Charges for vehicle damage after leaving

[Numpty482]

I left a company 6 months ago. On leaving they decided that van was damaged, to my knowledge it wasn't. It was never involved in any sort of accident, bump it scrape whilst it was in my possession. It had a few bumps and dents when I took it over and these were noted in the handover. I disputed the charges (asked for then handover/takeover photos) when I left and heard nothing more and assumed that was the end of the matter. Today I received an invoice for £1600 + a £160 admin charge. They want in paying within 14 days.
My contract did contain a clause that stated I'd be liable for damage (which I don't believe exists or existed when I took the vehicle on).
£1700 is a fair bit of money and whilst I probably could afford to pay it, I'm not going to. Fortunately I'm still with my union but they're not available again until Monday.
Any advice? I've emailed back saying once again I refute the charges and that I want pictures of before and after I took charge of the vehicle.
Basically in short, what in asking is can the company pursue me for this damage and what's my best course of action?

Many thanks

[Numpty482]

Just to add. Looking through my contract I've noticed this clause "The Company retains the right to deduct the cost of any Company equipment or property that is not returned, or is returned in a damaged or unclean condition due to your actions, from
your final pay."

As I'm no longer an employees and haven't been for 6 months or so, would this help me in court?

[JustAThought]

Your trade union can help defo. Ask them to put it through as a claim for trade union help from the solicitors

Or

If you have home insurance you may have legal help on your policy and it may include employment law.
I do at extra £12 a year on my premium - money well spent!

[PallasAthena]

Just to add. Looking through my contract I've noticed this clause "The Company retains the right to deduct the cost of any Company equipment or property that is not returned, or is returned in a damaged or unclean condition due to your actions, from
your final pay."

As I'm no longer an employees and haven't been for 6 months or so, would this help me in court?

It's probably not relevant to where you are now. They would have had the right to deduct from final pay if they hadn't yet paid it to you, but as they did give you your final pay 6 months ago it isn't a right they can exercise now. Does it say elsewhere in your contract that you are liable for damage to company property? What's the wording of that?

Wait for your union to respond, but I agree that they have to prove that damage was caused while you had the vehicle. They can't just assert it, they need some evidence such as the photos you have asked for. You can ask them also for evidence that it has cost them £1,600 to repair the damage - garage repair invoice. It's a suspiciously round sum amount which makes me suspect they haven't actually had any repairs done. That's another arguable issue if push comes to shove, how the value of the alleged damage was calculated if not actually repaired.

Do you have a copy of the handover report when the vehicle was originally assigned to you, that noted its bumps etc? If not, as you know it exists, ask for a copy of that too. And the equivalent report when you returned it.

And whether they can legally add an internal admin charge of £160 is doubtful unless it is specified in your contract.

You don't need to rush to respond to anything else they send you. It's taken them 6 months to make contact at all so they've got a nerve expecting you to deal with it within 14 days! They'll just have to wait while you take advice and consider your position. Demands that you must reply within 14 days or whatever can safely be ignored. Deadlines from them only matter if they start formal court proceedings with a 'Letter of Claim under the Pre-Action Protocols' [PAPLOC] or actual documents from a court.

[Numpty482]

The only other wording in regards damage etc is "DEDUCTIONS FROM WAGES The Company may at any time and in any amounts deduct from your wages/salary or any other
payments due to you any sums owed to the Company by you for whatever reason, including
overpayments, debts, repayments of loans and reasonable sums to cover the
repair/replacement necessitated by any accidental, negligent, intentional or criminal
damage/vandalism caused by you to any Company property. The Company may also deduct
from your wages/salary a day’s pay for each day of holiday taken over that which had been
accrued and any unauthorised absence by you (including leaving your employment without
giving due notice or during your notice period without the Company’s permission)."

The handover/takeover was done using a company portal where photos etc were taken and and I no longer have access to that.

The vehicle handover was done 100 mile away from my base and I still had a full days work to complete on top of that, so when I done the inspection it's possible I may have missed something, however something costing in the region of £1400 must be some significant damage so I doubt that.

There's no mention of admin costs in the contract.

They made.othet deductions (holiday pay - over paid so no issue) and a course which I'd agreed I'd pay back if I left before 24 months.

[Numpty482]

Just to add I'm currently in the process of going through and injury at work claim with them. They've yet to respond and it's going to pre-lit stage in a week. So I feel in part that this is in retaliation.
They've got a cheeky to demand payment in 14 days when they've not responded to unionline solicitors for 3 months. I'm still waiting on a Subject Access Request in relation to my accident at work (submitted 6 month ago) which they've acknowledged but never followed up on despite a couple of emails reminding them.

[JustAThought]

The SAR you can put to ICO to follow up for you.

The company's letter to you, its polite to acknowledge and say you'll revert back to them within 28 days.

For your PI claim who representing you? There are protocols you need to abide by. You're within time limit but try not to let the clock run down.

Get a claim into your union or insurers asap whoever will cover you.

[Numpty482]

Unionline via the CWU are dealing with my PI claim.
I'll do that with the ICO.

Cheers