Driving a company car and having an accident?

faringdon

Hi,
What happens if i drive a car owned by my company and have an accident. Who is liable to pay for the damage?

Tabieth

faringdon said:

Hi,
What happens if i drive a car owned by my company and have an accident. Who is liable to pay for the damage?

Whose fault was the accident? Were you speeding or breaking any rules of the road?

TadleyBaggie

Depends on who was at fault, if it was a 3rd party then I would expect the 3rd party insurance to pay. 

LightFlare

Is this a real scenario or another hypothetical?

Brie

Might depend on why you have an accident as well.  If it's raining (we should be so lucky) and despite braking you slide into another vehicle that's one thing.  If it's an accident on a clean dry road but you had a couple of drinks (even under the limit) that is something else completely.  

HampshireH

Your company probably has a vehicle policy outlining who pays for what and under what circumstances.

Often they will state driver is expected to pay the insurance excess some pay it first first claim but recoup it on 2nd or more.

It's going to depend on your agreement 

QrizB

faringdon said:

Hi,
What happens if i drive a car owned by my company and have an accident. Who is liable to pay for the damage?

Are you driving a company vehicle (car, van, lorry etc) in the course of your work, or is this a "company car" provided to you personally as a benefit of employment?

vacheron

It depends on the company policy, but usually the company will cover the costs of the damage one way or another.

Our company has a company vehicle policy that covers all company vehicles (pool cars etc.), but with an excess of £10,000 as it works out cheaper for the company to avoid making multiple claims for small incidents on the policy.

However, regardless of who pays the claim it is your duty as the driver to ensure that the vehicle you are driving is roadworthy and insured for at least third party cover, and any accident which occurs while you are driving the company vehicle will have to be declared on your own personal vehicle policies in the future.

MyRealNameToo

faringdon said:

Hi,
What happens if i drive a car owned by my company and have an accident. Who is liable to pay for the damage?

Read your contract.

You may or may not be liable for the excess; if it's a non-fault accident then you'd have a right of recovery against the other driver if you are responsible for paying the excess up front.