Peter Lole & Co, a UK freight and transit insurance broker, has joined forces with the Eurowatch vehicle registration service to secure transit insurance discounts for international hauliers that sign up to Eurowatch.
Lole and Eurowatch agreed the deal in response to the more than 200,000 crimes that are recorded against commercial vehicles in the EU each year - a figure that is growing at 5% per year.
In addition to the costs of loss or damage to vehicles, an estimated €10bn of freight is stolen each year. These losses fall on the owners and insurers of the goods and vehicles.
Once a vehicle crosses a border and enters another country it is more exposed to the attention of criminals. This issue is compounded by the difficulty drivers have in gaining access to police response when abroad.
Eurowatch, which was launched in May 2002, provides access to police in 23 European country through a central network operated 24 hours a day.
Through a single telephone number, a subscriber can call for information in any European language. The service works through a central website and has a network of police-accredited national service providers in each country.
The 23 countries covered by Eurowatch are: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Spain, Slovakia, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom.
