Went for a job interview yesterday and was told that if i have an accident and it is deemed to be my fault then 10% of the cost of damage will be taken out of my wage? What do you think of this? Is anybody else in the same boat. ive never heard of this before.
I have only had one accident that was my fault in 13 years but sods law states if i take the job i will have one in the first week.
I used to work for a company years ago that used to pay £30 per month if you didnt have an accident or damage the truck during that month.this is much better i think.
They’ll be expecting us to pay for the diesel next.
I hope you walked away straight after or woke up from a terrible nightmare…
Seems to be getting more common judging by the number of posts on here that say similar.
I went for an interview, must’ve been 5 or 6 years ago, and that had 1 of these schemes and the wages weren’t good either, so obviously I explained my reasons for not accepting the position.
BUT, they’ve had other drivers come and go since, so it seems that some drivers are accepting this crap, and as this goes on more and more companies will think it’s acceptable.
Personally, I’d rather not drive than drive under those terms, ■■■■ happens.
If they think you deliberately damaged anything, they can already take you to court to reclaim some funds, so they never needed this scheme except to rip drivers off.
sod that
We get a non accident bonus 600quid a quater tax free. I wouldnt work anywhere they makeyou pay do they make office staff pay for fuel for sending you on a wasted journey?
Hope you walked away.
However if circumstances dictate that you have to take the job, I hope you are looking for a better employer at the same time.
The company I work for has just taken on 10 new Mercs, there was talk that the boss was going to get us to sign a form saying we had to pay for damage. 19 out of 20 let it be known they would rather walk than sign, idea has been dumped. Isn’t that what they pay insurance for?
Tell em to shove it up their arse…cheeky ■■■■ taking ■■■■■■■.
Accident damage should be dealt with through the disciplinary process. I have just been watching a Dispatches type programme on how scummy employers are trying to wriggle out of paying their employees through unscropulous means - this company which you have referred to seems to be unscropulous!! Just assume there is a bad accident and once all claims have been settled it runs into millions…that means that you could potentially be liable. Would they expect you to pay re-mortgage your property to settle any debt due?
kr79:
We get a non accident bonus 600quid a quater tax free. I wouldnt work anywhere they makeyou pay do they make office staff pay for fuel for sending you on a wasted journey?
Does HMRC know about this? 
Er, no.
So if you wrote off a 100 grand truck and trailer they would want 10k off you ?
chaversdad:
So if you wrote off a 100 grand truck and trailer they would want 10k off you ?
Exactly my point…
If the wages paid for driving staff were sky-high above and beyond what any other driver gets for similar work, then in theory you COULD use such a system as a distiller of drivers…
I agree with the notion that “Sods Law says there will be an accident in your first week at a new firm”, but if we all stood back and looked at our own statistics for a mo, you might find yourself having an accident on average less than once a decade, which would be worth getting the say, £160 a week extra for the rest of the time - even if the liability was the £10k mentioned on one occasion per decade…
This is the way an insurance underwriter or risk manager would look at it btw.
Of course, in reality, it’s more likely a question of "no extra pay, or perks for doing right, but the big stick if you get it wrong" making it merely an exercise of “negative reinforcement.” That would make it just another financial derivative that attempts to drop average wages below minimum wage - by increasing possible stoppages, whilst maintaining legally-enforced headline rates of pay…
If people are daft enough to sign up for this, ‘desperate for a job at any price’, then of course the firm wins, and it’ll be rolled out all-over, like 50+ hour weeks have been when the rest of the world works 35-40 hours in their lines of work… 
Walk away. 
Take the job and upset all their customers and do whatever you can to give the company a red light with vosa. Tight arsed money grabbing companies like that deserve to have their name muddied and preferably put out of business by staff with a bad attitude. Maybe other companies who treat their employees like dirt will take note.
That’s just a stupid cover for the claim excess , their insurance company obviously do not pay the first 10% of any claim, so the company want you to cover it, whatI do not understand is, in claims nobody admits liability anyway, so really you would never have to pay.
JLS Driver SOS:
That’s just a stupid cover for the claim excess , their insurance company obviously do not pay the first 10% of any claim, so the company want you to cover it, whatI do not understand is, in claims nobody admits liability anyway, so really you would never have to pay.
But if i was to drive in to a building site and into a puddle that was deep and rip the tank off they are £800 therefore i am £80 down on my wage. ( this was an example the tm told me had happened).
Havnt took the job yet i told him i would ring today, By the looks of it i wont be taking it thanks for all your input.
End of the day, a ■■■■ job is better than no job, and its allways easier to find a jb when your working.
i would have to be more desperate than a desperate thing to work for a firm like that.
i have no issue with a - no accident bonus scheme
walk away this is becoming far to coman place i dont expect a bonus for not haveing an accident as its my job so i certanly would not accept paying for one
Go somewhere else, let recruitment be their problem…