What would you do?

I’ve Just started a new job,
and have just found out that if you have a accident,
We have to pay the first £500 excess.
One of the new drivers who as only been with the company for only four weeks and has recently passed his test (6mths) has had two accident in three weeks,
So he thinks he owes them £1000 pounds?.. (he as not spoken to transport manager yet).
I feel really sorry for him, Can they make him pay. i.e. take it out his wages every week.
He did sign a contract though agreeing to the access .
What would you do ■■.

Your having a laugh aren’t you,SIGNED CONTRACT, COMPLY OR DON’T SIGN IT IN THE FIRST PLACE…MOVE ON.Just thrown a woman out of one of my houses,she signed
contract to pay rent but went on the ■■■■ instead,out she went.

Not have that bump :bulb: :bulb: :bulb:

gentyman:
I’ve Just started a new job,
and have just found out that if you have a accident,
We have to pay the first £500 excess.
One of the new drivers who as only been with the company for only four weeks and has recently passed his test (6mths) has had two accident in three weeks,
So he thinks he owes them £1000 pounds?.. (he as not spoken to transport manager yet).
I feel really sorry for him, Can they make him pay. i.e. take it out his wages every week.
He did sign a contract though agreeing to the access .
What would you do ■■.

I worked for a car transport company that put up the amount claimed from the driver from £500 to £1000. The £500 was in the contract. Fortunately I never had cause to have to argue it - and I no longer work there… :unamused:

If a contract has been signed, you have agreed to the conditions.

To answer your question - I would look for another job.

I worked for a skip company years ago who tried to get drivers to sign a contract to say if they had a bump they had to pay £250 for each bump. So if you ripped your step off on a building site you had to pay £250. after six weeks of naging me to sign it i said no and here a week notice and moved on. But it is a common practice for skip,tipper, and ro/ro companies to do this

Tell them to chew right on. Cover 1000 miles a week for any length of time and something will happen, assed if I’d pay 500 quid cos some silly school run bint cant keep her Discovery out of the front of other motors.

What’s the insurance policy for then? Find another job…

It seems to be a more common policy amongst smaller hauliers.
The idea is to make you stop and think about what you’re doing instead of driving down that tiny little lane only to get stuck.
The best solution is to phone the office whenever there’s a road you don’t feel comfortable on. Explain you don’t want to damage the truck and put the ball in their court.
A place I used to work at had this policy. Then it snowed in late 2010 and the boss was hopping mad because we didn’t go out on deliveries. We refused to go out unless he would sign a waiver exempting us from paying for any damage.

grumpybum:

gentyman:
I’ve Just started a new job,
and have just found out that if you have a accident,
We have to pay the first £500 excess.
One of the new drivers who as only been with the company for only four weeks and has recently passed his test (6mths) has had two accident in three weeks,
So he thinks he owes them £1000 pounds?.. (he as not spoken to transport manager yet).
I feel really sorry for him, Can they make him pay. i.e. take it out his wages every week.
He did sign a contract though agreeing to the access .
What would you do ■■.

I worked for a car transport company that put up the amount claimed from the driver from £500 to £1000. The £500 was in the contract. Fortunately I never had cause to have to argue it - and I no longer work there… :unamused:

If a contract has been signed, you have agreed to the conditions.

To answer your question - I would look for another job.

Not necessarily. Employment tribunals and courts won’t upheld contractual conditions if they deem them to be unfair.

I would avoid working anywhere that tries to impose this sort of contract term and I do believe it would likely fall under the unfair condition (I doubt they’re getting it from any agency drivers so don’t see why regulars should endure it).

I do understand a company’s need to deter careless vehicle damage but it should be through incentives like a monthly bonus amount for not damaging the truck. Part of the problem also is the popularity of all in R&M lease deals where the main dealer will invoice and exorbitant amount for a bust step, whereas for a typical place with their own workshop it’s less than an hour’s fitting and a £100 part.

Armagedon:
Your having a laugh aren’t you,SIGNED CONTRACT, COMPLY OR DON’T SIGN IT IN THE FIRST PLACE…MOVE ON.Just thrown a woman out of one of my houses,she signed
contract to pay rent but went on the ■■■■ instead,out she went.

:laughing: couldn’t she have paid her way some other way?? :wink:

FarnboroughBoy11:

Armagedon:
Your having a laugh aren’t you,SIGNED CONTRACT, COMPLY OR DON’T SIGN IT IN THE FIRST PLACE…MOVE ON.Just thrown a woman out of one of my houses,she signed
contract to pay rent but went on the ■■■■ instead,out she went.

:laughing: couldn’t she have paid her way some other way?? :wink:

Harsh but fair :wink: :wink: :laughing: :laughing: :laughing:

FarnboroughBoy11:

Armagedon:
Your having a laugh aren’t you,SIGNED CONTRACT, COMPLY OR DON’T SIGN IT IN THE FIRST PLACE…MOVE ON.Just thrown a woman out of one of my houses,she signed
contract to pay rent but went on the ■■■■ instead,out she went.

:laughing: couldn’t she have paid her way some other way?? :wink:

I’ve only been there three weeks.
The day they ask me to sign the contract for excess/damage payment.
will be my last day

Had this twice in the past, simply crossed out the wording, initialed the margin with comment: ’ I do not agree to this’, signed the contract and handed it back. Never heard a dicky bird.

If they don’t trust you with the wagon, they shouldn’t have employed you in the first place…

Our company employs 10 people, the insurance co paid out nearly 20 grand last year! I can see why companies do it, especially small companies.

maga:
Our company employs 10 people, the insurance co paid out nearly 20 grand last year! I can see why companies do it, especially small companies.

Agree with that.

Why don’t companies pay drivers if they don’t have an accident? You lose it if you do have a prang. I’ve used that system for years and it works well.

Depends on how good the job is apart from this.

Might be a £40k job for a 45 hour week and no need to rush in which case it might actually be a reasonable thing, might be a non accident bonus of £1/2k a year, deductable in increments for each blameworthy accident.

If the job pays enough and is better than anything else within travelling distance then it might be as well to put up with and drive properly to avoid accidents.

I have every sympathy with companies who try to reduce idiot damage, but they could always do the other thing and offer proper terms and conditions to tempt lorry drvers not steering wheel operatives, they’d then be able to cherry pick those who wouldn’t need such contract clauses…you never know it might actually catch on.

There is another way to look at this.
If operators had kept buying ERF/Foden/SedAck etc instead of buying snazzy looking foreign muck they wouldn’t have bank breaking bills when their clumsy drivers rips a mudwing off or breaks a light fitting, better a £10 Rubbolite and £35 Winguard than a £300 light and a £300 rear mudguard?
Just wondering aloud… :wink:

very common practice amongst the self employed ,every company i have ever worked for both on the driving and building side have this rule if you’re using one of their vehicles .One thing to make sure is that if you are ever charged for the excess then make sure the company have actually claimed on the insurance

I’d jack it in & look for a job that doesn’t do such bs…!