Mileage and travel for work

The company does have a responsibility to make sure its employees who are using their car for work (and therefore, saving the company a lot of money) are insured properly. A lot of companies who take their risk management seriously will have procedures in place to make any employee who is authorised to drive during the course of their employment has the correct type of licence and business insurance on their personal vehicle.

Mine does. I got badgered every couple of days for months to send them evidence of both or I was not allowed to drive on company business (I hadn't got round to it as I had no intention of driving this year).

Also note - if you have commuting on your insurance but not business,you cannot (for example) drive yourself to the airport if you are flying somewhere for work.

It's not work's responsibility to check you have the right insurance, or at least I've never heard of that being the case.

I’ve just added business insurance to our car as my son occasionally drives it to do a site visit once a month/once every two months. So he needs it for this to claim back petrol money.

i didn’t know this until a few days ago and I sorted the insurance the next day, it didn’t cost much to add business insurance on and as he only uses it between 6-12 times a year for business site visits the expected yearly mileage wasn’t high.

however when I found out I didn’t have the car properly insured I felt ill. All sorted now.

I think the mileage is the least of your worries. A colleague of mine had an accident on the way to work, the police came to the scene. She didn't have commuting insurance, only leisure, so she wasn't insured. Make sure you have the right type of insurance as they will use any reason not to cover you.

Surely this is very rare due to the massive cost it would be for a company?

how would this work? Would there be an age limit? What if employees had points on their licence? Previous convictions for drink driving?

as PP have said business use for your own car usuallys only cost a few quid but company should make you aware it's required

If she has an accident and her colleagues are injured and she isn't insured for the journey, presumably. It would be messy.

This. Do this.

Some companies have a company motor insurance policy that will cover employees driving their own cars for business use in case this happens where they are asked to drive somewhere and they don't have business use on their own policy.

Yes if course they did!

Risk of what?

Sounds like it was an oversight on everyone’s part. Get your car insurance changed to business if you haven’t yet. Do you have 1:1’s with your manager? Raise it there. “Hey boss I was asked to do visits but no-one told me I’d need business insurance so I can’t claim back the mileage. I’m out of pocket now. I’ve changed my insurance now but what can the business do to put this right please?”.

I said I would have been sacked...but you are using YOUR car, so that's wear and tear, extra miles making it less valuable, plus YOU have to buy insurance to cover THEM!

They're on to a winner with you aren't they, staff who are paying to work!

When you take out your insurance policy, it will ask what cover you need. There will be a commuting option which is you travelling to your USUAL place of work, or there is business insurance which covers you driving from business to business or anywhere during your working day that your job requires you to be.
When taking out your insurance you need to make sure you are selecting the correct option.
If you are driving to the same place every day for work, you pick social, pleasure and commuting.
If you need your car in addition to driving to the same place, you need business cover.
Luckily nothing has happened whilst you've been out on the road, but should it have, it would be on you as you are the driver of the car. Insurance companies are not going to accept that your work didn'ttell you. Every time you get in your car, it's your responsibility that it's roadworthy, is taxed, tested and you have the correct insurance cover.
I'm surprised that an insurance company would tell you that what you have been doing is OK as I've needed business insurance for years and years and other than commuting to the same place of work, anything else must be under business cover. I also don't get an allowance, I claim business miles at the end of each week.
Add business insurance now and make sure you're selecting the right cover when you renew. You might not get your mileage paid this time but you could always resubmit with your new insurance certificate and see what they say. Good luck and don't worry, unless you had an accident, nothing will happen.

I too work in housing and am an agile worker. We have to have business insurance, even if not regularly travelling. We don't get a monthly payment towards the use of our own cars either.

Commuting is just covering you to your regular place of work, not other offices you may attend.

Who are you in trouble with? If you’re an agile worker the expectation is that you’ll travel between different workplaces, hence the “agile” part. Your employer should check you have the ability to travel and, if that’s going to be by car, you have appropriate insurance. They’ve dropped the ball here and you’ve been penalised because you weren’t aware of the different insurance requirements. You’ve now taken out the relevant insurance, so it’s sorted out except you’re out of pocket for your expenses.

Why don't they check you are insured?

@ThatBluntLimeStork it’s in the company handbook that if you travel for work, in your own car, you must have business insurance.

You can get paid mileage rather than an allowance and you can claim that on your tax form, there is an allowable rate of so much a mile that will be tax free I don't know what it is currently. You do need limited business use on your insurance and if you are carrying work equipment or passengers for work you should make sure you are covered for that. Unless the vehicle belongs to your place of work their insurance won't cover you for anything. I'm surprised no one told you you needed business use, but I guess they assumed it was obvious and until you claim they are probably not bothered. Is it mentioned in your contract?

Link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/rates-and-allowances-travel-mileage-and-fuel-allowances/travel-mileage-and-fuel-rates-and-allowances

She already has and it was rejected.

Put in the claim. Nowhere I’ve ever worked has checked my insurance. If you are concerned about it, change your insurance for now.

You won’t be in trouble. You just can’t claim those non-compliant expenses.

Trouble with who?

I submit mileage every month nd it’s never been an issue.

From a legal point of view I’ll get it sorted but I’m not actually to clear why you’re worried about your own situation. Can you explain what you think might happen?

I claim mileage and submit distances. Nobody has ever asked to see my insurance. I think I only have commuting insurance tbh.