car been damaged

[letdownafterletdown]

Hi I work in children's home and residents vandalised my car , now work say I have to claim off my insurance !! Is this rite, feeling very upset bout this I don't think I am been unreasonable in thinking I shouldn't be out of pocket by this or drive round in a damaged car , any advise would be great thanks x

If you are in a union, contact them for advice. Do you have proof of how your car was damaged?

unless work require you to drive I think you bring it to work at your own risk - BUT have they or you reported it to the police?

its only a small home so don't think they have a union, myself and another staff member witnessed it and I reported it to the police .

Are you in a union? Check if your membership covers this. Teachers' union memberships include some coverage for malicious damage to vehicles.

"They" don't have to have a union. You make your own arrangements, but it appears this is not a course of action open to you.

work don't provide you with a union - you have to find one and join it - if non exists within your work place you can still join x

is it in your contact that you bring your car to work?

Standard I'm afraid. Thats what insurance is for.

FWIW - in the public sector you are daft if you aren't in a union, be that teacher, nurse, or bin man - absolutely bonkers, double bonkers if you work with vulnerable people

Unison membership clicky link Just in case you want to in future. If you are driving to work and you are not required to use your car for work, I think may be stuck with insurance.

FWIW - in the public sector you are daft if you aren't in a union, be that teacher, nurse, or bin man - absolutely bonkers, double bonkers if you work with vulnerable people

I agree. I'm in the third sector and my company doesn't actually recognise unions but I still choose to be in one to protect myself.

What's the excess on your insurance policy? And do you have protected NCD?

Was it parked on private work carpark? If so you might have some recourse but H's carehome has disclaimer that all staff park on their drive at own risk. If it was in public place you can report to police as vandalism but you'll need some solid proof that it was residents did it. Otherwise yes, it's up to you to claim on your own insurance.

Can you report it to the police and at least get a crime number or something or would that cause problems at work?

Agree. I think this falls into occupational hazard and your only course of action is an insurance claim.

If the damage is fairly minor, it might be best to see how much it will be to get it repaired yourself, it may be less than the excess/loss of NCD.

I'd like to say, you should really think about joining a Union. Please don't rely on the support of your employer if (god forbid) anything goes wrong. More often than not, line managers will be desperate to ensure that no shit sticks to them and will happily scapegoat a junior employee.