Accidental damage to a hired van my company was hiring

[Smart boy]

Hi

6 months ago my company wanted me to drive their hired van, mainly transporting staff from one depot to another, I had a accident while parking the van in a very dark car park where there was a small pile of bricks as you entered the car park and they damaged the van, I reported it to my manager within 24 hours and got confirmation by text that I was covered and didn't need to worry about it, due to my company sending the paperwork to the wrong hired company they now need to pay for the damages and have told me I am now liable for the repair, I have since been told that I should expect a letter from the hired company for which they have forwarded my personal details without my consent or knowledge and yesterday asked me to sign their Commercial Vehicle policy 2019 and in it states that on the first accident I pay £500 towards the access through my salary, as this was not negligence driving and I reported the accident within 24 hours, do I have the right to refuse to sign the documents and should my company be liable to pay the full damages for their error?, any advice will be appreciated.

[des8]

IMO you were driving the vehicle for your company, and reported the incident correctly, and therefore it is up to your company to pay.

I don't understand why "due to my company sending the paperwork to the wrong hired company they now need to pay for the damages"
Was there no insurance in force, or were the T&Cs particularly harsh regarding time in which to report damage?

sent your personal details to a third party.... possible breach of GDPR (? R0b )

"asked me to sign their Commercial Vehicle policy 2019 " after the event.
"do I have the right to refuse to sign the documents ?"
I wouldn't sign without taking advice.
Is this the company trying to vary employment terms? ( Ula )

"this was not negligence driving " might have trouble maintaining that, unless you can show the bricks jumped up and hit the van! (Yes I realise that in the dark the bricks weren't visible and should perhaps have been lit, but it was still you that drove into them!)

[R0b]

Might be difficult to prove a breach of the GDPR since they will probably rely on the exemption that it is necessary for the purpose of exercising the hired company's legal rights.

That said, if they have already said that they will deal with it and you were covered then it could be considered a breach because you were entitled to rely on that statement by your manager. I assume there is nothing in the current vehicle policy (if there was one) that says you are liable to pay them in the event of X or that they may forward your details on as being personally liable?

In fact, if the contract was between the employer and the hire company rather than through the employee, that might be stronger grounds for asserting breach of the GDPR since they had no right or reason to forward your details because you weren't party to the contract (although it does depend on what the contract actually says about third parties).

[Smart boy]

Under the policy for Hire Vehicles it states, upon delivery of a hire vehicle from a third party, you are required to notify fleet support of any existing damage to that vehicle within 24 hours, Any existing damage which is not reported within this time may be recharged back to the driver upon the end of the hire.
The accident was reported within 24 hours as per stated in the policy and there is nothing to say my details will be forwarded to the hire company, also I have been told that this is not the only time a company or hired vehicle has hit these bricks.

[des8]

Under the policy for Hire Vehicles (is this in your contract of employment?) it states, upon delivery of a hire vehicle from a third party, you are required to notify fleet support of any existing damage (i.e damage already existing when the hire company deliver the van to the driver. to that vehicle to be reported within 24 hours), Any existing damage which is not reported within this time may be recharged back to the driver upon the end of the hire.(This means that any existing unreported damage will be charged to the driver)
The accident was reported within 24 hours as per stated in the policy and there is nothing to say my details will be forwarded to the hire company, also I have been told that this is not the only time a company or hired vehicle has hit these bricks.

My understanding of that clause is in red

Is there anything elsewhere in your employment contract that says you will be charged for damage to hired vehicles that you drive for your employer?

[Smart boy]

Not to hired vehicles, but there is a clause under insurance which I believe is for a company vehicle and I quote, where damage is caused to a vehicle in your possession and such damage is considered by the company to have resulted from your actions, negligence or an accident by the business or the insurance provider to be your fault, you will be required to contribute towards the cost of repairs/insurance excess unless these cost are recovered from a 3rd party.

[des8]

Well i certainly wouldn't sign your employers commercial vehicle policy if you were previously unaware of it.
It would seem to be a unilateral change of your employment contract.

I also wonder about that clause making the driver liable for the cost of repairs/excess in the event of an incident giving rise to damages to the firms vehicle.
Whether or not that is enforceable, i just know that I wouldn't drive for a firm with that sort of clause, especially where they presumably choose the excess point.

Tagging Ula for comments

[ULA]

Hi, so there is a clause in your employment contract in regard to insurance on a company vehicle and the requirement to pay an excess/or other figure in the event of an accident that is your fault? Does this clause cover vehicles that are hired by the company which you are requested to drive? Unfortunately if your employment contract contains a clause that covers this then you would be liable for the cost.

Was the Commercial Vehicle Policy 2019 when it was introduced at some point this year notified to relevant staff as a new policy that needed to be adhered to? Did this replace another policy of a similar nature which had the details of what happens in the event of an accident and contribution to the excess which you would have been aware of?

If the clause in your contract does not cover hire vehicles you may be able to argue that the clause is not sufficiently specific as to cover this aspect. If then the company is relying on the

Commercial Vehicle Policy 2019, and there was no previous policy in place that covered this aspect then in my opinion they cannot hold you liable for something that you were not aware of until after the event.

Hope that makes sense but if you have any more questions on this aspect just ask.

[Smart boy]

I can remember, I had already signed one of these forms earlier in the year and have asked the question what happened to it but not getting any reply from the area manager or HR where it is?, seems like its been lost plus not signing the form until they tell me what action they will take against me.

Thank you all for being so helpful in your replies to my post, appreciated.