Yuill & Dodds Combats False Claims With SureCam

Yuill & Dodds Ltd. is a road transport specialist based near Hamilton in South Lanarkshire, Scotland. With a fleet of over 100 vehicles, the company provides a wide range of regional and national solutions across a diverse customer base, covering general haulage, just-in-time logistics, and waste disposal. From total transport packages for inert and contaminated material removal to delivery of bulk fill material—like top soil, sand, gravel, and ash—Yuill & Dodds hauls it all.

The Challenge

Yuill & Dodds was looking for an effective way to reduce insurance costs and combat fraudulent claims—like crash for cash and exaggerated injury schemes—and better manage third-party intervention. The company needed the ability to establish who was responsible after an incident involving any of their commercial vehicles. And, when at-fault collisions did occur, they needed to respond quickly to limit the risk of excessive vehicle recovery, repair, and replacement costs.

The Solution

Yuill & Dodds installed SureCam’s forward-facing cameras at the beginning of 2016 on its entire fleet of trucks and vans that service all of the UK. Initially, the company tested an SD card solution, experiencing the drawbacks firsthand. They widened their search to find a solution that would provide live visibility for any collision, near miss, or harsh driving events—and SureCam had the answer.

With many of the company’s commercial vehicles away from their home base for periods of up to a week, Yuill & Dodds found that SD card cameras would place too much of a burden on drivers. Not only would they have to inform the company of an incident, they would also need to manually bring back or send any relevant video footage. Yuill & Dodds recognized that there was a significant risk of losing data that could be overwritten before retrieval, tampered with by the driver, or corrupted by SD card failure.

SureCam’s forward-facing camera gave Yuill & Dodds a higher level of visibility and control they couldn’t achieve from SD card solutions. 

Brian Yuill, Managing Director of Yuill & Dodds Ltd. claims, “Using the [network connected] vehicle cameras, we are immediately alerted of an incident, so we can ensure that the driver is safe, while quickly assessing liability and sending details to our insurance partner. This is helping us to establish who is at fault, defend against fraudulent claims and keep third-party costs to a minimum.”

Yuill & Dodds now receives live email and SMS alerts when a collision or near miss has occurred, with access to high-definition footage and supporting vehicle data – including g-force and speed of impact – within a matter of minutes via a web-based portal. The added insight provide by SureCam is already contributing to reduced insurance cost, because the company is able to defend against fraudulent or exaggerated claims; prove liability for 50/50 claims; and speed up third-party intervention.

The company has demonstrated fraudulent and suspicious behavior on several occasions, resulting in many third-party insurance settlements. 

“One incident clearly showed a car slamming on its brakes for no reason when our vehicle had left a more than adequate gap, so we were able to successfully challenge the subsequent claim,” recalls Brian Yuill. “Following a separate incident, we were able to provide footage of a female passenger being fit and well prior to her being taken away in an ambulance on a stretcher, which enabled us to contest a false personal injury claim.”

Yuill & Dodds also works closely with its Insurance partner to quickly respond and resolve at-fault claims, taking advantage of first notification of loss (FNOL). By streamlining the claims management process using video footage and supporting data provided by the cellular connected vehicle cameras, the company has avoided spiraling third-party costs for labor, parts, paint and vehicle hire.

The Results

SureCam’s forward-facing vehicle cameras enable Yuill & Dodds to track many areas of its transport business, ensuring the fleet operated responsibly and wear and tear stays at a minimum. The nature of the work the company’s employees carry out day after day requires vehicles to drive in and out of construction sites. With SureCam’s technology, the company can identify risks by monitoring false alerts triggered by poor road conditions, such as pot holes, as well as confirm vehicles are being driven appropriately. Some of the benefits Yuill & Dodds enjoy from SureCam’s network connected dash cams include: 

• Protection against fraudulent or exaggerated insurance claims
• Fast liability assessment and third-party intervention
• Increased visibility over mobile assets
• Added peace of mind regarding driver and vehicle safety

By shopping carefully and choosing SureCam’s network connected dash cam solutions, Yuill & Dodds is optimizing their operations and protecting their profits.