I’ve had 2 accidents in the last 5 years. One 4 and a half years ago ( clipped someone in my blindspot) and another last year ( braked but rolled into back of van denting rear doors).
I’m guessing the recent one will soon if not already be finalised through my employers insurance. Can I be sacked once it’s cleared up ? Both will no doubt put me at fault. Does this make me a liability to my employer? If I’m the unlikely event I pursued a new job, will this make me unemployable? 2 accidents in 5 years…
I’m always going over the worst case scenario’s. I want to know how much of an affect this will have on my Hgv career.
Many Thanks guys
I hope someone can give me some assurance or atleast warn me of what’s to come
Overthinking it. I know of a few drivers who are worse than that. If your current employer was going to let you go they already would have when you notified them of the accident, not however many weeks or months later it is when the insurance claim finally gets finished. If they were going to take any action over it it would’ve been last year, they’d not have continued to employ you for another year if they thought the chances of you having anoher insurance claim was likely.
In this job you typically do 5-10 times the average annual mileage of the average motorist so even just one accident every 5 years is the equivalent per mile of your average motorist having one every quarter of a century, 25 years, or more and I’m quite sure you’d not think that someone who had an accident once every 20 odd years was dangerous.
Somebody told me the other day that employers are unlikely to want someone with that record because there insurance would increase…. Is there any truth to that?
Thesuperiorone:
Somebody told me the other day that employers are unlikely to want someone with that record because there insurance would increase…. Is there any truth to that?
Mate, you need to lighten up a bit, or you won’t make the finish line. Your posts to date are really minor issues that you’re getting hung up on. Life will deal you some ■■■■, you need to roll with it.
Thesuperiorone:
Somebody told me the other day that employers are unlikely to want someone with that record because there insurance would increase…. Is there any truth to that?
I would say compleate coblers
think of it this way. my car insurance wants 3 years history. I know some want 5 years. Just think how dificult it would be for a company to get 5 years driving history from all thier employees every year and for the insurer to check it all.
the last company i worked for they had a points system for thier drivers in company vehicles so many points for non fault so many for 50 50 and so many for fault. I think but dont quote me the maximum points at any one time was 5. After three months the points came off your record. if you acumulated 10 points it was a verbal warning and so on.
Thesuperiorone:
I’ve had 2 accidents in the last 5 years. One 4 and a half years ago ( clipped someone in my blindspot) and another last year ( braked but rolled into back of van denting rear doors).
I’m guessing the recent one will soon if not already be finalised through my employers insurance. Can I be sacked once it’s cleared up ? Both will no doubt put me at fault. Does this make me a liability to my employer? If I’m the unlikely event I pursued a new job, will this make me unemployable? 2 accidents in 5 years…
I’m always going over the worst case scenario’s. I want to know how much of an affect this will have on my Hgv career.
Many Thanks guys
I hope someone can give me some assurance or atleast warn me of what’s to come
If the worst happened, which Im sure it wont, most agencies would take you in a heartbeat
Thesuperiorone:
I’ve had 2 accidents in the last 5 years. One 4 and a half years ago ( clipped someone in my blindspot) and another last year ( braked but rolled into back of van denting rear doors).
I’m guessing the recent one will soon if not already be finalised through my employers insurance. Can I be sacked once it’s cleared up ? Both will no doubt put me at fault. Does this make me a liability to my employer? If I’m the unlikely event I pursued a new job, will this make me unemployable? 2 accidents in 5 years…
I’m always going over the worst case scenario’s. I want to know how much of an affect this will have on my Hgv career.
Many Thanks guys
I hope someone can give me some assurance or atleast warn me of what’s to come
Highly unlikely to be sacked. Caveat - An employer can sack any employee at any time. However the employer has to ensure it is fair. Sacking someone over an incident that occurred 4 and a half years ago during which time I am assuming you were continued to be employed in the same role? #Not an employment lawyer but if you were to be fired over this I’d be out of that door and looking for an employment lawyer who I think would be delighted to take your case as it will possibly be the quickest Tribunal decision in history that it was unfair.
Sadly it is highly unlikely you would recover your legal fees but several firms operate on a no win - no fee basis and you can judge how strong your case is by how eagerly they jump at the chance of representing you. General advice - the lawyer should operate on a fixed fee basis and give a range of what they expect you to receive as compensation. (If you are in Union and you are sacked - contact them).
Same thing applies to the accident last year. If you haven’t been disciplined under your employees disciplinary procedure then the reality is you don’t have a stain on your record with them.
Thesuperiorone:
Somebody told me the other day that employers are unlikely to want someone with that record because there insurance would increase…. Is there any truth to that?
I would say compleate coblers
think of it this way. my car insurance wants 3 years history. I know some want 5 years. Just think how dificult it would be for a company to get 5 years driving history from all thier employees every year and for the insurer to check it all.
the last company i worked for they had a points system for thier drivers in company vehicles so many points for non fault so many for 50 50 and so many for fault. I think but dont quote me the maximum points at any one time was 5. After three months the points came off your record. if you acumulated 10 points it was a verbal warning and so on.
As everyone else has said dont worry about it
In addition to fact that most fleets don’t have named driver insurance policies I don’t think.
One of our night drivers got sacked a few years back after yet another bump (usually one a week, he was a liability tbh) anyhoo he returned from his first run ( the one he’d had his bump on), filled in all the paperwork etc pertaining to the accident and then they sent him out on his second job of the night. Upon his return he was sacked.
He then went to work for a different employer whilst leaving the union to fight his case. The upshot was that he was reinstated because of the fact that they’d sent him out on his second job after he returned to the yard instead of sacking him on the spot. The Brucie bonus was that the company had to pay him his basic wage for the six months that he was away despite the fact that he walked into a job the very next night.
Regarding having an accident record of not, such things will be taken into account along with many others if and when some reduction in workforce is required.
If you were applying to a dead mans shoes cream job, ie within a specialised sector of transport that you were already in, then it would have some effect on your employablity because such sectors are quite small and reputations, good and bad, get known.
For the vast majority of jobs it won’t make a scrap of difference.
Thinking aloud here, the rather more infamous accidents, ie the clowns directly responsible in different ways for multiple fatalities on the M1 and A34 (both discussed at length here), i wonder if their names are sitting on an insurance database somewhere as untouchable once they get released from HM’s pleasure.
Well so is insurance, most people would be better off not having any insurance. Think about it. You are paying £250? a year for your car insurance? What do you get out of it? A piece of paper with ink on it.
