What is FNOL and what does a good fleet FNOL process look like?

FNOL, or first notification of loss, is the first report of an incident to your insurer, which starts the claim. A good fleet FNOL process gets a complete report to the insurer the same day, after a quick check in the office. It includes the other driver's details, photos and the location, rather than arriving days later on a paper form.

What a complete first report includes

• The date, time and place, with a map pin where possible
• The vehicle, the driver and a current licence check
• What happened, in the driver's words, while it's fresh
• Photos of both vehicles, the road and any damage
• The other driver's name, address, phone number, insurer and registration
• Witnesses, injuries and whether the police attended
• Whether there's camera footage and where it's been saved

How to tell if your process is working

Howden, the broker, sets out benchmarks for fleets: "Report claims within 24 hours in over 85 per cent of cases" and "Provide third-party contact details in over 95 per cent of cases" (Howden, March 2026). Measures worth tracking alongside them:

• How much is reported the same day, since cost climbs with every day of delay
• How many reports include the other driver's details, because a fast report without them loses the insurer's best chance to act
• How long from the incident to the insurer, measured from the time of the incident rather than the time the form was opened
• How many go back to the driver for missing information, which shows whether the questions at the roadside are the right ones

Why the office check matters

A quick review before the report goes out catches what's missing while the driver can still be reached. It also lets the office decide what goes to the insurer, broker or repair network. Done straight away, it adds minutes rather than days.

Where SHIELD fits

SHIELD takes the driver through the right questions for the type of incident, whether it's a single vehicle, several vehicles, a fire, a theft or a windscreen. The report carries photos, the other driver's details, the location and a signature. The office gets an alert, checks the report and adds notes, with a licence check attached: one from the last 30 days if there is one, or a new one run there and then. It then goes to the insurer, broker or repair network within minutes. When the insurer's claims data arrives each month, SHIELD matches it to the incident, the vehicle and the driver.

Sources: Howden, "Speed matters: how fast reporting reduces motor claim costs", 19 March 2026.