Four Tips for Safety When Borrowing a Vehicle on Business

Travel is often a vitally important aspect of conducting business, whether as a business leader or as an employee within a larger organisation. Generally speaking, such travel concerns are covered via departmental subsidy or access to one’s own vehicle as private transport.

However, there are numerous occasions within which it may be necessary to borrow a vehicle – whether due to issues with one’s own car or task-specific requirements involving a larger or better-suited vehicle. In such cases, both personal and vehicle safety become especially important considerations. What can you do to improve safety in both cases, when borrowing a vehicle on business?

Ensure You’re Insured

Your first movement should be to make sure you take out a temporary car insurance policy with the specific vehicle you are borrowing. You will already be aware that insurance is legally required of all drivers, but what you might not know is that the vast majority of insurance plans do not follow the driver from vehicle to vehicle; rather, they follow the vehicle itself.

Temporary insurance, then, allows you to legally drive another vehicle, while saving you the money that an annual policy would command. As well as protecting you legally, insurance protects you financially, where theft or vandalism can be recouped through the policy at no major personal cost. This can be key to the maintenance of professional relationships, at the very least.

Inspect the Vehicle – Before and After

Another crucial way to protect those professional relationships would be to check the vehicle, inside and out, both before and after you have used it. A comprehensive evaluation of the vehicle’s condition before you take it will reveal any pre-existing damage or issues, documentation of which can ensure you are not rendered responsible for said damages after usage. Checking the vehicle afterwards will enable you to identify damages which may have been your fault – or otherwise give you a clue as to which parts of the vehicle most need a clean before you return it.

Learn the Vehicle

Different makes and models of vehicle respond differently to driver inputs, creating different ‘feels’ or handling. These differences can make a great deal of difference when driving long distances, or reacting to stimuli on the road. Without experience in handling a given vehicle, it can be more dangerous to manoeuvre it on the roads; as such, taking time to get to know the vehicle is key. This is more directly important when it comes to the dashboard, where the location of hazards and other such buttons is important for the driver to know.

Simple Theft Prevention Measures

Finally, it would behove you to avail of some standard vehicle safety measures when utilising the vehicle you have borrowed. For example, parking the vehicle in brightly lit areas can disincentivise crime, as can installing steering wheel locks or even dashcams.

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