This is a very interesting question in that there are a few different scenarios involved with employees and car accidents as they relate to business insurance. Was your employee driving on company time and for company-related business? Or was that employee just using their own car and driving after hours for personal reasons? Also what happens if they are driving for work purposes but are using their own vehicle? As you can see there are a few variations of the above situation that can occur… let’s take a look at the different circumstances in order to see how your business insurance may be affected.
Scenario #1: Your Employee is in a Car Accident While Performing Work-Related Duties
In this instance an employee is driving a company-owned vehicle and they are acting within the scope of their job duties. Unfortunately an accident occurs. So what happens next? For this case let’s say that in determining the fault of the accident it was found that the employee was not the liable party. Therefore the other party’s insurance would cover the cost of the damages. Now should the employee be liable for the accident then things are a bit different.
In the event that an employee is driving a company car and they cause an accident which in turn results in them being sued. Your business’s insurance company has a couple of options. Because the company owns the vehicle and the associated policy yourbusiness insurancewill more than likely be responsible for paying. The company after all is responsible for its employees. However if it is found and proven that the employee acted wrongly or recklessly in some way then your insurance company may directly go after the person in question to recover expenses.
Scenario #2: Your Employee is in a Car Accident that Did Not Occur During Working Hours
In this case that employee is driving his/her own vehicle and not a company car. Now it may seem that this has absolutely nothing to do with you or the company. But if that employee was found liable and some sort of vehicular misconduct did occur obviously theirrecord is going to be affected. This can then have an impact on your business insurance if they drive company vehicles.
Scenario #3: An Employee is in a Car Accident while Driving Their Own Vehicle for Work Purposes
At times companies do have employees use theirpersonal vehicles for work-related tasks.If an employee gets into an accident during working hours while driving their personal vehicle then you absolutely need to have non-owned car insurance in place. This coverage would then cover you in the event that your employee is sued for a driving offence. Generally liability coverage must be carried with your commercial policy in order to qualify for non-owned auto coverage.
The best way to fully understand the ramifications of an employee being sued for a driving-related offence is of course totalk directly to you insurance broker. They can clearly lay out the scenarios and direct you as to the best way to proceed in any type of situation.
