Company car insurance excess liability
Discussion
Hi,
I have a company car, all staff in my organisation have just been told that we will soon be liable for the excess if we have a fault accident and if we do not sign the agreement saying we consent to this we could face having our car taken away (preventing us from doing our job) or face disciplinary.
Are they within their rights to make us pay the excess if we have an accident when driving for work purposes?
Thanks.
I have a company car, all staff in my organisation have just been told that we will soon be liable for the excess if we have a fault accident and if we do not sign the agreement saying we consent to this we could face having our car taken away (preventing us from doing our job) or face disciplinary.
Are they within their rights to make us pay the excess if we have an accident when driving for work purposes?
Thanks.
Certainly there is no problem having a contractual term that says that the employee pays the excess, there is very little you can't put in a contract if both parties agree to it. But the implication is that this isn't in your contract and they are trying to force it in, changes to contracts of employment really need to be by mutual consent (either with you individually or through a collective agreement).
As for removing your car if you don't sign, the question is whether you are entitled to a car in your contract, if so then removing it is a breach of contract on their part. Putting you into a disciplinary would also be hard since it's not clear what the basis for that would be.
So you can probably refuse to sign without them being able to do a great deal but at the end of the day I'd have thought that whether what they are asking is reasonable depends on the letter they want signing. Does it set a limit to the excess and properly define the circumstances under which it is payable?
As for removing your car if you don't sign, the question is whether you are entitled to a car in your contract, if so then removing it is a breach of contract on their part. Putting you into a disciplinary would also be hard since it's not clear what the basis for that would be.
So you can probably refuse to sign without them being able to do a great deal but at the end of the day I'd have thought that whether what they are asking is reasonable depends on the letter they want signing. Does it set a limit to the excess and properly define the circumstances under which it is payable?
From an employer's perspective and with the limited info in your post, I would say not having a company car does not prevent you doing your job (you can get your own card and insurance I mean). Now if you were a delivery driver and they didn't provide a van then that would be a bit much to ask of an employee!
From an employee's perspective, so long as there is a benefit (like personal use) to having the car I would agree to be responsible for the excess so long as (1) I would only be liable to pay the excess at the END of any insurance company dispute IF I was found to be at fault (2) The excess could be paid monthly in smallish chunks.
ETA while the company seeks to formalise such things, I would also ask for a contract ammendment that promises me a letter at the end of employement confirming my years of claim/crash free driving (I have used one of these to get three years no claims entitlement before).
From an employee's perspective, so long as there is a benefit (like personal use) to having the car I would agree to be responsible for the excess so long as (1) I would only be liable to pay the excess at the END of any insurance company dispute IF I was found to be at fault (2) The excess could be paid monthly in smallish chunks.
ETA while the company seeks to formalise such things, I would also ask for a contract ammendment that promises me a letter at the end of employement confirming my years of claim/crash free driving (I have used one of these to get three years no claims entitlement before).
Edited by TurricanII on Friday 13th May 19:57
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