Minimum wage - petrol - explain please?

loskie

yes I have business insurance now Volvo V50 20000m per year fully comp cover for £230 . Fortunately I am in a low risk area and job(civil servant). Do 10000 work miles reimbursed at HMRC rates.

mattcanary

Surely this is illegal? Employers have to pay their employees at least the minimum wage per hour after taking off all expenses related to the job (or are there exclusions in the law for care workers?).

It's little wonder that social care is in such a terrible state, with this kind of practice going on.

Marktheshark

Transformers wrote: »

A 'business user' clause isn't that difficult to obtain - I had it for years when I had a mobile role using my own car.

It said something like 'for use in the policy holder's business / employment but excluding private hire or the carrying of paid passengers' - it's just a small add-on to a normal policy not a specific business policy.

Thousands of people have it.

Usually it says "Use in the policy holder's business"
That is not for use in your employers business, you are best advised to explain exactly what you will be doing in the course of the job to the insurance.
When the police pull people now for insurance checks and they do, see twitter feeds for police, they do call up and get peoples insurance incepted for using the car outside cover.

Cornucopia

There is no insurance issue, no matter how much people want to paint it that way.

I have the most wide-ranging business clause on my insurance - "In connection with the Policyholder's businesses" i.e. to use it for pretty much any white-collar business of my choosing, except travelling with sales samples. This costs virtually nothing as an add-on to comprehensive insurance.

There are only two issues, here, and they are both good issues, so I don't really understand why people are lobbing in red herrings like insurance.

The issues are: minimum wage (after consideration of travelling time between client sites), and fair re-reimbursement for providing a vehicle.

The current policy of the care industry is short-changing employees and clients, and potentially ripping-off the taxpayer, as well as making us complicit in the short-changing. It needs fixing.

Marktheshark

The problem starts if the police pull you over, they have a different opinion of what class of insurance you need.
That is why it is best to speak with the insurance and explain exactly what it is you are doing.
Some will class using as part of an employers business plan as "Commercial travelling" or class 3 if that car usage is a core term to the business, as in the Employer is profiting from the deal.

The two have a fine line, using in course of your business and the actual using in course of an employers business need agreeing with the insurance.

Pizza delivery, parcel delivery drivers have come unstuck travelling on Class 2.

Aquamania

Cornucopia wrote: »

There is no insurance issue, no matter how much people want to paint it that way....

You need to have appropriate insurance cover.

No, it's not an issue to obtain, as long as you have the money to pay for it.

Usual private car insurance that covers Social, Domestic & Pleasure Purposes (and nowdays, may also specifically include commuting, usually restricted to a single place of work) will not cover the proposed use here.

Cornucopia

No one is suggesting otherwise.

It's just a bit insulting to the OP's friend to assume that she doesn't know all this, especially when it would be an offence to drive her car without appropriate insurance.

Aquamania

Cornucopia wrote: »

No one is suggesting otherwise.

It's just a bit insulting to the OP's friend to assume that she doesn't know all this, especially when it would be an offence to drive her car without appropriate insurance.

It seems even more insulting to me for an employer to expect any employee to fund their business by refusing to refund the employee the necessary & reasonable expenses that the employee incurs in carrying out their duties.

Transformers

Transformers wrote: »

A 'business user' clause isn't that difficult to obtain - I had it for years when I had a mobile role using my own car.

It said something like 'for use in the policy holder's business / employment but excluding private hire or the carrying of paid passengers' - it's just a small add-on to a normal policy not a specific business policy.

Thousands of people have it.

Marktheshark wrote: »

Usually it says "Use in the policy holder's business"
That is not for use in your employers business, you are best advised to explain exactly what you will be doing in the course of the job to the insurance.
When the police pull people now for insurance checks and they do, see twitter feeds for police, they do call up and get peoples insurance incepted for using the car outside cover.

As I have said, this is NOT a big issue.

You can add a 'business user' clause at a small cost and it allows you to use the car as part of your employment - even if you do not own the business.

As to the police? I worked for many years in law enforcement (retired early, last month) and have attended many a road stop etc with roads policing officers - I KNOW absolutely that such insurance is easily available (I had it) and it's perfectly legal as long as it is included as an add-on.

Please stop muddying the waters.

Aquamania

Transformers wrote: »

As I have said, this is NOT a big issue.

You can add a 'business user' clause at a small cost and it allows you to use the car as part of your employment - even if you do not own the business....

It depends what you call small, but I carried out a simple exercise based on a 35 year old, married female, living in Bristol & working as a care assistant driving a 10 year old 1600cc Ford Focus Lx (no accidents or convictions, 15 years NCB, etc), and it seemed to add about 25% to the annual policy cost.

I accept this is purely a random sample of 1, and the price will vary according to the specifics of the proposer.

This was using compare the market, and you need to be careful the 'business' usage actually covers you for the purpose you are using the vehicle for.

I don't believe the advice Marktheshark has given does 'muddy the waters'. It would seem highly appropriate, in the circumstances to contact any potential insurer to clarify the sitution should there be any doubt.