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BUMPER CARS

More companies are planning to tighten up employee accidental damage recharge policies as a Masterlease survey reveals that almost 95 per cent of businesses regularly receive cars back with unexplained dents and scrapes.

The survey of more than 100 companies revealed that only 5.5 per cent received vehicles back that had all damage explained and accounted for at the end of the lease period.

Although employees may not be being dishonest, companies are seeking to protect themselves from additional end of life repair costs by passing on the excess recharges to drivers.

More than half of the organisations surveyed (52 per cent) had written policies in place about recharging for damage, of which 94 per cent communicated the ruling to staff at the time of acquiring the vehicle.

A total of 82 per cent of businesses charged the insurance excess back to staff, although only 22 per cent did this in all cases of damage. Almost one third charged for all fault-related accidents and 29 per cent would do so after a certain number of incidents.

Although many drivers had damage they could not explain, almost one third of companies would still charge them directly by deductions from their wages or via invoice if they had left the company’s employment when the vehicle was returned.

On this subject, 73 per cent of employers discovered unexplained damage only some of the time while a further 18 per cent said it occurred often.

Tackling the issue head on, 30 per cent of companies were thinking about introducing a scheme for recharging excess damage to vehicles, while a further 18 per cent said it was something they will definitely be taking up.

“Accidental damage is an expensive business for companies and there is a huge number of unexplained bumps and scrapes every year running into millions of pounds worth of repair bills,” said Gavin Jones, accident and rental service manager who looks after Masterlease’s risk strategy.

“Getting this strategy right is important because remarketing a vehicle is a sure fire way of realising its value. If time, cost and energy are being spent getting repairs carried out, it damages the re-market value of a company vehicle. Companies also can no longer take a no-quibble approach to accidental damage, especially at a time of economic downturn which is why this survey makes such interesting reading. It is staggering that only five per cent of companies could account for every bump which means that there is a lot of time being spent chasing explanations and money. “
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