Ripped off by employers...any advice please?..........?

4 days before christmas, my employers decided to deduct £500 from my wages without any warning. Two weeks previous to that i had a minor accident in a car hired by my firm for me to drive. so when i called to ask why they had taken this money, they said i was liable for the excess on the insurance and not them! surely this cant be right? deductions as big as that without any warning is bad enough, but to hammer your employees with liability like that is just wrong. i certainly wouldnt have driven the car had i known that. fair enough, if id bumped my own car covered by my own policy, then id have no problem paying it.

Big Bad Boris Mayor of London

NO! they hired the car they pay the excess sue them! What they have done is Illegal

Raffles

Many companies have a policy which allows them to deduct the excess insurance charge from an employee if an employee has a blameworthy accident in either a company vehicle or one which has been hired.

In order to charge you for this (assuming it was your fault) you would need to have agreed to the policy by signing something - usually a contract of employment.

If you did sign something you are liable for the excess (only) so if as you say it was minor damage the cost is unlikely to have been as high as Â£500.

If you didnt sign or agree to this policy then they need to repay you.

Mel

What sort of agreement, if any, did you sign when you were authorized to drive the hired vehicle? Did you sign the lease agreement, or did the company sign the agreement and then turn the vehicle over to you to drive?

If you signed nothing and the company does not have a policy in place with respect to who pays what in such a scenario, I can't see how they could enforce such an arrangement.

MUD FAMILY

in the uk/england any deductions should be on your pay slip..

see a solicitor

latrailera2000

Dunno bout the UK but in the US they cannot just deduct from your check like that, dbl check what you signed, maybe they can.

patrick690813

That does not sound fair but still subject to the contract they sign before hiring your car. If you only have the verbal agreement and not discuss this before, I believe that you can claim your money back by consulting the local law centre or citizen advice bureau. Here are some useful link:
1. http://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/
2. http://www.lawcentres.org.uk/
3. http://www.clsdirect.org.uk/

angel

go to the CAB. None can take money from you like that, especially without any notification. It's theft. Shame on the company

I don't think your employer should have done this, unless you were informed of in writing before driving the car.

Similarly in my job, unless we specify that our employees are responsible for all fines incurred (speeding, parking, bus lane, etc) when driving a company car, we can't make them pay them.

welcome news

This is where you dig out your contract of employment with your employers.

Unless stated in your contract they cannot make such a deduction from your pay-packet. If there is no written contract then I would start thinking about taking your case to an industrial trbunal as they would certainly find in your favour. (And if you are dismissed in the meantime you can also claim compensation for constructive dismissal).

If they can show you a contract you signed agreeing that you were responsible and that such payments would be deducted then there is nothing you can do.

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