Company demanding to inspect car

Newman1000

Hi I hope someone can help . My son has just joined the same company I work at ( It is his first job) . This company has a separate garage which runs the company fleet . My son has his own car and the company does pay for business mileage but that is all they pay for . They have also demanded he has Business Insurance which we got along with the obligatory requirements to see the MOT and his drivers licence . This is all fine ( barring the business insurance which I thought was a bit over the top )
However now they have demanded that my son bring the car in to be checked failing which they will not give permission to use the car !! The irony is that I actually got the car serviced and MOT'd with them in June ( they were offering staff rates) and despite this they now want to carry out further safety checks even though the car passed with flying colours in June !!!
I am minded to tell them to "go away" as I do not believe they have any right to impose this on him . Am I making a mountain out of this?

motorguy

Newman1000 wrote: »

Am I making a mountain out of this?

Yes.

I would have thought if they are paying for business miles it's not unreasonable that the car is insured for business miles, road worthy and fit for purpose.

Also what's it got to do with you? Why are you getting involved with a view to refusing?

agrinnall

Do you really want to get your son sacked? Because you're going the right way about it. If there's nothing wrong with the car then there's nothing for an inspection to find, if it does have faults then I can see no issue with the employer wanting to know about them.

paddedjohn

6 months is a long time, why do you object to it being checked out again? I assume you would like your son to drive a safe car.

Undervalued

Newman1000 wrote: »

Hi I hope someone can help . My son has just joined the same company I work at ( It is his first job) . This company has a separate garage which runs the company fleet . My son has his own car and the company does pay for business mileage but that is all they pay for . They have also demanded he has Business Insurance which we got along with the obligatory requirements to see the MOT and his drivers licence . This is all fine ( barring the business insurance which I thought was a bit over the top )
However now they have demanded that my son bring the car in to be checked failing which they will not give permission to use the car !! The irony is that I actually got the car serviced and MOT'd with them in June ( they were offering staff rates) and despite this they now want to carry out further safety checks even though the car passed with flying colours in June !!!
I am minded to tell them to "go away" as I do not believe they have any right to impose this on him . Am I making a mountain out of this?

Quite frankly yes!

Your son has presumably been employed for less than two years so the bottom line is that they can dismiss him for any reason (or no reason at all).

If he is going to use his car for business and collect mileage then they can impose whatever terms and conditions they like. It is no different to having a strict dress code (as many professional jobs do). You can say "I have a right to wear jeans and trainers" and they have a right not to employ you!

Newman1000

Appreciate the comments thank you .

Guest101

Newman1000 wrote: »

Hi I hope someone can help . My son has just joined the same company I work at ( It is his first job) . This company has a separate garage which runs the company fleet . My son has his own car and the company does pay for business mileage but that is all they pay for . They have also demanded he has Business Insurance which we got along with the obligatory requirements to see the MOT and his drivers licence . This is all fine ( barring the business insurance which I thought was a bit over the top ) - ??!! he's using it for business and needs business insurance....
However now they have demanded that my son bring the car in to be checked failing which they will not give permission to use the car !! The irony is that I actually got the car serviced and MOT'd with them in June ( they were offering staff rates) and despite this they now want to carry out further safety checks even though the car passed with flying colours in June !!!
I am minded to tell them to "go away" as I do not believe they have any right to impose this on him . Am I making a mountain out of this?

Well they don't have to pay business miles then do they?

Undervalued

I think the point about insurance is the difference between the more basic and cheaper "the policy holder in person in connection with his business or the business of his employer" and "full business use" which costs significantly more.

Arguably (depending on exactly what he will be doing) only the former is required but it is a totally moot point as the employer can insist on the higher level whether it is actually needed or not!

Newman1000

As I said I appreciate the comments and in this case it is clearly better just to go with the flow . In answer to a few queries though . He does little or any business mileage as he is based permanently at one place .However I appreciate that it is a moot point . I think my main frustration is that they have a habit in the past of trying to charge for repairs to cars which in the opinion of the people affected not necessary . Again however we will address this if it comes up . As to whether I would like my son to drive a safe car ? Well the answer is yes and that is why the car is checked by me every weekend . Anyway thanks again for the quick responses

motorguy

Newman1000 wrote: »

As I said I appreciate the comments and in this case it is clearly better just to go with the flow . In answer to a few queries though . He does little or any business mileage as he is based permanently at one place .However I appreciate that it is a moot point . I think my main frustration is that they have a habit in the past of trying to charge for repairs to cars which in the opinion of the people affected not necessary . Again however we will address this if it comes up . As to whether I would like my son to drive a safe car ? Well the answer is yes and that is why the car is checked by me every weekend . Anyway thanks again for the quick responses

Fair play for the response and taking the criticism on the chin.


If you can get your head around the fact that its probably just company policy (rather than the company "demanding" anything) then its really just them viewing the car.


From their perspective, if your son was to plough in to the back of another car (god forbid) and it turned out he'd no business insurance and defective brakes, it could reflect badly on them (press coverage, etc).


I do take your point RE: them potentially drumming up business for themselves, however as you say, you can address that as it comes up.


My son got his first full time job last year - its a big step in their lives (and yours). I am sure he will do well

spadoosh

It seems unreasonable to want to inspect the vehicle when its unlikely it will be a requirement for insurance. I imagine the insurance provider will be happy with an MOT and the proviso that the vehicle is maintained.

Brakes can fail at any point. They could fail as soon as he left the inspection.

I would ask how regular the inspections are?

If they say its a one off, id state its pointless doing the inspection. The legal reuqiremnet for an annual MOT would surpass any merits of inspection.

I'd be tempted to say they need to inspect the vehicle everyday otherwise they couldnt guarantee the validity of any inspections.

Seems an odd way of doing things and would imagine its more or less exactly as you say, divvy off funds to the garage.