaller monitors in the cab to 9” monitors and fitting side detection kits. The company also installed driver-facing cameras an additional measure to protect employees from false accusations.

Mick Howe, Transport Director at BP Mitchell said: “Operating in London we have to comply with the Direct Vision Standard, so cameras are a must-have for us. However, we wanted a system that worked well for our drivers and enhanced safety as much as possible.

“The in-cab cameras are not a spying tool; they are for driver protection. We use them to prove the driver was operating the vehicle correctly.”

A key benefit to upgrading the camera systems has been a reduction in claims and lower insurance premium. “As you can imagine with a relatively large fleet our insurance premiums were quite high,” added Mick.

“Thanks to the Durite cameras we have been able to fight crash-for-cash claims. Our premium went down this year by five per cent which is not small beer. This was because our claims went down and a lot of that is due to the Durite camera systems.

“Our insurers have been so impressed that they actually gave us a payment towards fitting cameras, sensors and DVRs to five new vehicles. They know that the Durite system produces the right results in terms of proving it is not our drivers at fault when an incident occurs.”

BP Mitchell buys Scania truck chassis and builds bespoke tipper bodies onto them. When it ordered 23 new trucks this year, the company asked Durite to propose the best camera solution. “We have a great account manager at Durite and he worked with us to create a complete package,” said Mick. “He recommended what we needed and provided a complete solution comprising Durite products, right down to the cabling, relays and connectors – which made it really easy for us.

“We are rolling out 20 kits at the moment and will look to follow suit with the rest of the fleet. We have worked with Durite for several years and trust them to provide us with the best solution for our trucks. The new kits are excellent and the drivers like them as they are user-friendly. On top of that it makes my life much easier in terms of accident investigations.”