Fleet Jargon Explained Part 1 Fleet Jargon Explained Part 1

This document briefly explains the meaning behind some commonly used jargon/phrases within the fleet industry, including contract hire and leasing. The explanations relate to their most commonly understood meanings. This is only a guide: many individual suppliers use the terms in slightly different Ways.

Accident management - The proactive management of all aspects of vehicle accidents, from minimising the time a vehicle takes to be repaired and returned to service, to ensuring the driver has continued mobility. Also involves managing repair and insurance costs, and any medical/ injury aspects. Can also include legal services such as recovery of uninsured losses. Third party specialist suppliers can be brought in to manage this area for a fixed monthly fee

Acquisition - The actual process of acquiring the vehicle in the first instance. This may involve physically identifying and purchasing the appropriate vehicle, or utilising a third party to acquire/ supply the vehicle (eg. Leasing or contract hire).

Administration -All the clerical or organisational tasks involved in running fleet cars and vans. This includes the inventories of vehicle and driver listings, acquisition and disposal details etc. Some types of lease relieve the user-company ("lessee") of most of this administration - but allocation policies and budgeting are just two of the tasks that must still be done internally

Agreement - See Contract

Allocation policy - Defines the company hierarchy, and outlines what employee grades/sectors are able choose, or are given, regarding vehicle type, specification and costs. Whole Life Cost or rental figures are better than the capital value of a vehicle as the criterion for selection of models at different employee grades. This more exactly defines the overall cost of the car to the company, especially if the lease is contract hire.

Bik - Benefit in Kind Tax is the income tax that is paid by an employee for any benefit they receive from their employer by virtue of their employment. In fleet, this is normally for the private use of a company car and for the provision of free fuel for private use. These are commonly known as company car tax and the fuel scale charge respectively. There are parallel taxes for employees who have private use of a van.

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