Auto Accident on company time

[LSchmid]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? WI

I'm not sure where to put this so I'm trying here...

My sister was at work today and was required to travel to a different location in her personal vehicle. On the way it was raining very hard and she hit a puddle and hydroplaned. She ended up in an accident causing significant damage to her vehicle, although she is fine physically. Her company is now telling her that she is responsible for the damage to the vehicle, including payment of the deductible.

I am not familiar enough in this area to advise her but I'm wondering how this can happen...she was on company time doing company business but the company is not responsible in any way for payment of the damages? If she had been injured it would have been WC.

Please advise

 

[InsaneJane]

Correct. It was her responsibility to maintain control of the vehicle.

 

[ecmst12]

She doesn't normally drive as part of her duties, and the accident was her fault. Her personal insurance should cover the damage she caused to the other vehicle, and if she has collision coverage, the damage to her vehicle as well. It WOULD have been covered under workers comp if she was injured, but that's a completely different situation.

Since (as I understand it) her job is not a driver, she was simply going from one location to another within the work day, her employer would not need to maintain auto insurance on her and the non-commercial coverage on her vehicle that she had was sufficient.

Even if she was in a company car with company insurance, they could have required her to cover the deductible to fix the damage - she cause the accident!

 

[Beth3]

I am not familiar enough in this area to advise her but I'm wondering how this can happen...she was on company time doing company business but the company is not responsible in any way for payment of the damages? If she had been injured it would have been WC.

Because your sister's employer is not responsible for damage to her vehicle under any State or federal statutes. You are correct that if she had been injured (thank goodness she wasn't), treatment for her injuries would have been paid for by the employer's WC carrier. If she'd injured anyone else with her vehicle, the employer also would have been on the hook under their liability insurance. But they're just not responsible for damage to her car. (If your sister hydroplaned, then she likely was driving too fast for road conditions, which is her own fault and responsibility.)