Nanny driving DCs in own car: insurance and mileage question!

[TheRealMrsJohnSimm]

We are about to start with our first nanny. Its a temp thing as she is helping me out until my back injury resolves so could be anything from a week to a couple of months.

She will be collecting DCs from school and despatching to variety of after school activities etc during the week using her own car so my questions are:

Does she need some kind of extra cover on her regular car insurance to take my kids out and about?

If she does need extra cover, who is usually liable for extra cover - nanny or me?

I think the mileage question has already been covered by another thread so am assuming is calculated at 40p per mile for nannies?

Is mileage an estimate (eg 2 miles from school to home would provide her with an extra 80p per day) or am I to ask her to keep a mileage record of her own and submit for reimbursement?

YES

she will need buisness class 1 insurance (this is essential... i find that it costs no more than £5 a year, and i think i get it free with my current insurance policy)

Have never asked my bosses to pay.

i charge 40p per mile, so if she was traveling 2 miles then yes, 80p BUT that would mean just 1 mile each way so surely she might walk?

I have a notebook in my car, where i note milage when i arrive at work, and mileage when i leave and work it out and write it in the nanny diary on friday and get paid my mileage then (40p per mile)

yes the nsnny should have business use on her car insuracne

some companys do it for free - others charge

i personally think that the parent should pay the cost of the insurance if a fee is incured

she should keep a record of her own and then give it to you at end of week/monthbut keep a rough eye on miles yourself

as you are out of action - could she use your car - therefore saving you paying 40p per mile - petrol soon adds up -and if your car is just sitting on drive .......

I've had one nanny use her own car (others were insured on mine) - her insurance company didn't charge her any extra to have business insurance (but if they had I would have paid it).
She used to keep a log of where the children went in her car each day and then give me a list with the mileage calculated by googlemaps (which avoided her having to remember to log the mileage after each trip).
At 40p per mile it does build up quite quickly (over 6 weeks my holiday nanny claimed £300 mileage and that was mainly for local trips)

my school run adds £70 per week to what my bosses have to pay to have me... and I only do 4 days... if the younger one and me visit places it can be up to £100 per week £70 is the minimum .

If your nanny has to pay extra for buisness insurance (some companies charge a fee, say £20 for changes to policy ) then i think its only fair that you pay it...

when i do my annual renewel i find it doesnt make any difference, but i imagine their might be a charge to ad it on?,

This year I have opted for specialist insurance cover, which insures me as the driver, plus fee paying passengers - children in my care. This policy did cost about £20 extra, but it is worded such that my passengers are clearly covered under the policy.
The trouble with insurance is that you don't know how good it is, until you need to make a claim against a policy. In the event of a claim being made, the insurer will want to make sure that what is being claimed was actually covered. Business Use may not be sufficient when transporting fee paying passengers. I don't believe that such a level of insurance is designed to cover fee paying passengers, as why then does Hire & Reward insurance exist. The major issue is that with a nanny, the vehicle as a whole has been exclusively hired by a particular family. While a PHV license may not be necessary, an insurer may feel that Business Use doesn't provide sufficient cover.

Does she need some kind of extra cover on her regular car insurance to take my kids out and about?

Yes... though as described above, the level of such insurance is unclear. Most will opt for Class 1 Business Use. Some will get specialist insurance which specifically states on the policy that it includes cover for the children in the nannies care.

If she does need extra cover, who is usually liable for extra cover - nanny or me?

Nanny - it is their car, they are responsible for all taxes, insurance, maintenance etc.

I think the mileage question has already been covered by another thread so am assuming is calculated at 40p per mile for nannies?

Correct... Approved Mileage Rate as permitted by HMRC.

As a nanny, I log each journey made on a pre-printed pad, then put a claim in every 4 weeks. As your nanny is temp, you may want to settle mileage claims either daily or weekly.

never thought about it like that Nick..

however whenever i get my insurance quotes i specifically state that i am a NANNY and need to be covered when Im driving them in my car, and they tell me that i require business class 1, so any probs, they can go back to phone call and here me say i am a nanny and need to be covered

every other nanny i know has buisness class 1

what would happen if your nanny drives your kids to school but also would be driving her own child regardless? would mileage still be counted for driving your kids? am pondering a nanny, so lots of questions

Policies in the past that I have had, have never had NANNY stated on the policy under occupation. They have always changed it to Childminder, or Nursery Nurse.
I've made minor claims against insurance (window for example) in the past with Class 1 Business Use cover and it's not been a problem. So it may not be an issue at all - though in the even of a major claim, such as being involved in an accident in which someone dies, I do wonder what is and isn't covered. Ultimately it is up to each of us as individuals to decide what 'adequate cover' (as per how Ofsted phrase it) really means.

This may be of interest, it is a letter from DoT about a consultation. It mentions childminders, not nannies, but to me it seems to exclude childminders due to them usually transporting children from multiple families. With a nanny, that usually isn't the case... so are nannies operating like a Private Hire Vehicle? It's a tricky question I think, could go either way - one day I expect something will go to court, at which point there will be a ruling. Until then, we are in limbo-land... so we need to arrange 'adequate cover' - whatever that means!

ramonaquimby - that is a very good question. Alas I am unsure of the answer.
If you were to pay 40p per mile, or less... then it would not need to be declared on the P11D - see this for details.

The question I suppose is should you pay the Approved Mileage Rate, or less? You certainly don't have to pay the Approved Mileage Rate - you can agree with your nanny to pay them whatever you like.

thanks nannynick

Thank you so much for all your replies .

Tis very much appreciated and am now much more clear about the essentials as opposed to "optional extras" (which seems to me to cover whether or not to pay for additional insurance charges).

Am a bit at how those mileage amounts add up so quickly though!

Nannynick......will be plagiarising your mileage chart if thats okay!

One last question: If she goes straight from her own house to collect the children from school (she doesn't officially start work until children are finished) then do I pay mileage from her house to school or just from school to my house, iyswim?

I would suggest calculating the distance between your home and school, nannies home and school. If nannies home is further away, then pay the difference in the mileage, plus an allocation for time. If nannies home is nearer, then I would say that counts as Journey to Work - so no payment for mileage or time for the journey to the school. Waiting time at the school, plus journey home I feel are both chargeable.
However, it is entirely up to you and your nanny to come to some agreement over this. An alternative is that your nanny drives to your home, then drives to the school - thus you getting the bill for both time and mileage from your home to the school.

Thanks Nick. Yes, I agree, would pay her from 3pm (although she doesn't collect kids until 3.15pm as she will obviously there early waiting). and will calculate difference in journeys as you suggest.

You are a total star