Employer seeking repayment of sick pay due to possible car accident payout

The_Pedant

I was weighing up whether to post this here or in the insurance section (but plumped for here as it's more the employer rights side).

This is on behalf of a friend & wanted to know if anyone is more familiar with this scenario than I am (or have been able to find).

Friend was involved in a car accident when someone drove into them, as a result they have had to have time off work and the claim is ongoing due to injuries received from the accident.

They have now received a letter from their employer stating that if they receive any payout then they would be seeking repayment of sick pay that was given.

Not having been involved in such cases before this I guess is ensure that the party at fault covers all consequential losses, both of my friend and indirectly her employer.

A few questions arise, I'm hoping someone more knowledgeable can shed anymore light:-
1. Is this normal?
2. One would assume that they would just seek recovery of any 'enhanced' sick pay, in excess of SSP?
3. I guess this needs to be added to the claim

Will get them to talk to the folks handling their claim but wanted to try and get some additional info first.

qazitory

To my knowledge this is normal as they just add the lost wages to the claim, and then this gets paid back to the employer.

hcb42

yes i would say it is normal also

Torry_Quine

If the employer didn't get the sick pay repaid then your friend would be getting paid twice.

dseventy

The_Pedant wrote: »

I was weighing up whether to post this here or in the insurance section (but plumped for here as it's more the employer rights side).

This is on behalf of a friend & wanted to know if anyone is more familiar with this scenario than I am (or have been able to find).

Friend was involved in a car accident when someone drove into them, as a result they have had to have time off work and the claim is ongoing due to injuries received from the accident.

They have now received a letter from their employer stating that if they receive any payout then they would be seeking repayment of sick pay that was given.

Not having been involved in such cases before this I guess is ensure that the party at fault covers all consequential losses, both of my friend and indirectly her employer.

A few questions arise, I'm hoping someone more knowledgeable can shed anymore light:-
1. Is this normal?
2. One would assume that they would just seek recovery of any 'enhanced' sick pay, in excess of SSP?
3. I guess this needs to be added to the claim

Will get them to talk to the folks handling their claim but wanted to try and get some additional info first.

Yes quite normal and standard practice.

Look at this way.

Your "friend" was completing their contracted duties and had an accident, not their fault. As a result of this accident, they were not able to complete their duties at work.

Work stepped in and said "we will pay you for being off sick as per policies, but should you manage to claim back from the third party, we will also add our losses".

Perfectly reasonable, and essential for a business!

D70

vax2002

Never heard of it applying to contractual sick pay, only SSP
How would the employer know, the contract between you and your insurance is of no concern to the employer.
Unless there is some statutory legislation that compels you to disclose it with your employer then they have no reason to know.
SSP is different.

nightingalesgarden

I suggest that the claims company working on behalf of your friend has written to the employer and they have reacted to that letter rather than this statement coming directly from the employer with no prompting.

The Claims company will have written to the employer so that they can calculate the claim for the employee/so they have all the full facts of who is to paid.

Can your friend check with the claims company? They will have had a response from the employer.

Valli

Since your (well his) employer has suffered a consequential loss as a result of the car accident and has had to pay out the sick pay they are, as far as I am aware, perfectly entitled to claim this back from the car insurer.

The_Pedant

Thanks everyone. As I said I can well understand why it happens and had a picture in my head of how it may work. I think the above will help before we can speak to folks again on Monday.

corbyboy

The_Pedant wrote: »

Thanks everyone. As I said I can well understand why it happens and had a picture in my head of how it may work. I think the above will help before we can speak to folks again on Monday.

If your friend has specifically put in a claim for "loss of earnings" while they were receiving sick pay from their employer then why would they be able to keep it? They can't get paid twice!

ohreally

If the employer is a public employer them the reimbursement becomes a contractual issue and thete may also be a duty placed on the employee to disclose all facts relating.