26 Feb Why Most Company Car Fleet Policies Quietly Fall Out of Date

Most organisations don’t set out to run a weak fleet policy.

In fact, when a company car policy is first written, it’s usually done with care. There are conversations, comparisons, approvals and plenty of thought given to fairness, cost and governance. At that moment in time, the policy often does exactly what it’s supposed to do.

The difficulty isn’t how policies start.

It’s what happens over the years that follow.

Businesses evolve – policies rarely keep pace

Organisations change far more quickly than we tend to realise. New roles are created. Sales territories expand. Regional teams take on more autonomy. Electric vehicles are introduced. ESG expectations grow. Hybrid working shifts business mileage patterns.

Each of these changes feels incremental. Sensible. Necessary.

But very often, the policy sitting underneath all of this activity hasn’t been fundamentally reviewed. Instead, it adapts in small, practical ways, an exception approved here, a clarification added there, a local interpretation quietly accepted because “it makes sense in this market.”

Individually, these adjustments rarely feel problematic.

Collectively, they can move the policy a long way from its original intent.

Policies aren’t tested at approval – they’re tested in real life

A fleet policy is rarely stress-tested when it’s signed off. On paper, most policies appear coherent and comprehensive.

Where weaknesses tend to surface is in real-world situations.

• When a new employee joins mid-lease cycle.
• When someone is promoted into a different grade.
• When an employee goes on extended maternity or sick leave.
• When a role changes and business mileage drops below eligibility thresholds.
• When an electric vehicle is offered without fully considering charging access.

These are the moments when ambiguity becomes visible.

If the policy doesn’t clearly define what happens, decision-making shifts from structure to judgement. And while judgement is sometimes necessary, it is rarely consistent across managers, regions or functions.

Over time, that inconsistency creates friction – and often cost.

Governance is where control is quietly won or lost

One of the most common weaknesses we see in fleet policies isn’t a dramatic omission. It’s a lack of clarity around governance.

• Who can approve an exception?
• What can be decided locally?
• What needs central sign-off?
• How are deviations tracked and reviewed?

Without defined boundaries, policies can slowly fragment. Local decisions, made for understandable operational reasons, begin to override central intent. And because each individual decision feels justified, no one notices the cumulative effect.

This is rarely about non-compliance or deliberate avoidance of policy. It’s simply what happens when structure isn’t reinforced.

Entitlement, fairness and cost control

Another subtle area where policies can drift relates to entitlement.

When entitlement levels become too closely tied to individual lease costs or specific mileage assumptions, fairness between employees at the same grade can start to erode. What was originally designed to be consistent becomes variable, and that variation can create both budgetary pressure and employee dissatisfaction.

Best-practice policies separate entitlement logic from contract optimisation. They benchmark consistently, and then optimise contracts in a way that protects cost without compromising fairness.

It sounds technical, but in practice, it’s about clarity.

Electric vehicles add a new layer of complexity

The move towards electric vehicles has introduced further pressure on policy structure.

EV adoption isn’t simply about selecting different vehicles. It requires clarity around charging eligibility, infrastructure availability, reimbursement mechanisms, taxation implications and employee obligations.

Without clear policy wording in these areas, confusion is almost inevitable. And confusion, again, tends to show up as inconsistency.

A review doesn’t mean a rewrite

It’s important to say that most organisations don’t need to throw their fleet policy away and start again.

In many cases, the foundations are solid.

What’s often valuable is a structured sense-check, a fresh, independent look at whether the policy still delivers the clarity, control and consistency it was originally designed to provide.

Because fleet policies rarely fail in obvious ways.

They simply become slightly less aligned with the business than they once were.

And the earlier that drift is identified, the easier it is to correct.