Allianz supports Eurowatch security service for its haulage clients
Allianz Marine & Aviation UK has signed a deal to give hauliers who sign up to the Eurowatch security network a discount on their insurance premiums.
The Eurowatch service, which costs ¤250 per year for commercial vehicles such as trucks and vans, provides 24 hour access to local police in over 20 European countries through a single telephone number.
The system also enables data from GPS tracking systems to be forwarded to local police, and details of reported incidents can be accessed through a website.
Under the deal, Allianz Marine & Aviation UK will either pay the annual Eurowatch fee for its policyholders, or reduce their insurance premium by that amount.
Eurowatch chief operating officer Mark Schwartz said that the company is also in negotiations with Allianz and other major insurers about similar deals for motor fleet operators.
"We are finding enormous support from the insurance industry because they see it as a tool to help protect them," he said.
Schwartz said that one commercial vehicle a day is hijacked across Europe as organised criminals increasingly target foreign vehicles. He said language barriers and a lack of cooperation between foreign police forces make such vehicles easy targets.
"Criminals know that if they attack a foreign vehicle and get across a border quickly they have little chance of being caught."
Schwartz said Eurowatch will extend its service to cover the Baltic States over the next few months and the Balkans and Morocco early next year.
