Petem95

Was involved in a minor pile-up in my company car recently - caused £600 of damage to my car - but the company are now saying I have to pay a £900 insurance excess??

£900 is really taking the **** - anyone know if I have any rights to appeal against this?

dosenöffner

It's all about the fine print in your employment contract and vehicle contract. The company should pay. Otherwise don't claim insurance.

Nimbus

Huh... If you had £600 of damage how can you pay £900 excess?

Petem95

Exactly - they shouldnt even have claimed on the insurance in the first place, but they obviously dont care as theyre trying to make me pay the excess anyway so no skin off their back

boxst

Hello

As above, check your contract. I'd be surprised if it says that you have to pay the excess.

Steve.

sarasquares

iTrader: (1)

easy solution.............find identical car and swap the plates
HTH

Brendan Hughes

£600 to his car.

Minor pile-up.

He didn't mention that he bounced off a couple of Ferraris while scraping his wing and door.

NotoriousREV

Bullcrap, unless the excess is mentioned specifically (including the amount) in your contract or in your company vehicle usage policy.

Petem95

Apparently it is mentioned in the wad of paperwork they give you - I had to sign something when I joined which I think says I've read it all through - but I'll be asking to see this bit of paper with my signature on before I pay anything (can I legally insist on seeing this?)

Also it seems they got a quote for the damage on the car, assumed I was 25 (excess is £500 then) and the quote was obviously just over £500 so they claimed on the insurance.... however Im 24 so the excess is £900 but they'd already claimed on the insurance so its me who gets to pay £900 for £600 worth of damage because of their imcompetence

Nimbus

While you may have to pay for your part in the accident, you should NOT pay extra for their incompetance for getting you age wrong...

good luck!

NotoriousREV

I'm confused, why are they asking for £900 for a £600 repair? Have the company doing the work inflated the bill since finding out about the excess change? If the repairs are £600 and your excess is £900 you should only be paying £600. Or am I missing something?

Dapster

This is the key question. Is it £600 in total or £600 to yours plus a couple of grand elsewhere - in which case, the £900 excess is above board.

Remember that most big companies self insure. That is that they are covered 3rd party, but any damage to their own cars is paid out by the company, not the insurance co as this is far more cost effective. If that is the case, then you will be billed the £900 even if it's a £50 pound repair.

It is not a money making scam as such - it is a method companies use to minimise costs incurred by Ronnie Reps who don't give a monkey's about their cars and drive them like bumper cars.

Check your wad of paperwork, but this sounds like standard company car policy to me.

Petem95

Basically they assumed I was 25 (so the excess is £500 for that age driver) so they get a quote for the damage which comes out at over £500, so they claim on the insurance as its less than paying for the repair (which I wouldve had to pay for)

However as Im 24 the insurance excess is £900 - if they'd bothered to check this in the first place, then the repair wouldve been done (outside insurance) I'd be made to pay for the £600 repair, and insurance wouldnt have been claimed on at all.

Petem95

Theres only an excess to pay if youre claiming for own vehicle damage - I checked with the insurance company.

Adrian F

My firm has a £500 excess which we pay if we have a crash and as we pay they settle for not arguing about liability. some guys have £1000 excess.

NotoriousREV

But why does claiming on the insurance change the amount you pay? If the work is £600, then thats all you should pay, whether or not the insurance gets involved or not, unless the bodyshop have jacked up the price, in which case you refuse to pay unless the body shop meet their quote.

Either your company or the body shop is ripping you off. Just because the excess is £900 doesn't mean you pay £900 unless the repairs are £900 or above.

Petem95

Basically the company shouldnt have claimed as the cost of repair was obviously less than the insurance excess - the quote for the damage wouldve almost certainly been under £600

Thing is, they clearly assumed I was 25 (at that age excess falls to £500 not £900) - then it wouldve been worth claiming as excess would be less than repair.

***** up by someone, but now they want me to fork out the £900...

Adrian F

depends on your value to the company.

i take the view with the guys who work for me that if we take the money from them they will get it back some way. why upset them for no gain in fact when enforced the effect on productivity costs a lot more than the excess as they hold the grudge for months.

might be worth pointing out you good record with the company and how demoralising it would be to have this deduction made.