My husband crashed a company vehicle. It was totaled. They want to take money out of his paycheck each month to pay for damages. Can they legally do this? Shouldn't their insurance cover it? I don't think the car was repairable.
2007-11-30 09:46:14 · 17 answers · asked by Mrs.know.It.All 3 in Politics & Government ➔ Law & Ethics
OK- a couple of additional notes:
- He was driving it while doing work related activities
- He admitted to speeding while entering the on-ramp & lost controll of the car
- no other cars were invloved
2007-11-30 09:52:40 · update #1
New info:
He did sign something b4 he started the job saying that he could be held responsible for damages. (I guess it's on a case to case basis?)
2007-11-30 09:54:31 · update #2
Don't know if they makes a difference as well. But, it was a governement vehicle.
2007-11-30 10:23:07 · update #3
Yes their insurance can cover it....
However, if your husband admitted to speeding which resulted in the accident then he is at fault.
It appears that he was not being a wise steward of company property. The company has a legal right to expect that you will follow the law and operate their property safely.
Your husband broke that covenant. Why should the company then protect him financially. If he wasn't speeding in the first place, the car may not have been totaled.
{edit} The government does not insure their vehicles...
He will be required to pay for the car. Absolutely.
The rest of your argument is moot. All drivers of military/government vehicles sign a waiver. If he admitted to speeding he will pay for the loss.
2007-11-30 09:56:43 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
Good answers...
But...
Bottom line is that he simply has to figure out if keeping the job is worth it or not. If you take legal action against your boss... You're going to get canned the next time you're 30 seconds late, etc... Your future with the company does not look bright... That's just the way it is.
Legally... they probably can't hold him responsible unless he was driving the vehicle for personal use, in which case he should have had liability insurance to cover him.
In the real world... an employer can get away with quite a bit if you want to keep the job.
EDIT: Admitting to speeding / wrongdoing was just stupid. NEVER, EVER, EVER INCRIMINATE YOURSELF!!! He should have blamed the vehicle. The contract probably says he's responsible for accidents resulting from negligent or unlawful driving and he's admitted to that...
David below is full of crap. The employer's insurance is for covering the drivers of company vehicles. They can't go after the drivers they insure!!! His company is simply opting to hold him responsible instead of making a claim because he admitted to breaking the rules and the contract says they can. Whether the contract is legal or not... I don't know. But, like I said... if he likes the job it doesn't really matter.
2007-11-30 17:59:49 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
It's like that where I work. Landscapers would just throw equipment in the back of the trailers & a few times it was suspected equipment was damaged so they could get off early. It all stopped when they were all assigned equipment & made to pay for any damage. Company has to protect itself. He's probably paying the deductable on the insurance.
2007-11-30 17:53:13 · answer #3 · answered by A * T 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
He damaged someone else's property in a ONE CAR ACCIDENT, so it's fairly obvious he's at fault. He sped and lost control of the vehicle.
He also signed a document regarding liability for damages.
If their insurance covers it, their insurance company would go against your husband anyway. He's the one at fault.
If someone from his company was driving YOUR car and negligently crashed it, who should pay? Think about it.
P.S. If it was a U.S. government vehicle and he is a federal employee, this falls under the report of survey process and yes...he's still liable.
2007-11-30 17:59:50 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
The company can legally take the amount from the salary and the remedy is to run after the payments if compensated by insurance.
2007-11-30 17:53:25 · answer #5 · answered by FRAGINAL, JTM 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The companies insurance should cove it. They probably did not want to report it to the insurance company and have the insurance premiums go up so they are going to try to pin it on you. I am assuming that your husband was not drunk or doing anything illegal while this happened. I think that might waive some of the companies insurance coverage
2007-11-30 17:50:37 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
Not if he was on company time or using it for company business. If he was driving it unauthorized it may be a different story. In any event I don't think they can take it out of his pay unless he agrees to it. They may be able to fire him or sue him for the money.
2007-11-30 17:54:40 · answer #7 · answered by Michael 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
They can only charge him for it if he was under the influence, driving recklessly, or some other offense that would negate the insurance.
Did he have to sign something stating he would be held liable? If not, get a lawyer!
2007-11-30 17:54:28 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
I don't think they could do this unless he signed a release form saying he was personally responsible. Was this during the course of his job? Then that's ridiculous.
If he maybe took a company vehicle without permission, then yes, I could see them trying to recoup something from him.
2007-11-30 17:50:23 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 1⤋
that is what insurance is for, and if your husband was not informed that he would have to pay for damages, nor was shown the contract....he could fight against this and win as my husband had this happen to him, company policy then became all staff had to be made aware of this and had to sign a document stating they knew they had to pay the no claim bonus.
2007-11-30 17:52:00 · answer #10 · answered by jasmine d 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋