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#1 Posted : 04 January 2002 14:24:00(UTC)
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Posted By S C Purohit Can anyone shed some light on the subject of an Employer's liability when an employee uses a private car to carry out company business? This is more significant because of the oncoming changes to Tax on Company cars where low mileage car users may opt out of company car scheme and then claim mileage allowance when they use the car for business purposes. Should such a person have a road traffic accident, can he/she claim against the Comapny?
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#2 Posted : 04 January 2002 15:21:00(UTC)
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Posted By Adam Morris Hi, Don't quote me on this as I am not sure for certain but i feel that the employee would not be able to make a claim against the company if he/she was involved in a RTA, maybe so if they were using a company vehicle that was faulty and the fault of the vehicle caused the accident. I personally wouldn't have thought that the employee could claim,what grounds would they be claiming on? mind you, the way the world is these days people claim for anything! I hope this helps, maybe someone else with more knowledge can tell you for definate. What trainig can an employer give to an already qualified driver to ensure they do not have RTA's?? The only ground possible someone could claim, in my eyes anyway, would be possibly stress, heavy workload pressures, rushing from place to place, i dont see as how the employee could claim for injuries or damage to vehicle if their own, if they can I would appreciate it if someone out there could tell me otherwise to educate me. hope this helps
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#3 Posted : 04 January 2002 15:48:00(UTC)
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Posted By S C Purohit Thanks for the prompt reply, Adam.
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#4 Posted : 04 January 2002 16:09:00(UTC)
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Posted By John Webster I don't think that the OWNERSHIP of the vehicle has any real bearing on liability, unless, as Adam suggests, the accident involves, say, a vehicle defect for which the provider could be held responsible. Other possible routes for a claim against the employer, e.g. undue pressure on journey times; requiring mobile phones to be answered on the road etc., would be the same regardless of who owned or supplied the car Note that if using a privately owned vehicle on company business it is important to ensure that the driver's insurance covers such use. This can be checked by, for example, only paying mileage expenses to employees who have submitted a copy of their insurance certificate for scrutiny.
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#5 Posted : 04 January 2002 17:08:00(UTC)
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Posted By Nigel Lusby The Employer should ensure that the conditions of use are clearly defined and recorded: Must Comply with UK law (Tax, Mot, Highway code etc), an appropriate level of insurance, competence (Driving license). I guess the Employer can then at least use contributory factors should the employee then attempt to claim. However where the employee is negligent, the Employer is potentially liable (vicariously) for the torts of his employee. See Smith v Stages 1989, where the HL found the employer liable when an employee driving back from a job drove negligently killing an other employee who was a passenger in the vehicle. Regards Nigel
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