Accident in company vehicle - excess cover

ceejayblue

My nephew has started a new job which will give him a company van which he will be expected to bring home every night. There are two issues,

1. In the event of an accident the company have told him that he will be responsible for the first £1000 of any damage incurred! This doesn't sound at all right to me but I wonder if its possible to get his own excess cover just in case anything happens.

2. Where he lives there is no parking in front of the house at all and very limited parking in the area, so the van will not be in his view when he's home and I think excess cover will be essential in this case.

Can anyone recommend a company that provides this cover and a rough idea of cost?

Thanks

forgotmyname

Tell him to look for a job elsewhere. Unacceptable terms in my opinion.

Not the sort of company you want to be working for.

ceejayblue

Thanks, did think of that but jobs are hard to come by.

bazza1603

More and more companies seem to be doing this.... The ones I have seen tend to be long term hire vehicles and therefore wonder if the normal excess policies would apply on the companies own insurance as well..


Sorry it doesn't answer your question...

forgotmyname

How much will he earn if someone breaks into the van to see if there are tools etc inside?

ceejayblue

Obvioiusly, he will earn nothing (although the tools are the company's) but he needs an insurance that covers him for things like that and have no idea where to go to get one.

forgotmyname

They are not his tools, Its not his vehicle or his insurance so im not sure he can.

Try speaking to one of the companies that cover the excess on hire vehicles. Maybe they can help.
Essentially though he is paying for something the company should be doing.

LittleMissGiggles123

Have you checked the T&C's? Only reason I ask is because I know a lot of companies do stipulate excess to be paid but only in the event of the driver being at fault. I know this because I have done the T&C's for the last company I worked for & the one I am at now as well as dealing with an external HR company in these issues.


A lot of companies put this in the T&C's because it means the driver will take better care of the vehicle if there is a penalty for treating it badly. Again, from own experience, I know that a lot of drivers don't care about the vehicle at all if it is not their own & have no financial risk.


Unfortunately it is those few who don't care that cause everybody to be penalised.

vaio

Obviously the excess only comes into it if the employers insurance has to pay out and can't recover their costs from elsewhere

Nothing wrong in principle but practically I suspect the difficulty is going to be getting cover for a commerial vehicle insured by someone else.

The mainstream policies are for cars and assume either hired or owned & insured by the policy holder

lisyloo

In the event of an accident the company have told him that he will be responsible for the first £1000 of any damage incurred!

He needs to clarify exactly what this means.

A fault accident?
Non-fault accident?
Fire & theft?

Can he leave the van at work and commute? so not take any responsibility for it outside working hours?

keith1950

I think he could have misunderstood the situation........from past experience it is more likely that he will only be responsible for the £1000 excess while using the van for private use and if it is also his fault !