Hi I was wondering if any one could answer my question.
Is it legal for an employer to deduct insurance excess from an employee. I scraped the plastic/fibreglass wing about 6in long, the truck went back off hire and the hire company charged my employer £600 for this repair which I could have repaired to the same standard for under £100, My employer has given me a letter stating that I am liable for £100 for this repair, is this legal for an employer to do this as my understanding was that it should be covered by insurance and any excess would be my employers duty to cover
Answers please on a postcard
In my experience, no. Your employer is out of order.
If this was true, then every bit of damage caused by any driver would have to come out of his wage-packet. That doesn’t happen (I hope) unless it’s in the driver’s contract of employment. Check it.
Tone
Unless your SIGNED contract of employment states that you’re liable to pay for such damages then no. Tell him you’re taking it further. Isn’t that ACAS mob or something there to help with workplace disputes?
if it’s not stated in your contract of employment or you haven’t signed anything stating monies can be deducted then it is illegal for them to do so . 
Not legal.
Wage deductions
All deductions from wages are subject to the rules set out in the Employment Rights Act 1996. This states that deductions are only lawful when:
authorised by statute
are an agreed part of the employee’s contract of employment
are with the advanced written agreement of the worker
Thanks for your replies guys much appreciated, one of the directors stated that he pays £150 a month for legal advice on issues like the above and has been told he can do this!!! 
I understand it is written in the contract, but I have only been working for them for 6 weeks or so and it is not as yet a FT position but he has kept me working nearly every day from vans to Artic work, the work is decent enough, but the director told me if I wasnt happy then to bring the truck back to the yard and hand all my stuff in and he would get someone else to drive it…I did and he doesnt, gonna go up with this info tomorrow thanks to Harry I have a legal case to plead but didnt want to go in all guns blazing if I was in the wrong. Another driver recieved the same letter stating £250 would be taken from him at the same time as I got mine this will help us both.
Once again Thanks guys
Unfortunately, whatever the exact legal position, the sad truth is this…
bigsidney:
the director told me if I wasnt happy then to bring the truck back to the yard and hand all my stuff in and he would get someone else to drive it…
Aint that the truth Harry 
But the funny thing was he had a Birmingham lined up and no one to do it at short notice, and for a long standing customer, so at least I made a bit of a statement…HOPEFULLY
he should put the £150 he pays each month into a tin box in his top draw of his desk and use that for paying any insurance excess. Whatever money is left over at the end of the year he should take the drivers out for an Xmas knees up 
£150 a month for legal advice insurance? Not very bright is he? Somebody milking him nicely. £150 a year more like.
It’s only his word that he’s paying for legal advice.
Problem is that if you and he haven’t signed a contract of employment, then after just six weeks, that he may call a probationary period, you have no claim on him.
Walk away. Call him a bar steward, which he is, and get a better job. Also name and shame. Nothing stopping you just mentioning here where you have been working. It might warn others.
Tone
Driveroneuk:
£150 a month for legal advice insurance? Not very bright is he? Somebody milking him nicely. £150 a year more like.
Whether he actually is paying this money or not,its a sad fact of life that an employer now needs this type of insurance to protect him from legal claims by employees who feel they have a case or see an opportunity for compensation. Companies such as Peninsula and a few others guarantee that you will not lose at an employment tribunal if you act upon their advice.Every action you take must be run past them before you take it.Act on your own and youre on your own.
I am not disputing that genuine accidents happen and employers do act unfairly and illegally and in these cases it is only correct that there is a means of restitution for the employee,but unfortunately there is an element in the workforce who watch for any opportunity to make a claim.
If you’ve not yet had a contract, then it’s illegal.
Until you’ve signed a contract, you’re working on statuary employment terms, which is what you’d assume a job is, 28 days hols, no insurance ■■■■■■■■ etc…
Personally, I wouldn’t be working for him, I went for a job where they told me they had an ‘insurance excess policy’, I walked out.
Prefer a bonus system, don’t crash and get £100 / mth or whatever, crash and you lose it - depending on severity, maybe for more than 1mth.