Employers are putting their workers at risk of driving without insurance by encouraging them to use their cars for work but not warning them of the need for business use cover on their car insurance.
According to new research by insurance comparison site Gocompare.com, 72% of UK workers have used their own car for business use in the last year but 35% of UK workers do not have business use cover on their car insurance. Furthermore, only 38% of workers say their employer has talked to them about the need for business use cover on their car insurance when using their own car on company business. Each month workers drive on average 251 business miles or 3,012 miles a year – the equivalent of driving from London to Helsinki and back again.
Typically, private car policies provide cover for motorists driving to work or the station car park, but drivers will need to extend their insurance to include business use if they drive to company sites other than their usual place of work. If their car is not insured for business mileage their insurer may refuse to pick-up the bill for any claims incurred while they were at work.
The survey revealed that the top five business journeys made in a private car, which would not be covered by a typical private car insurance policy, were:
- Travelling to a training course (41 per cent)
- Going to the bank (41 per cent)
- Driving to the Post Office (32 per cent)
- To drive to another office (31 per cent)
- Attending company away days (22 per cent)
The survey also revealed that over five per cent of workers currently using their own car for business use once had a company car but it was either withdrawn or they decided to give it up.
Lee Griffin, business development director of Gocompare.com said: “More flexible working habits and multi-location workplaces mean that many workers now use their own vehicles for informal or ad-hoc company business. However, companies shouldn’t assume that workers with private car insurance are covered for driving their vehicle while at work. Employers have a legal responsibility to ensure that, irrespective of its owner, vehicles used on company business are safe to use – this includes being fully insured for business usage 1.
“Extending your motor insurance cover to include business use can be relatively inexpensive, and some insurers do not even charge an additional fee for this cover. If workers use their own cars while on company business, no matter how infrequently, we would urge them to check their policy to make sure they are properly insured. And employers should talk to workers about the necessity of having the correct level of cover before they undertake any business journeys in a private car.”
1: http://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/indg382.pdf
