Advice for Employees who drive

Motor Insurance

While council vehicles are insured by the authority, the insurance does not remove the driver’s personal legal responsibilities. Drivers remain responsible for their own actions while driving, including compliance with road traffic legislation and insurance requirements. Although claims for council owed vehicles will be covered by the Council’s Motor Insurance Policy, the drivers would be expected to disclose their involvement in an accident with their personal insurer as part of their statement of fact. Also, drivers are encouraged to discuss their vehicle use with their own insurer, disclose their individual circumstances and receive personalised recommendation from their underwriter, relevant to their underwriting standards. Drivers should also be aware that:

-          They MUST complete the Motor Incident Claim form (see attached) for any incident that occurs whilst driving a Council vehicle. Failure to complete the incident form may result in a third party insurer determining that the Council driver is liable and may impact the drivers personal motor insurance.

-          New Bump Cards have been printed. These contain details of the Council’s Motor Insurance Policy and space so you can collect the details required from any other party involved in a motor incident. Copies of the Bump Cards are available from the Fleet Team in Trostre.

-          Where a claim does not involve a third party and the value of the damage is less than £1000, the Motor Incident Claim Form must still be completed to evidence due diligence and compliance with internal procedures. However, such incidents will not go through the Council’s insurance as long as they are settled under £1,000.

-          Where an accident or incident is caused by the driver’s actions or negligence, the driver may be held personally liable for resulting damage, injury, or losses. This will be assessed on a case by case basis.

-          Any such incident needs to be declared to the driver’s personal motor insurance as part of their statement of fact, and it may affect terms/premium offered by the personal motor insurer.

-          Drivers are recommended to disclose to their personal insurer that they drive an employer-owned vehicle for work purposes.

-          Failure to make required disclosures may result in insurance cover being invalidated, exposing the driver to personal financial and legal consequences.

Where employees drive their own private vehicle as part of their job, they must ensure they have the appropriate Business Use cover on their personal insurance.  Employees must disclose a copy of their valid insurance with their Line Manager. Employees must notify the Council immediately of any licensing or insurance cover changes. The Council will not accept liability for claims which are not covered by the driver’s own insurance, whilst engaged on Council business.

Post Incident Debrief Form

Following any Motor Incident, a Post Incident Debrief should be undertaken between the driver and their supervisor. This is to ensure that all incidents are reviewed to ensure suitable measures are put in place to try to prevent future occurrences.

Driving Licence Checks

The process for employee Driving Licence checks has changed. Any staff driving Council vehicles or driving their own vehicle for business use, must have their details recorded centrally on the Council’s Fleet Management System, Key2 (Jaama). Please see the attached Jaama Fair Processing Notice which details the reason why your information is required, how long it is retained for, who it is shared with and what information is stored.

Once the required driver information details have been provided to the Fleet Team, staff will be emailed an eDeclaration to agree to so that their driving licence will then be automatically checked periodically. If you drive as part of your role, but you haven’t yet signed up to the new system, please contact your line manager so they can send the required information to:

fleetcompliance@carmarthenshire.gov.uk

Fleet Compliance Checks

In order to ensure that the Council meets the requirements of its Heavy Goods Operators License and adherence to the Driver Handbook, Compliance Checks will be carried out by the Fleet Compliance Team at CCC depots and sites. Any potential issues can then be addressed through training, mentoring, tool box talks etc.

If you have any questions or queries regarding driving as part of your role, please email fleetcompliance@carmarthenshire.gov.uk