What Van? Britain's biggest and best van buyers' guide

Leading dashcam company Nextbase has scored a win in the WhatVan? Risk Management category.

Dashboard cameras are the most rapidly growing area of the consumer tech market, and it’s a type of technology that light commercial vehicle operators are beginning to use increasingly because of its myriad benefits. 

These benefits are clear to see: not only can fleets save on insurance premiums and reduce vehicle downtime because they can quickly prove who was at fault during an accident and speed up the claims process, but they can also encourage safer driving behaviours.

The company says that personal injury claims only make up 9% of total claims, yet account for 51% of the total insurance cost; an average damage claim costs £2,700, while injury claims jump up to £11,000 – a significant difference. By using dashcams, operators can not only prove who was at fault, but the video footage also records the speed of the vehicle and, in some cases, also records the G-force of the collision so can determine whether whiplash and other injury claims are legitimate. They can also provide evidence on crash-for-cash claims.

The popular Nextbase 412-GW Professional dashcam comes with a raft of features including a 2.7-inch LED screen, a 6G lens, playback functionality, GPS tracking that records location and speed, and sensors that automatically save the video files after an incident on an SD card. In some systems the footage will be automatically sent on to the fleet manager and insurance company.

Alongside the electronic technology that makes the Nextbase dashcams popular the company has also thought about the physical ease of use – something that’s important for LCV driver uptake. As such, Nextbase has recently introduced its ‘click and go’ system, which means that drivers can remove the devices from the vehicle quickly and easily without having to worry about detaching wires.