Lumley has drawn on 50 years of expertise to develop tailored insurance offerings for heavy transport operators.

Its new policy offerings are segmented to reflect the business differences between the various sized operators, from the busy owner-driver to the fleet operator with over 50 units.

"Segmentation", says Ian Taylor, Manager of Lumley's Transport Centre of Expertise, "is our way of providing targeted value in the part of the insurance industry in which Lumley has tremendous expertise.

"It is also our way of working with operators, large and small, to reduce accident rates, and by definition improve their profitability and performance. This way we can help benefit the whole business."

Lumley's four transport segments are: "small," comprising of one to four vehicles; "medium" with five to 15 vehicles, "large" 16 to 50 vehicles; and "extra large" operators with 51 plus".

Ian says that while there are some strong features common to all segments in its policies, such as the Crash Scene Assistance service and Torque Fleet Risk Management programmes, other elements of the bundled offer are fleet size specific.

For the larger fleet operators, Lumley's approach to premium rating is to adjust "book rate" premiums that reflect industry averages, to rates that better reflect an individual company's performance. In this way companies can influence their own premium outcomes. For these operators, the insurance package offer includes subsidised in-vehicle cameras. These cameras are already proving their worth in New Zealand with improved driver behaviour and lower maintenance costs of tyres and brakes.

Features of the offer to "medium" size fleets of between five and 15 units, include support material for driver selection to help screen for safety and risk avoidance, as well as premiums that reflect the type of vehicle and the work it is engaged in. This gets Lumley away from the one-size fits-all approach.

"For each fleet size, we have tailored our offer so that there are tools that will directly benefit that business. Many of these tools are proprietary to Lumley.

"It is no secret that the small fleets and owner drivers don't have the back office resources of the bigger boys. These busy operators want to know they have a dedicated transport insurance package without any gaps, and they have the best deal in the market. These are "givens". Lumley is also offering owner drivers and small fleets a premium funding package. This helps preserve cash flow which is so critical to many of these operators."

Lumley introduced in-vehicle cameras and supporting technology to the transport sector in 2006, and since then they have proved their value.

"With Lumley, it is not just about getting a claim paid. It is about helping businesses of different sizes to succeed so we can continue to be their insurer. We are a transport specialist and our priority is giving operators the benefit of this experience according to the size and type of their business."

That's what Lumley means by "segmentation".