Conor:
Merc1861:
Conor:
You are covered by the insurance policy the client has on the vehicle that you are driving.Merc1861:
That is interesting. Surely if that is the case then there would be no requirement for the agency to have driver negligence cover?PRECISELY but some clients want it, quite probably as a result of getting alot of accident damage from agency drivers. I drive as a self employed driver and non of my customers require it butI have not been able to get work with some companies, usually big ones, because they do require it.
Bit of a long shot but is conor still a member
I tried to get such a policy. Despite a week of looking, a specialist company liability insurance brokers couldn’t find such a thing with the reply from every underwriter being that the hauliers fully comprehensive vehicle insurance covers such damage. My opinion now is that agencies pay for damage out of their own pockets, i.e they self insure. I know that the agency I do work for charge clients around £1-£1.50/hr extra if they want driver negligence cover.
Merc1861:
Thanks. I note from the links that Krankee kindly provided that you work self-employed direct to your clients, rather than through an agent though, so I don’t think I’m in a position to be able to do same, should the situation arise.However, the information is useful as I plan to go self-employed and work direct in the future. I am interested to know the wording of your contract you present to your clients before undertaking any assignments. Would that be something you would be willing to disclose perhaps?
PM me with your e-mail address and I’ll send it to you. It’s not a trade secret and pretty much the same as alot of agencies use.
Bit of a long shot but is conor stil a member on this forum thanks in advance
Someone call me? 
I assume you’re looking for backside covering Terms and Conditions of Business? Clause 6 is your get out of jail if you damage something and clause 6b makes them responsible for covering you under their public liability insurance.
T&C. Copy and paste into whatever word processor you use. You’ll need to replace all references to my company name with your own. Also, you’ll need to change the formatting for page breaks but it’s all there. Got them off a mate who used to run an employment agency so they cost me nothing and as he’s no longer trading, I doubt he minds. It’s set up for weekly invoices with payments due 30 days after date of invoice. Good thing is it also covers you sending someone else in there instead of you as well as costs to the client if they want to take that person on.
===========START=============
Conor Turton Trading
Terms of Business for the supply of Temporary Drivers
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These Terms and Conditions of business are between Conor Turton Trading (hereinafter called the ‘EMPLOYMENT BUSINESS’) and the hirer hiring the temporary driver (hereinafter called the ‘CLIENT’).
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These Terms and Conditions are deemed to be accepted by the Client by virtue of an interview of the engagement by the Client (which term includes employment or use whether agency, licensee, franchise or partnership agreement) of a temporary driver (hereinafter called a ‘TEMPORARY WORKER’) introduced by the Employment Business.
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The Client agrees to pay the hourly charges of the Employment Business as notified at the commencement of the Assignment and as may be varied from time to time during the Assignment. The charges are calculated according to the number of hours worked by the Temporary Worker (to the nearest quarter hour). The charges are compromised mainly of the Temporary Worker’s remuneration but also include the Employment Business’ commission, employer’s national insurance contributions and any travel, hotel, parking, tolls or other expenses as may have been agreed with the Client or, if there is not such agreement, such expenses as are reasonable. The charges are invoiced to the Client on a weekly basis and are payable within 30 days unless agreed otherwise. The Company reserves the right to charge interest on any overdue amounts at the rate of up to 8% per annum above the base rate of Barclays Bank PLC from time to time, from the due date until the date of payment.
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The Employment Business assumes responsibility for payment of the Temporary Worker’s remuneration and where appropriate, for the deduction and payment of National Insurance Contribution and PAYE Income Tax applicable to the Temporary Worker.
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The direct Engagement by a Client of a Temporary Worker introduced by the Employment Business, of the introduction by the Client of a Temporary Worker to any third party resulting in an Engagement (or, where applicable, if the Temporary Worker has become incorporated under a limited company, the Engagement of that limited company) renders the Client subject to the payment of an introduction fee calculated at 15% of the annual gross taxable remuneration and emoluments payable to the Temporary Worker, provided that the Engagement takes place within a period of 3 months from the termination of the Assignment under which the Temporary Worker was last supplied, or if there was no Assignment, within 3 months of the introduction of the Temporary Worker by the Employment Business. Where the Client fails to inform the Employment Business of the annual remuneration, the introduction fee will be calculated by multiplying the hourly rate agreed between the Client and the Employment Business by a figure not exceeding 200. No refund of the introduction fee will be paid in the event that the Engagement subsequently terminates.
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Whilst every effort is made by the Employment Business to give satisfaction to the Client by ensuring reasonable standard of skills, integrity and reliability from Temporary Workers and further to provide them in accordance with the Client’s booking details, the Employment Business is not liable for any loss, expense, damage or delay arising from any failure to provide any Temporary Worker for all or part of the period of booking or from the negligence, dishonesty, misconduct or lack of skill of the Temporary Worker. For the avoidance of doubt, the Employment Business does not exclude liability for death or personal injury arising from its own negligence.
a) Temporary Workers are engaged by the Employment Business under Terms of Engagement. They are deemed to be under the supervision, direction and control of the Client from the time they report to take up duties and for the duration of the Assignment. The Client agrees to be responsible for all acts, errors or omissions of the Temporary Worker, whether willful, negligent or otherwise as though he was on the payroll of the Client. The Client will also comply in all respects with all statutes including, for the avoidance of doubt, the Working Time Regulations and requirements of vehicle insurance under the Road Traffic Act , by-laws, codes of practice and legal requirements to which the Client is ordinarily subject in respect of the Client’s own staff (excluding the matters specifically mentioned in Clause 5 above), including in particular the provision of adequate Employer’s and Public Liability Insurance cover for the Temporary Worker during all Assignments. The Client shall also advise the Employment Business of any special health and safety matters about which the Employment Business is required to inform the Temporary Worker. The Client will assist the Employment Business in complying with the Employment Business’ duties under the Working Time Regulations by supplying any relevant information about the Assignment requested by the Employment Business and the Client will not do anything to cause the Employment Business to be in breach of its obligations under these Regulations. Where the Client requires or may require the service of a Temporary Worker for more than 48 hours in any week, the Client must notify the Employment Business of this requirement before the commencement of that week.
b) The Client shall indemnify and keep indemnified the Employment Business against any costs, claims or liabilities incurred by the Employment Business arising out of any Assignment and/or as a result of any breach of these Terms by the Client.
- The Client undertakes to supervise the Temporary Worker sufficiently to ensure the Client’s satisfaction with the Temporary Worker’s standards of workmanship. If the Client reasonably considers that the services of the Temporary Worker are unsatisfactory, the Client may terminate the Assignment either by instructing the Temporary Worker to leave the Assignment immediately, or by directing the Employment Business to remove the Temporary Worker. The Employment Business may in such circumstances reduce or cancel the charges for the time worked by that Temporary Worker, provided that the Assignment terminates:-
a. within four hours of the Temporary Worker commencing the Assignment where the booking is for more than seven hours; or
b. within two hours for bookings of seven hours or less. And also provided that notification of the unsuitability of the Temporary Worker is confirmed in writing to the Employment Business within 48 hours of the termination of the Assignment.
c. Any of the Client, the Employment Business or the Temporary Worker may terminate an Assignment at any time without prior notice and without liability.
8.a. Temporary Workers engaged by the Employment Business under Terms of Engagement are deemed to be under the direction and control of the Client, from the time the Temporary Worker reports to take up duties and for the duration of the assignment and the client agrees to be responsible for all acts, errors or omissions be they willful, negligent or otherwise as though the Temporary Worker were on the Payroll of the Client and the Client will in all respects comply with all statutes, by-laws, codes of practice and legal requirements to which the Client is ordinarily subject in respect of the Client’s own staff, including in particular the provision of adequate Employer’s and Public Liability Insurance cover for the Temporary Worker during all assignments but excluding the matters specifically mentioned in Paragraph above.
8.b. The Client shall indemnify and keep indemnified the Employment Business against any costs, claims and liabilities incurred by the Employment Business arising out of the assignment.
8.c. These Terms are governed by the Law of England and Wales jurisdiction of the Courts of England and Wales .
9.No variation can be made to these terms without the written consent of the proprietor.
Signed for and on behalf of the client:
Organisation Name:
Signed:
Print Name:
Date:
What a suspicious resurrection 
friggin el
I know. I didn’t check the date of the first posts at first and posted a different reply then realised and posted the long one I did.
Never seen a thread over 7 years old being resurrected before. They must have a hell of a hard drive capacity at Trucknet towers.
hi conor
many thanks boycie 
dri-diddly-iver:
What a suspicious resurrectionfriggin el
I can assure there is nout suspicious about me asking for help and advice from a fellow trucker.
many thanks again conor.
Greetings all,
I wonder if someone with legal expertise might be able to settle a little ongoing debate I have with somone regarding driver negligence insurance?
I work “for” a couple of agencies as a LGV driver but I am in effect self-employed as my wages are paid to me through a company called Nova Services who deal with my income tax and national insurance contributions, therefore I am not actually an employee of either agency.
If I had an accident in a clients’ wagon which was deemed to be my fault, the client would look to the agency to claim the cost of fixing the wagon on their driver negligence insurance. As I am not an employee of the agency, would the agency be completely within their rights to refuse to pay for the damage on these grounds? Could the client legally attempt to cover the cost of damage from myself because of this?
One of my agencies said that even though I’m technically self-employed and working via Nova they would sanction a claim on their driver negligence insurance but the other agency said they would not as they had no legal obligation to do so, although later admitted they didn’t actually know the answer as it is a “very grey area”.
Although I do take a lot of pride in my work and to date have an accident free driving record, I would like to know that I am covered by someone should the unfortunate happen.
On a similar note, the same question applies to accident/injury insurance cover : if I were to be injured whilst working on an assignment and it were deemed not to be my own fault, would I legally be able to claim and if so, from whom?
Welcome. This very question has been subject of discussion here and here.
I don’t think any definitive conclusion was reached.
Merc1861:
One of my agencies said that even though I’m technically self-employed and working via Nova they would sanction a claim on their driver negligence insurance but the other agency said they would not as they had no legal obligation to do so, although later admitted they didn’t actually know the answer as it is a “very grey area”.Although I do take a lot of pride in my work and to date have an accident free driving record, I would like to know that I am covered by someone should the unfortunate happen.
You are covered by the insurance policy the client has on the vehicle that you are driving.
Merc1861:
On a similar note, the same question applies to accident/injury insurance cover : if I were to be injured whilst working on an assignment and it were deemed not to be my own fault, would I legally be able to claim and if so, from whom?
In my case I’d make a claim against the employers liability insurance of the company you are working at because the contract I have for my clients is worded so that whilst carrying out work for them, I am in effect a temporary employee of their company and covered under their insurances.
Krankee:
Welcome. This very question has been subject of discussion here and here.I don’t think any definitive conclusion was reached.
Thanks for those links Krankee. As you say though, no conclusion has been drawn.
Conor:
Merc1861:
One of my agencies said that even though I’m technically self-employed and working via Nova they would sanction a claim on their driver negligence insurance but the other agency said they would not as they had no legal obligation to do so, although later admitted they didn’t actually know the answer as it is a “very grey area”.Although I do take a lot of pride in my work and to date have an accident free driving record, I would like to know that I am covered by someone should the unfortunate happen.
You are covered by the insurance policy the client has on the vehicle that you are driving.
That is interesting. Surely if that is the case then there would be no requirement for the agency to have driver negligence cover?
Merc1861:
On a similar note, the same question applies to accident/injury insurance cover : if I were to be injured whilst working on an assignment and it were deemed not to be my own fault, would I legally be able to claim and if so, from whom?In my case I’d make a claim against the employers liability insurance of the company you are working at because the contract I have for my clients is worded so that whilst carrying out work for them, I am in effect a temporary employee of their company and covered under their insurances.
Thanks. I note from the links that Krankee kindly provided that you work self-employed direct to your clients, rather than through an agent though, so I don’t think I’m in a position to be able to do same, should the situation arise.
However, the information is useful as I plan to go self-employed and work direct in the future. I am interested to know the wording of your contract you present to your clients before undertaking any assignments. Would that be something you would be willing to disclose perhaps?
On a similar note, the same question applies to accident/injury insurance cover : if I were to be injured whilst working on an assignment and it were deemed not to be my own fault, would I legally be able to claim and if so, from whom?
No Win no fee. 
Plenty of personal injury specialists out there that would take on your claim for you. If it genuinely wasnt your fault then chances are it would have to be someone elses.
Conor wrote:
Merc1861 wrote:One of my agencies said that even though I’m technically self-employed and working via Nova they would sanction a claim on their driver negligence insurance but the other agency said they would not as they had no legal obligation to do so, although later admitted they didn’t actually know the answer as it is a “very grey area”.
Although I do take a lot of pride in my work and to date have an accident free driving record, I would like to know that I am covered by someone should the unfortunate happen.
You are covered by the insurance policy the client has on the vehicle that you are driving.
That is interesting. Surely if that is the case then there would be no requirement for the agency to have driver negligence cover?
I would assume the driver negligence insurance is there to cover the un-insured losses a firm might incur, like their normal policy excess etc
Merc1861:
If I had an accident in a clients’ wagon which was deemed to be my fault, the client would look to the agency to claim the cost of fixing the wagon on their driver negligence insurance. As I am not an employee of the agency, would the agency be completely within their rights to refuse to pay for the damage on these grounds? Could the client legally attempt to cover the cost of damage from myself because of this?
I am not a lawyer, but this is my take on it.
The client’s contract is with the agency, therefore as I understand it the only person that they could claim against would be the agency, and under the terms of the contract the agency would presumably be obliged in law to pay.
Whether or not the agency can then attempt to claim this off your company will of course depend on the contract between your company and the agency. I’ve never seen a Nova contract so I don’t know how it is worded.
The only way to be 100% sure is to get a copy of both contracts and take them to a lawyer though, and that’ll cost money.
HTH,
Paul
Merc1861:
Conor:
You are covered by the insurance policy the client has on the vehicle that you are driving.Merc1861:
That is interesting. Surely if that is the case then there would be no requirement for the agency to have driver negligence cover?PRECISELY but some clients want it, quite probably as a result of getting alot of accident damage from agency drivers. I drive as a self employed driver and non of my customers require it butI have not been able to get work with some companies, usually big ones, because they do require it.
I tried to get such a policy. Despite a week of looking, a specialist company liability insurance brokers couldn’t find such a thing with the reply from every underwriter being that the hauliers fully comprehensive vehicle insurance covers such damage. My opinion now is that agencies pay for damage out of their own pockets, i.e they self insure. I know that the agency I do work for charge clients around £1-£1.50/hr extra if they want driver negligence cover.
Merc1861:
Thanks. I note from the links that Krankee kindly provided that you work self-employed direct to your clients, rather than through an agent though, so I don’t think I’m in a position to be able to do same, should the situation arise.However, the information is useful as I plan to go self-employed and work direct in the future. I am interested to know the wording of your contract you present to your clients before undertaking any assignments. Would that be something you would be willing to disclose perhaps?
PM me with your e-mail address and I’ll send it to you. It’s not a trade secret and pretty much the same as alot of agencies use.
repton:
Merc1861:
If I had an accident in a clients’ wagon which was deemed to be my fault, the client would look to the agency to claim the cost of fixing the wagon on their driver negligence insurance. As I am not an employee of the agency, would the agency be completely within their rights to refuse to pay for the damage on these grounds? Could the client legally attempt to cover the cost of damage from myself because of this?I am not a lawyer, but this is my take on it.
The client’s contract is with the agency, therefore as I understand it the only person that they could claim against would be the agency, and under the terms of the contract the agency would presumably be obliged in law to pay.
Whether or not the agency can then attempt to claim this off your company will of course depend on the contract between your company and the agency. I’ve never seen a Nova contract so I don’t know how it is worded.
The only way to be 100% sure is to get a copy of both contracts and take them to a lawyer though, and that’ll cost money.
HTH,
Paul
Would a NOVA/Crestpay/Limited Company Contractor driving for an agency be covered under the agency Driver Negligence Insurance (DNI)? Yes, if the agency has set their terms correctly. (I think Crestpay actually offer their own DNI anyway).
Could the client recover the cost of the damage from the driver? No. The standard Terms of Business between an agency and their client will specifically preclude any liability for damage caused by drivers.
The standard DNI packages are offered as a way to soften the impact of that. Mostly they are limited to a maximum claim size of £10,000 and have a minimum excess of £500. Additionally they cover only the vehicle being driven by the agency’s driver at the time (not the garage canopy; nor the trailer they clipped in the yard; nor even the 26 pallets of eggs in the trailer).
Fred:
The standard DNI packages are offered as a way to soften the impact of that.
There’s a "standard?? 
I couldn’t even find a company offering a policy.
If you’ve got any details of one, let me know as I have a couple of national blue chips I’d like to do work for and it is the sole thing preventing me from being able to.
Never mind…found a whopping THREE offering it so I’ll report back with whatever horrendous quote they come back with.