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6 Tips for Paratransit Services

Paratransit services provide essential assistance for millions of citizens each year. However, as anyone working in paratransit can confirm, numerous hazards risk disrupting the journey for drivers and their passengers, such as: 

  • Bad weather
  • Road hazards
  • Careless drivers
  • Misbehaved passengers

Nobody can predict what the day’s going to throw at you. However, as an insurance producer, you can help paratransit services protect themselves by suggesting the best safety protocol.

Find out what measures you can suggest to your clients to improve the safety of any paratransit operation. Learn how paratransit insurance can help your clients and share these 6 tips for paratransit services.

#1: Monitoring Cameras

One of the most common tips for paratransit services involves cameras. It’s paratransit 101 – your clients need monitoring cameras. However, these cameras also need to be:

  • Pointing the right way. Have you ever seen a monitoring camera observing an entirely useless part of a vehicle? We all have. If the camera rotates, help your clients protect themselves by ensuring that its rotation arc only covers important areas. They should also avoid “overreach” which simply provides a great view out of the window.
  • Protected. Cameras are easy to vandalize. They need to be protected by tough, easy-to-clean, see-through material that resists impact damage. Operators need to ensure that their cameras are easy to wipe down, and any glass or plastic used to protect the camera should be fully translucent.
  • Visibly live. The occasional red light coming on makes a huge difference. You’d be amazed how many people believe cameras on paratransit services don’t work

Help your partner operators guard their paratransit service by installing cameras that their clients know are live, are well-protected, and cover the essential areas of the vehicle. This will deter poor behavior and make it easy for insurance producers and their clients to process insurance claims.

#2: Regular Walkthroughs

It’s not just antisocial behavior that operators need to protect their paratransit service against. Spills and stains become increasingly difficult to remove unless they’re treated quickly. Likewise, customers won’t care about spilling food or drink in a vehicle that is already heavily stained. 

Operators can deter this kind of behavior by conducting regular walkthroughs. Make it easy for your partner clients and let them know that every couple of hours is fine if they’re driving alone – whenever they need to stop. This will also help to quickly identify spillages and respond effectively. A spillage left for an hour is usually fixable, but a mess that’s been sitting all night is a much bigger problem.

As an insurance producer, you can assure clients that the paratransit insurance company you’re connecting them with will answer any questions operators have about this type of damage. Remember: passengers are much more likely to comply with requests like wearing seatbelts or not eating messy food if they think there’s a good chance they’ll get caught out!

#3: The Right Safety Equipment

Are your clients’ paratransit service vehicles ready for when a passenger has an emergency? Are they prepared for the event of an onboard fire? Ensure that your operators are familiar with state guidance on all necessary emergency equipment and precautions.

Failure to install proper safety equipment could invalidate paratransit insurance. This means that if the vehicle gets involved in a collision and catches fire, an operator won’t be able to claim for it. Let your operating partners know the risks of working without proper measures in place.

#4: Driver Pairs

Driver pairs are costly for many paratransit services. However, they’re one of our top paratransit tips because they substantially reduce the risk of damage during a journey.

Driver pairs mean that there’s someone around to keep an eye on the vehicle and stop any bad behavior without having to stop the vehicle. Regular customers appreciate this, which is why it’s such an effective paratransit tip. A solo driver struggles to provide the same level of service, and the gains eventually outweigh the costs of hiring an additional driver.

This also means that a driver has someone to talk to on the ride, which is a stamp of authority in itself. Help your partner operators understand by asking them this. Are passengers more likely to behave poorly when: 

  1. There’s one person behind the wheel that must focus on driving, or
  2. When two officials are sitting at the front of the bus and one of these officials can come and investigate trouble at any time?

Reducing the risk of negative passenger interactions is the best way your clients can keep themselves safe from unpleasant situations. Advise your partners that driver pairs also help drive down paratransit insurance rates by substantially reducing risk.

#5: Stop When Needed

A paratransit vehicle stops wherever it’s needed, right? Your clients also need to know when to stop making visits to unreliable passengers.

If a customer is routinely disruptive or late, it affects the journey for other passengers. This makes the operator’s business less viable. Help your partners understand that this means that insurance producers will struggle to find the best deal for them.

#6: Encourage More Insurance Coverage 

Our final tip for paratransit services is about having proper liability insurance. Paratransit insurance is an essential part of running a successful paratransit business. Without high-quality paratransit insurance, any of the complications described above could be ruinous for a business.

So how do your clients find the best paratransit insurance companies? Many insurers stay away from an industry that they consider high-risk. However, you can let them know that they’ll find companies like Prime Insurance Company, who specialize in paratransit insurance. We will offer a reasonable quote, and a trusted team member will mediate the entire process.

Paratransit insurance can protect against:

  • Damage from unruly customers
  • Accidental damage such as spills
  • External damage to the vehicle
  • So much more

Getting insured is an important step to growing a service. Show your clients the advantages of more protection by recommending a specialist paratransit insurance company like Prime today.

Share These Tips for Paratransit Services

By taking advantage of these paratransit tips, you’re putting yourself in a great place to build strong relationships with client operators and help them work safely. Your partners will reap the rewards of working with specialist paratransit insurance producers for many years.

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rick lindseyAuthored by Rick J. Lindsey, CEO, President, and Chairman of Prime Insurance Company

Rick J. Lindsey hails from Salt Lake City, Utah. He began working in the mailroom of his father’s Salt Lake City insurance firm, getting his introduction to the business that became his lifelong career. Lindsey quickly rose through the ranks while working in nearly every imaginable insurance industry job. As an entrepreneur, specialty lines underwriter, claims specialist, risk manager, and a licensed surplus lines broker, Rick Lindsey is highly skilled in all levels of leadership and execution. As he progressed on his career path, Rick discovered an urgent need for insurers willing to write policies for high-risk individuals and businesses. He was frequently frustrated that he could not provide the liability protection these entities desperately needed to safeguard their assets. He also formed the belief that insurance companies acted too quickly to settle frivolous claims. Lindsey decided to try a different approach. He started an insurance company and became the newly formed entity’s CEO. This opportunity has enabled Rick to fill a void in the market and provide a valuable service to businesses, individuals, and insurance agents who write high-risk business. Prime Insurance also specializes in helping individuals and businesses who live a lifestyle or participate in activities that make them difficult for traditional carriers to insure. If you’ve been denied, non-renewed, or canceled coverage, don’t give up quite yet. Chances are Prime Insurance can help.

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