Accident on Employer Time Who Pays?

[melissaw]

I was in a car accident earlier this week - brand new car and everything. At the time of the accident I was dropping off a package for work. A driver ran the red light and nailed me and then took off.

Insurance placed it not at fault but as it was a hit and run, I have to pay for the deductible which for me is $1,000. - the damage to the car - front end plus towing fees will be more than a grand.
Ive asked my employer if they will cover that as I was on their time and if I was at my desk doing my job it wouldn´t have happened. They said no. Their excuse being that it is part of my job and that is why they pay for my parking.

I have looked back into my contract and nothing indicates that I need to have a car to run company errands. All it says is you will be reinbursed for resonable business expenses for the use of your personal vechile.

I have done a bit of research on the net but am not sure if I have a case for small claims court.

Has anyone ever experienced this? Legally who is to pay the deductable? If the bastard who hit me didnt take off I wouldnt be paying anything!

Oh, I know if I take them to court I loose my job but I am looking to leave anyways for this and other reasons.

Any advice or suggestions is weclomed!

Thanks!

[gman]

You pay.

Says, you drop a wallet with $1000 cash in it while you are working. Who is going to pay?

[north77]

Melissaw, I'd contact a lawyer about the situation.

Who in your company did you speak with? Your manager? Did they consult with anybody?

IMO, Sounds to me if you were ON company time and were doing this as part of your job (i.e. Manager etc asked you to run an errand), than you do have grounds to get them to cover some of the damages. If you were on lunch break and on your own time, then you're out of luck.

Sorry to hear about what happened; at least YOU weren't seriously hurt/or killed!

I'm interested to hear what happens...

[nano]

definately contact a lawyer (hopefully the one that helped you look over the contract).

i had a contract job last year which included a company car one of my main concerns was who was responsible for the deductable if there was an accident. i spoke to my boss about this and he said its the company's car the company's insurance i would be added to the insurance plan and if there is a accident they would pay the deductable. i even got them to put it in my contract.

[Bachelor]

Without more info, I'd say they should be on the hook for part of it. It might also depend on what you do at your job. If its a delivery job, then it might be implied that you use your own car, so it wouldnt be mentioned in your employment contract.

Whenever I run errands, I take my boss' car (company car) or a general-use company car.

I'd definitely get a lawyer and start looking for a new job if a lawsuit is necessary. I dont know if they could fire you for this reason though.

[Hula]

If you loose your job for taking them to court over this issue, you probably really didn't want to stay with them anyway. See a lawyer. Any company that expects you to use a personal vehicle as a component of a job and is re-imbursing you for specific driving costs will technically be held partially liable as an accident is an assumed risk of requesting corporate personnel use their own vehicles. If there are company vehicles at the place employing you and they have insurance on them (which they must), the court would ask the company why they have insurance on their vehicles, but no policy in place to assist employees using their own personal vehicle for business purposes.

Good luck. You've got a case for sure.

[MP3_SKY]

Not sure about Ontario and your insurance policy.

But I'm in Montreal and my insurance policy stated that if there is a Hit & Run and there is a police report written, no deductible will be charged. Also, if it's not my fault, it's the other driver's insurance that will pay for my damage. (but it's a Hit & run in this case)

Did you double check your insuracne policy?

[TrevorK]

If you loose your job for taking them to court over this issue, you probably really didn't want to stay with them anyway. See a lawyer. Any company that expects you to use a personal vehicle as a component of a job and is re-imbursing you for specific driving costs will technically be held partially liable as an accident is an assumed risk of requesting corporate personnel use their own vehicles. If there are company vehicles at the place employing you and they have insurance on them (which they must), the court would ask the company why they have insurance on their vehicles, but no policy in place to assist employees using their own personal vehicle for business purposes.

Good luck. You've got a case for sure.

A case for sure? I doubt that.

The employee got into the accident, with her own vehicle. She is already paid for mileage, which encompasses what the employer is paying for the vehicle.


If this was the case, that a company is responsible for damage to a personal vehicle during business use, don't you think they'd be more dilligent in researching their drivers? With this logic, a pizza delivery boy has his vehicle covered by the business while working....

[slowtalon]

Hmm, I thought that if you said you were doing work, then you had to have "commercial" insurance (more expensive), so by saying you were working at the time, and you don't have commercial insurance, you're not covered.

[Coke355mL]

For sure you pay the deductible. Not the company you work for. Unless you were driving a company vehicle under their insurance, this is a personal vehicle and by running errands for the company, you take on all accountability for any accidents, tickets, etc. that may arise. The most the company will ever reimburse you for is mileage.

Take this to court and your company can argue that you could've taken a public transportation and they would reimburse you for the cost, however you made the conscious decision to take upon the task at your own risk.