Now that the year is coming to a close, you may have cleaned up your shop for the year and are ready to take a short hiatus from the business world for a few weeks. But before you lock the business doors for vacation, you may want to sit down with your employees to remind them of some things.

If you have a fleet of company cars that are used by your employees, you will want to remind them that company vehicles are off limits during time off. Do not allow your employees to bring vehicles home overnight or at all during their time off from work. It could lead to unnecessary claims on your commercial auto policy.

Of course you have the utmost trust in your employees and should have no problem with them driving your company vehicles. But the truth is accidents can happen to even the most careful drivers. The best drivers in the world could succumb to another driver’s distracted swerves or a faulty traffic light that blinks green for just a second too long.

And when those accidents happen in a company vehicle, it may be hard to determine whether or not the vehicle was being used for work purposes or not. With New Year’s Eve happening this week, you also have to add the possibility of alcohol related accidents to the mix. The roads can be very dangerous for any driver when alcohol is involved at all. Everyone needs to be more careful than usual. One way to avoid accidents is to avoid driving completely. And one way to avoid claims on your business auto policy is to avoid allowing your employees to drive your company cars.

We hope you all have a wonderful New Year full of great business opportunities. Happy New Year!