Asked to use personal car for work. Advice appreciated!

vaio

smile86 wrote: »

I'm fairly sure its different for carrying people for work. I am insured to drive to more than one place of work, e.g different care homes/peoples own homes, this is class one business use. I haven't read anywhere that it doesn't cover for carrying people, or that it does. Maybe it would come under carrying people for hire or reward?

Class 1 made little difference to my premium, although some insurers wont quote based on it.

Employer wise, the company I work for pays mileage, but not the extra in insurance, but then it is an agency so going to different places is expected. Carrying people in the car is not so not sure if they are obliged to pay if it is for carrying people.

Sorry, not much help really!

I agree, the class 1 has never made any significant difference to my premium even with quite high miles and a very MSE group 20 car.

I remain unsure as the whether transporting people with behaviour/leaning issues such that they are incapable of independent living would be covered by Class 1 and that’s before you look at the health & safety implications of doing it single handed in a car.

oscarward

If the expenses paid by the company are less than 40p (may have changed in view of petrol prices) then it is possible to claim the difference back from the tax authorities.

I get paid a lump sum per month by my employers for the car and just the actual cost of fuel currently 13p / mile.

As the lump sum is taxed, at year end i work out what it cost me @ 40p against what was paid and apply for a refund from HMRC.

One year it worked out at about £2300 cash.

The only down side is I have to do a self assesment every year.

To be fair I have been doing it for so long now the tax office load my code in anticipation of a claim at year end.

lisyloo

We've had confirmation that her employers pay 47p per mile

That's very generous.
In fact I believe that may be above the inland revenue limit and she m ay have to pay income tax on the extra 7p (you'll have to check the latest figures in case I'm out of date on that but it's stayed at max 40p for a longtime).
Subject to the figures the Inland revenue would view any excess as a taxable benefit.
But that's not a bad thing, evenif she pays tax it's probably only 20%.

Apologies if I come across as a bit pessimistic, but sadly these things do happen.

Don't apologies. You are absolutely correct to do this research.

huckster

Just some info for the OP. Derby care workers recently refused to use their own cars and were awarded some additional money, plus they council concerned are looking into a car pooling scheme.

http://www.communitycare.co.uk/Articles/2010/07/05/114846/derby-social-workers-end-dispute-over-car-allowance.htm

ilovebanksMCMLXXXI

Hi.

In terms of what she can claim from her employer(s) I wouldn't be 100% sure but from an insurance point of view she would definitely require business miles on her insurance and she would need to clarify her position on public liability.

It's also worth finding out if she would ever be taking the residents themelves to the shops etc becuase that technically would be classed as Hire & Reward and that is the same classification as private hire and taxi drivers.

If the company she works for are respectable they wouldn't simply tell her to use her own vehicle and claim the milage because the Health and Safety implications to doing that are huge.

Best of luck

forgotmyname

Classed as carrying passengers for hire or reward, May bump up the premuim a fair chunk.

What if someone injures themself on or in your car? Rather cheeky of them.

Personally i would take the bus a few days a week, Say the car broke down again.

I take the MIL to the docs and it is suprising the extra wear it puts on the car.
I get there & park in the bays.

Bring her out & have to bring the car to her, (between 40 and 100 feet) No parking at the entrance.
Do i leave it running or switch it off?
Drive 2 miles to the docs and do the same, Do i leave it running or switch off to help her out?
Then park in the proper bays.

Hammers my fuel consumption. 28mpg for a diesel? Better then the petrol car i had which averaged 23mpg
with slightly longer trips to the hospital instead of the docs.


Just to add its not the car at fault, If i fill up & drive very carefully i can get 60mpg.
Too many stop/starts kills it.

lisyloo

Do i leave it running or switch off to help her out?

You're at risk of it being stolen if you leave it running and you are round the other side of the car.

mikey72

huckster wrote: »

Just some info for the OP. Derby care workers recently refused to use their own cars and were awarded some additional money, plus they council concerned are looking into a car pooling scheme.

http://www.communitycare.co.uk/Articles/2010/07/05/114846/derby-social-workers-end-dispute-over-car-allowance.htm

Not entirely "more money", they lost a monthly allowance and had a mileage allowance instead, with a one off payment at the start to compensate.

forgotmyname wrote: »

Classed as carrying passengers for hire or reward, May bump up the premuim a fair chunk.

What if someone injures themself on or in your car? Rather cheeky of them.

I don't think it's hire and reward, as the passengers are under the responsibility of the company, and not being carried by the driver for reward, but as part of their job, and the health and safety should be covered under the companies risk asssessment, as they are using the car as a place of work, and carrying people in the companies' care and responsibility, not the drivers.
If they are on the ball, they should take a copy of your licence, insurance, and maybe MOT if you need one.
You do have to make sure that the insurance covers carrying passengers for business though, some business use does, some doesn't.

lisyloo

This seems somewhat complicated to me from the companies point of view. I use my car to travel to customer sites, but do not take passegers just myself.
If the company uses someone's personal car, then the company has some obligation to make sure the car is roadworthy etc.
I know the driver is obligated as well, but the company also has obligations when using someones personal car.
They could check licences, tax, MOTs, insurance etc. annually and keeping records, but the daily checks e.g. tyres are going to be much more difficult for the company to enforce.

What if someone gets injured on a pin/needle/screw/nail in the car that hasn't been vaccuumed and valletted adequately??

This seems like a legal minefield to me and they'd be better off using their own fleet that are maintained, washed and valletted according to professional standards.

I think these questions need to be addressed.
If the person doesn't want to appear inflexible then I agree they should get the bus or a life for a period and say the car if off the road and they are considering scrapping it.
They would have to provide alternative for people who don't have cars anyway.

mikey72

lisyloo wrote: »

This seems somewhat complicated to me from the companies point of view. I use my car to travel to customer sites, but do not take passegers just myself.
If the company uses someone's personal car, then the company has some obligation to make sure the car is roadworthy etc.
I know the driver is obligated as well, but the company also has obligations when using someones personal car.
They could check licences, tax, MOTs, insurance etc. annually and keeping records, but the daily checks e.g. tyres are going to be much more difficult for the company to enforce.

What if someone gets injured on a pin/needle/screw/nail in the car that hasn't been vaccuumed and valletted adequately??

This seems like a legal minefield to me and they'd be better off using their own fleet that are maintained, washed and valletted according to professional standards.

I think these questions need to be addressed.
If the person doesn't want to appear inflexible then I agree they should get the bus or a life for a period and say the car if off the road and they are considering scrapping it.
They would have to provide alternative for people who don't have cars anyway.

There is a fairly standard model for the risk assessment. As to the other checks, it's up to the driver to ensure day to day care, the same as checking before you take a pool car out.