How Real-Time Driver Screening Cuts Commercial Auto Losses

October 14, 2025

Commercial driver compliance gaps like suspended licenses can surface any time during a policy. Often, it’s only after a costly claim. Automated driver vetting gives insurers and the fleets they cover immediate red flags on high-risk drivers, enabling stronger underwriting decisions and reducing preventable losses before they happen.

Recently, Ontario’s Ministry of Transportation suspended hundreds of commercial truck drivers’ Class A/Z licences after uncovering irregularities in training and testing practices. For insurers, the scandal underscores a growing risk: non-compliant drivers slipping through vetting gaps and getting behind the wheel of the fleets they insure. Every time that happens, the chances of an accident — and a costly claim — rise dramatically.

This comes at a time when Canada’s commercial auto insurers are already navigating a heightened risk environment. Driver shortages, tariff uncertainty, rising cross-border litigation risks like nuclear verdicts and evolving fraud tactics all place increased pressures on insurers and the commercial fleets they cover.

As underwriting grows more selective and driver compliance faces greater scrutiny, better decision-making depends on smarter, data-driven solutions, says Kevin Carroll, Vice President, Insurance & Transportation Solutions at ISB Global Services.

That’s where advanced, real-time driver screening tools like ISB’s Red Flag Alerts can make all the difference, he adds.

“These tools give fast access to trusted data, identifying high-risk drivers so non-compliance and fraud don’t slip through the cracks,” Carroll explains. “And the key is it’s automated, scalable, and available in real-time. If you only screen drivers once a year at renewal, you’ll miss red flags like suspended licenses, missing endorsements or convictions that can happen at any point in the policy term, and which pose real risks to insurers and fleets alike,” he says.

The Rising Insurance Cost of Poor Driver Screening

Commercial auto claims in Canada are climbing at an unsustainable pace. Transport Canada data shows commercial vehicles are involved in nearly 20% of road fatalities, underscoring how severe these losses can be when a driver – especially a non-compliant driver who poses significantly higher risk - is to blame.

What’s more, the number of commercial auto claims is increasing faster than the growth of vehicles on the road, pointing to systemic gaps in training and compliance oversight.

Inexperienced or unqualified drivers are much more likely to cause accidents. According to the Insurance Bureau of Canada, new commercial drivers with less than three years’ experience are significantly more likely to be involved in accidents, and inadequate training continues to put road safety at risk.

“Add in ineligible operators or improperly licensed drivers, such as those recently flagged in Ontario’s Class A/Z suspension scandal, that slip through the cracks of weak driver screening practices, and the likelihood of preventable accidents rises even higher,” Carroll says.

For insurers, the implications are clear: every ineligible or non-compliant driver that slips through weak screening practices raises claim frequency, inflates severity, and creates exposure to contested coverage and litigation. The risk isn’t just higher payouts, but erosion of underwriting discipline and profitability across commercial auto books.

Better Driver Data, Better underwriting

For insurance underwriters, Red Flag Alerts simplifies eligibility assessments and ensures accurate and fast compliance processing.

“When underwriters have fast access to trusted driver data and actionable insights on high-risk drivers at their fingertips, they make more confident decisions, strengthen underwriting discipline and stay ahead of risk at every stage of the policy,” Carroll says.

But many insurers still depend on manual processes to collect and verify driver data — slow, costly methods that leave too much room for error, fraud and compliance gaps. Driver-submitted abstracts can be forged in minutes. Manual reviews can bog down processes and turnaround times and introduce inaccuracies. One-time checks at binding or renewal leave a massive blind spot for the rest of the policy term.

“In today’s complex commercial auto environment, having better data faster isn’t optional,” says Carroll. “The problem is that gaps in screening become gaps in coverage. If a licence is suspended three months into a policy and no one checks, the insurer is carrying that risk blind, and that’s how preventable accidents escalate into costly claims.”

Red Flag Alerts offers visibility into the drivers who pose risks, real-time accuracy with ministry-sourced data, and streamlined, audit-ready workflows that are efficient enough to act on before an illegible driver becomes a claim. “That’s what gives underwriters the confidence to move faster, price more accurately, and prove compliance when it matters most.”

And it’s why leading insurers recommend Red Flag Alerts to the commercial fleet managers they work with. “If you look at the suspended licenses scandal as an example, a driver caught operating on a suspended license can trigger vehicle impoundment lasting anywhere from seven to 90 days, grinding operations to a halt and driving up costs. There’s also the road safety aspect of bad actors being more likely to get into accidents, and that’s everyone’s responsibility,” Carroll explains. “With Red Flag Alerts, both insurers and the fleets they cover can ensure bad actors don’t get behind the wheel.”

Continuous Driver Screening As A Best Practice

ISB recommends insurers and fleets move from episodic checks to continuous screening.

Quarterly or more frequent checks through ISB’s Red Flag Alerts platform ensure underwriters aren’t blindsided by suspensions, expired or missing endorsements or new convictions that can happen any time during a policy.

“With Red Flag Alerts, insurers get instant visibility on driver abstracts based on their tolerance thresholds,” Carroll explains. “So, if a driver is suspended, you can see it in real-time and act before it leads to an accident or a nuclear verdict claim.”

How Red Flag Alerts Strengthens Insurer Outcomes

Here’s how continuous driver screening with Red Flag Alerts delivers results:

• Surfacing immediate red flags through pass/alert scorecards tailored to insurer’s tolerance thresholds – for detection and action on high-risk drivers.
• Automating driver record abstract checks at scale - saving time and boosting productivity.
• Sourcing driver data directly from transportation ministries – always accurate and tamper-proof.
• Access to additional quick Driver License Check tool - for fast status validation.

The benefits for insurers and fleet managers include:

• Fewer preventable accidents and claims losses.
• Reduced fraud and tampering risk.
• Stronger compliance defensibility with audit-ready records.
• Healthier fleet risk profiles that lead to better underwriting results.

Suspended License Risk: The Insurer’s Role

The Ontario licence suspensions are a warning sign: relying on assumptions or annual checks is no longer enough in today’s heightened commercial auto risk environment.

“Continuous driver screening isn’t just an efficiency upgrade, it’s a frontline defence against preventable losses,” Carroll says. “Underwriters who adopt continuous, automated driver screening into their workflows can streamline and strengthen decisions and ultimately prevent claims losses further down the line by helping the fleets they insure keep unsafe drivers off the road.”

Empowering Decisions With ISB Global Services

At ISB Global Services, we understand the complexities of modern investigations and the need for reliable, timely, and actionable information. Our suite of innovative solutions — from background checks and identity verification to VIN Scan, fraud detection, and social media screening — is designed to give insurers, employers, and organizations the clarity they need to make confident decisions. By partnering with ISB, you gain more than just data; you gain a trusted ally committed to streamlining your processes, reducing risk, and helping you stay ahead of emerging challenges. Discover how ISB Global Services can empower your team with the tools and insights to act decisively.