Charges for damage to company vehicle

Jimmy_Boy

Just looking for some advice...

I am a field engineer, contracted to work 47.5 hours per week (9.5 hours * 5 days), for which I get paid £92.18 per day (flat rate).

I am supplied a lease van by my company to perform my job.

My company insurance has £1,000 excess on the leased vehicle to keep their premium's lower.
I recently hit the lower side of my van on a customers small wall, 2 breeze blocks high which I couldnt see on my approach due to the angle I had to drive / positioning of the blocks.

Essentially I have to pay for the repair myself either by taking it to a VAT registered garage (been quoted £350), or going through the insurance and paying the £1,000 excess.

Today is my last day at work (will be temporarily unemployed for a few months) and the van will soon need to be returned.

My contract DOES state this about damage and excess values, which most likely means im doomed.

Can I present any argument to avoid paying these charges, ie. possibly takes me below minimum wage / the company excess is unreasonably high etc...

I realise this is my fault, and I have previously paid about £3,000 for damage over the 10 years worked for the company, including things that where not my fault... such as parking legally and a passing car smashing the mirror, requiring replacement at a cost of £180 to me, tree branch falling on roof, I had to pay £500 for etc...

I find it frustrating that the company over work us, driving about 50,000 miles a year and take no financial accountability for ANY damage to the van.

Just looking for a second opinion, although I realise I am most likely going to have to pay it.

Thanks

AdrianC

While I can see your point over the harshness of making you pay for damage that was clearly not your fault, there's not a lot of arguing as to the cause of this particular damage...

The clause is not inherently unenforceable, and the fact that you've agreed to pay under it before doesn't strengthen your position. But there MIGHT be some wiggle-room...
https://www.fleetnews.co.uk/news/2014/2/20/contract-wording-critical-to-recover-costs-from-drivers/49651/

Hopefully, a mod will move the thread to https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/categories/employment-jobseeking-training - it's more an employment question than a car one.

Jimmy_Boy

The article you link to regarding the wording of the contract is interesting.

The article states

"If an employer doesn’t have the contractual right to make deductions from an employee’s wages, they would have to rely on suing the employee to recover the money.

Lynch said: “In reality, this may be difficult to demonstrate when the employee is simply carrying out his or her duties. But if, for example, an employee drove a company vehicle drunk, the employer will be more likely to be able to make a case of negligence.”

"Employers therefore must ensure they have the contractual right to make deductions from their employee’s wages before making deductions of any sort."

Going on to say...

"The employee handbook contained a clause, which stated “whenever a vehicle is returned the driver shall ensure that the interior and exterior are reasonably clean and tidy… Any damage over and above wear and tear may be charged to the driver”.

"The contract allowed for a deduction, but did not specify that the deduction would come from the employee’s wages. In deducting the costs from the emplyee's wages the company had therefore acted illegally."

This got me thinking about my contract, which states...

"Every driver of a company leased vehicle has a duty of care to ensure the vehicle is being looked after and cared for in the best possible way to prevent damage to the vehicle. This includes activities such as driving responsibly according to the conditions, and parking in areas to mitigate against damage. "

"As it is each driver’s responsibility to care for the vehicle, a lack of care could result in costs being passed to the driver. As a reminder the agreement you signed when accepting the vehicle is as follows: ‘I sign for the vehicle in the condition received and I agree that any repairs / rectifications are to be made at my cost prior to the return of the assigned vehicle or recharged in full to me by CompanyName”.

"If the van is not repaired as organised through your service provider then there will be a requirement for CompanyName to have the vehicle repaired through the agency of its choice. CompanyName will always aim to gain a competitive rate through its chosen agency. "

"It is the responsibility of CompanyName to return vehicles to the hire companies in the same state as that in which it was received with a variance for wear and tear to be taken into consideration. It has thus been decided to place the following policies into operation:"

"Any damage to vehicles which is greater than general wear and tear as determined by the British Vehicle Rental & Leasing Association (BVRLA) guidelines. www.bvrla.co.uk may be deemed at fault and may be charged to the value of £1000 which equates to the excess for each separate incident/accident. All drivers are eligible to seek quotes from alternative garages which are VAT registered and paid for by the relevant driver at no cost to CompanyName. Fleet must be informed of any proposed repairs and approve the go ahead for the repairs. "

The article specifies that because the contract did not explicitly state the charges would be deducted from his wages, it was an unlawful deduction (my interpretation of the article).

From the above extracts from my contract and reading through the rest of the contract I see no part that mentions the deductions would be made from my salary.

So, I could possibly return the van damaged, and the company would have to sue for the recharge. Not sure if it's worth it, or just to pay up and be done with it and forget about this s**thole company!

chrisw

Have you already informed the fleet company? I was wondering whether you could get a cheap 'cosmetic' repair done that wouldnt be picked up on the final inspection.

Otherwise I think I'd pay the £350 and move on.

Keep_pedalling

I cannot believe a company are acting lawfully in charging you for accidental damage for things like branch falling on the vehicular or it being hit by a third party while parked. They are certainly not allowed to deduct costs from your wages whether it was your fault or not.

https://hrltd.co.uk/damage-company-property/

Personally I would not pay it, if you they pursue you for it, counter with a claim for the return of the fallen branch and the damage caused by the unknown third party.

I doubt that such a company is unionised, but if you are in a union they have the experts to run rings round such dodgy contract clauses.

Alanp

I used to work as a field service engineer, the last company used to charge for damage, one of the engineers had his van broken into and they charged him £500 excess, what with that and the trackers and cameras, I’m glad I’m out of it...

Jimmy_Boy

Yeah the company is a joke... barely pay you above minimum wage, one pay rise in 10 years... try charging you for punctures, charges for calling out recovery if you break down, try getting you to work Sundays for standard rate (eventually paid 1.5x because everybody kicked off)... tried charging me for getting the tryes changed once because they said I didnt get enough miles out of them etc...

Similar to what @Alanp states... we had correspondence stating that every night we should empty everything from the van. Bearing in mind there is a lot of stuff in the van, this is not a trivial task, and is something that would essentially not be paid for. After quizzing them, essentially they where trying to get me to offload everything into my own property, and if anything was then stolen from my property I would be liable instead of the company. I promptly refused to do so. I wonder if we are talking about the same company?

The tree branch and mirror incdent was from years ago. I think I will just end up paying and giving the middle finger on my departure. The company has caused me so much stress and anxiety over the years that leaving will fell like a massive weight off my shoulders.

AdrianC

Jimmy_Boy said:

barely pay you above minimum wage, one pay rise in 10 years...

10 years ago, the national minimum wage was £5.93/hour.
It's now £8.70/hour.

Jimmy_Boy

Exactly... demonstrates how much minimum wage has gone up and my salary has not... ie... considered the salary to be ok at the beginning, but not now. My salary went from £90 per day to £92 per day about 3 years ago.

AdrianC

So what kept you there this long?

Jimmy_Boy

Its a long story.... the work itself is fine, just all the company BS that is the problem. My original supervisor was great and would be by my side and help me out, but my new supervisor is, errrrr..... lets just say we dont get on