Work van insurance

kev25v6

Getting new insurance terms for the work van, does this seem a normal addition?

“ Where you are responsible for any damage or loss to the van deliberately or otherwise, the Company reserves the right to insist on you rectifying the damage at your own expense or paying the excess part of any claim on the insurers. You will be responsible for any fines incurred. If these sums remain unpaid the appropriate deductions will be made from your pay in such circumstances

Where the Company has to pay a higher than normal insurance premium due to your poor claims record or previous driving convictions, the Company reserves the right to charge the excess premium to you.”

No mention of how much the excess could even be or how much the policy is. 

TELLIT01

The responsibilities of the employee seem excessive to me.  To be liable for excess etc if at fault is one thing, but to be liable for any damage or loss irrespective of how caused is something else completely.  Likewise, being responsible for fines doesn't seem unreasonable.  Park legally and that isn't a problem.

It would surprise me if these are normal terms.

DullGreyGuy

Its saying its limited to when its your fault and so is less onerous than some employers... does it seem to unreasonable that if you carelessly drive into the back of someone that you should be the one that pays the excess? 

kev25v6

If the excess was £2000, would you sign that you would pay it?  Normal car excess is around 150/200 which you have a choice of choosing when purchasing the policy. Any other equipment to use at work (more expensive than the van),  if it gets accidentally damaged the company has to take the hit, the van is just another piece of equipment supplied to do the job. Deliberately crashing or damaging a van is different and you would expect to have to pay for it but for an accident maybe it should be down to the company? 

bap98189

I wouldn't sign that. It's standard practice to expect drivers to pay driving fines. That part is fine. 

No way would I sign something that says they can recover the excess from you. For all you know that excess could be £1000 or more. Same goes for the increased premiums. That's the company's problem. 

kev25v6

bap98189 said:

I wouldn't sign that. It's standard practice to expect drivers to pay driving fines. That part is fine. 

No way would I sign something that says they can recover the excess from you. For all you know that excess could be £1000 or more. Same goes for the increased premiums. That's the company's problem. 

This is what is worrying people. They may say it’s there as a last resort and won’t really use it but 2 years later I’m sure they would forget saying that they would never use it and just hit you with a massive bill. You would expect to pay your own speeding fines but not pay their insurance premiums, that has to be worked into normal costings. 

Andy_L

bap98189 said:

I wouldn't sign that. It's standard practice to expect drivers to pay driving fines. That part is fine. 

No way would I sign something that says they can recover the excess from you. For all you know that excess could be £1000 or more. Same goes for the increased premiums. That's the company's problem. 

To me its not just that they could recover the excess, its that they could not go through the insurance and recover all the cost of repairs from you as
"the Company reserves the right to insist on you rectifying the damage at your own expense or paying the excess part of any claim on the insurers."
doesn't say its liable for the lower of repairs or excess.