Return of company car following employee resignation

[elephantsbreafh]

Looking for outside opinions

Background:
Employee of 5+ years has company car (not leased)
Company car was cosmetically damaged a few years ago, company not employee did not fix it
Employee has resigned
Company would like car returned to office (45 mins from employee, not employee’s usual place of work)
Company would like car valeted and with a full tank of fuel on return at employee’s expense
No contract so nothing to refer to

Is it reasonable to expect employee to pay for valet and fuel when company have not even bothered to fix previous damage ie, it’s not in a great state anywhere so effectively polishing a turd at employee’s expense. Is it reasonable to expect employee to return car or should an option to have it collected be offered?

Out of context but in case relevant - employee was on maternity leave, statutory mat pay only and does not have another vehicle yet. Head office in remote location with no public transport.

Thanks.

Would you buy the car at right price?
If Yes get value from We buy any car.com
They offer a good price but when you take it for real valuation, they knock off a big chunk £££s.
That's the price to pay.
We trying to sell ours now!!!

I would agree with others if still insured on their policy, return clean & tidy. Minimum fuel as work related miles are up to them to cover & certainly not a full tank.

Delivering it back 45 mins away is reasonable - anything more than an hr wouldn't be in my opinion, a good clean inside and out is reasonable - a full valet is too much. I would send it back with 1/3-1/2 a tank of fuel the idea being that with the clean and that amount of fuel it was returned in a state that it could be used first thing next day and the first trip didn't have to be to the petrol station/cleaners. That I would think is reasonable.

If you are sure you don’t have a contract I’d give it back exactly how it came, fuel and valet wise.

Assuming you’re in England, my view is…

They own the car and it should made available to them to collect at the same, or similar, location it was collected from.

If you didn’t sign anything about returning it with a full tank, then you aren’t obliged to. Same with valet: car should be in ‘reasonable’ condition but no reason to pay for a full valet. If they want it done they can pay for it.

You only have to do the things you already agreed to do, if there is no agreement then you’re legally obliged to do what is ‘reasonable’ and we could argue all day long about what exactly that is.

They can’t deduct it from your wages: have a google.

I'd put a bit of fuel in and say "this is the amount of fuel in the vehicle when I left to go on maternity leave. I have not used the car since" and leave it as that. Clean it yes - it will be cheaper and less hassle to get a mini valet they are under 20quid and sufficient.

Your bigger issue might be the MOT situation. If it's expired then you can only drive to a pre booked test. If it then fails that test you cant return it to the employer until it's roadworthy.
Then opens the can of worms as to who pays for that as well.

You might be better researching local car transporter places and see how much they will charge to transport the vehicle to the employer. This will negate the MOT issue.

What does it say in your terms and conditions? If it's silent, more fool them and just return it in a decent state with half a tank, and there's nothing they can do about it.

Hand it back, cleaned only as you say, with the petrol card.

You don’t need to pay for the fuel, as long as it’s not running on fumes they have no recourse and the petrol card has expired

Agree with you photographing it! V important!

Yes the company are being reasonable.

And its just basic manners to give a car back clean and with petrol.

But they should cover your travel expenses to get home after dropping the car off.

When does Mot run out? If it hasn't already, I'd hand it back before then, in a clean condition with 1/3 tank of fuel.
That way the Mot is their issue and your return home travel is your issue.

@MrPenguinsPoppers

Your bigger issue might be the MOT situation. If it's expired then you can only drive to a pre booked test. If it then fails that test you cant return it to the employer until it's roadworthy. Then opens the can of worms as to who pays for that as well.

You might be better researching local car transporter places and see how much they will charge to transport the vehicle to the employer. This will negate the MOT issue.

Its not her property. Its a work tool provided to her by her Employer.

Obtaining a MOT and maintaining the car is an obligation of the company to provide a safe work environment and safe work equipment.

All the best op

remember to let the tax office know its gone back and the exact date (get yourself a receipt from company)

I think this sounds reasonable of the company, assuming the car was collected from this address, and was clean and with a full tank of petrol to begin with.

It sounds like you have benefited from the personal use of the company car over maternity leave, so I don't see any benefit to being petty over cleaning the car or petrol.

@BernadetteRostankowskiWolowitz

I'd put a bit of fuel in and say "this is the amount of fuel in the vehicle when I left to go on maternity leave. I have not used the car since" and leave it as that. Clean it yes - it will be cheaper and less hassle to get a mini valet they are under 20quid and sufficient.

How can she say she's not used it since she went on mat leave? Seems pretty unlikely.

For work purposes. So therefore not used the work fuel card.

@BernadetteRostankowskiWolowitz

For work purposes. So therefore not used the work fuel card.

But she might have used the fuel card. Some companies allow you to use it, in fact insist you use it for the co car, and then declare it for tax. But the op has not said she's not used it.

* The return to the office is not unusual, they would expect you to make your way home/as you did to the office on your first day.*

^This. Returning the car clean is just good manners. I don’t understand why anyone wouldn’t automatically do this.

This reminds me of when someone tried to return their work uniform unwashed (and smelling) when leaving work. It's just bad manners, and downright weird, to not return things clean.

@Gonnagetgoing I don’t live rurally - the location where the company office is, is rural. 🤣 I say small company, there are around 40 branches (one in my local town) and 20-odd head office staff with company cars. So maybe not that small actually.

Are there other branches closer to you that are more convenient? With that many locations surely there is a central HR department to get clarification?

@mygrandchildrenrock

When my husband was made redundant and had a company car, he told them they could collect it from our drive. He certainly didn’t valet it or fill it with petrol. They want it back, they can get it.

That’s different though, they should make the effort when the company made him redundant. Quitting is another matter.

Yes, there’s a branch in my town - walking distance. But they are asking for it to be returned to head office 45 mins away.

I didn’t use the fuel card when on mat leave as I have always been asked to cover personal fuel mileage myself. I pay company car tax but agree it’s a weird set up and has never felt very official.

Ordered a new car as soon as I waa offered new job end of last year but there’s a massive production delay so looking like I’ll have an overlap of a month or so without a car after I’ve handed my company car back whilst my new job starts. It’s a nightmare.

MOT is due about 2 weeks before I have to hand it back.

@CandyLeBonBon there should be a HR department but there’s not, there’s one lady who does it and she doesn’t have a clue. I had a bit of a battle just to get my SMP calculated correctly