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Paid childcare

Discuss everything related to paid childcare here, including childminders, nannies, nurseries and au pairs.

car insurance excess

14 replies

wizzywig · 28/06/2015 13:32

hi. ive just put my nanny on my car insurance as a fully comp named driver. is it reasonable/ unreasonable to expect her to pay the excess if there us an accident? thanks

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Stinkersmum · 28/06/2015 13:36

If she's driving for her own pleasure/purpose, yes. If she's driving for work purposes, no.

wizzywig · 28/06/2015 14:01

even if she is at fault? sorry i know i sound mean but we dont have loads of spare cash and i was surprised adding her to the insurance cost more than my and my husbands premium (purely due to her only passing her test recently). is there a nanny insurance she can take out to cover those things? or should i just keep my fingers crossed she never has an accident and just suck up any expense should it arise?

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Stinkersmum · 28/06/2015 14:22

She's an employee. I've never had to cough up the excess on a vehicle provided by any company I've worked for when driven for work purposes. Sorry, I think you need to stump up if the worse should happen.

nannynick · 28/06/2015 14:28

When using a company vehicle it can be something that is in the terms of the agreement that the driver pays a certain amount towards the cost in the event of a fault claim.

I think this would come under the very broad term "poor work" and thus a deduction may be legally permitted subject to it being very clearly specified in advance.

However it may be unreasonable for that to be the full amount of the policy excess as if the vehicle is high value, large, then the excess may be rather large and may be a large percentage of the employees monthly salary. Also there may be an agreement with regard to repayment terms for such an incident - such as it being taken via payroll over a period of months.

In employer:employee relationship terms I would imagine this would not go down well at all. Your nanny could refuse to drive the vehicle if they felt it was unreasonable of you to charge them for using the vehicle, they could use their own instead and claim mileage.

You should expect there to be some minor damage to the vehicle over time, such as small scrapes. It happens to the best of us, especially if having to park tight to a curb near a school to try to keep as much as the road clear for passing traffic.

In the event of a major incident, you will be more concerned about your children and the nannies well being, not about damage to the vehicle. You provide the vehicle, you insure it, so really I feel you should cover any costs associated with that.

No there is no insurance to my knowledge that the nanny could have to cover such a situation.

Nannies do get as part of their liability insurance, Contingent Motor cover.
"It provides cover if you use someone else’s vehicle (with their permission) in relation to your home based childcare business and a motor accident occurs for which you are legally responsible, but the vehicle owner does not have the necessary business cover in place. However you must take all reasonable precautions to ensure that any vehicle used has appropriate motor insurance." - See more at: [[https://www.mortonmichel.com/Nanny/FAQs.asp]]

That to me does not cover the excess or anything really other than if you did not correctly insure the vehicle, such as not notifying your insurer that it was being driven by a nanny caring for your children and thus is used for Work rather than Social, Domestic & Pleasure.

wizzywig · 28/06/2015 14:28

thanks stinker, much appreciated.

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nannynick · 28/06/2015 14:28

Try that link again: www.mortonmichel.com/Nanny/FAQs.asp

wizzywig · 28/06/2015 14:33

i forgot to add that the excess is £450.

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wizzywig · 28/06/2015 14:38

thank you everyone. of course my main priority is the safety of my kids and not a car. i think im just nervous as she is new to nannying and is very relaxed in her attitude to the things that im very cautious on.

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nannynick · 28/06/2015 14:47

She is also new to driving, thus why she is a high risk in terms of the insurance. It will get better over time but you get this situation with any new driver and any young driver. Also your car may be very different size to that in which they learnt to drive and to which they may have of their own.

So yes I can see it is a big concern. Perhaps come to some compromise agreement - which needs to be fully documented in the contract - that in the event of an At Fault accident then they would contribute towards the cost, such as by paying half the excess, over a period of time such as 3 months. They might agree to that and it may help make them think about being careful when driving the vehicle.

nannynick · 28/06/2015 14:49

Has anyone done the Drive A Child course? It is an online training thing to give drivers of children more confidence I think. Anyone looked into it, worth doing/getting your employee to do?

wizzywig · 28/06/2015 14:54

brilliant idea nannynick x

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Blondeshavemorefun · 29/06/2015 16:45

I have always had a company car and in 24yrs of nannying I've had 2 accidents. One my fault - one 50/50

Neither employer made me pay the access

I do have it written in my contract that even if at fault

I would be very wary signing a contract that said I would have to pay

Maybe have 1st accident you pay and 2nd nanny pays

Ternet · 30/06/2015 22:17

Morton Michael Insure this at a reasonable cost, however I don't mind adding; why is it that parents begrudge every penny spent on the costmof Childcare for what should be their most treasured possessions?

wizzywig · 02/07/2015 11:46

hi ternet. hand on heart i wouldnt begrudge it if i had faith and confidence in the nanny.

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