Last Updated 23rd January 2025. After a road traffic accident in a company vehicle, you may wonder if you can make a personal injury claim for compensation. You might not be sure if you have a claim against the other driver involved or if you should seek damages from your employer. This article, ‘Who Is Liable For Employee Car Accident Claims’, can help you determine who you may have a claim against.
When you have an accident in a work vehicle, you must consider who pays for the repairs, how the accident affects your car insurance, and how to recover damages in different situations. For example, the accident may be partly your fault, or the other driver could be uninsured.
We cover these aspects in this guide. You can contact our team if you have any questions and find out how a No Win No Fee personal injury solicitor from our panel could help you. Contact us for free and with no obligation:
- Call us on 0800 408 7825.
- Contact us via our online form.
- Use the Live Chat feature below.
Choose A Section
- Who Is Liable For Employee Car Accident Claims?
- How Could An Employee Car Accident Be Caused By Negligence?
- How Do Employee Car Accident Claims Work Involving Uninsured Drivers?
- What If I Was Partly At Fault For A Company Car Accident?
- How Much Compensation For A Vehicle Accident?
- Claim For An Employee Car Accident On A No Win No Fee Basis
- More Resources About How To Claim For A Road Traffic Accident
Who Is Liable For Employee Car Accident Claims?
Whoever harms you by breaching their duty of care is liable for your employee car accident claim.
Every road user has a duty of care to operate their vehicles and use the roads in a way that keeps other road users safe. To fully comply with this duty of care, they must adhere to the Road Traffic Act 1988 and the Highway Code.
If you use a company vehicle to carry out work duties, your employer also owes you a duty of care under the Health and Safety At Work etc. Act 1974 (HAWASA). Under this duty, they must take all reasonable and practicable steps to ensure your safety whilst working.
Failure to comply with these laws by another road user or your employer could lead to a road traffic accident. In either case, the party responsible would be negligent:
- They owed you a duty of care.
- They breached that duty.
- They harmed you.
This is the basis for all employee car accident claims. Contact us today at the above details to discuss your case. If you wonder, “Can you get fired for crashing a company car?” we can help you with that, too. Speak to our advisors using the details above.
How Could An Employee Car Accident Be Caused By Negligence?
There are various ways you could be injured while at work.
When could an employer be responsible for an employee car accident?
- The employer was aware that the brakes on a vehicle were faulty but knowingly instructed an employee to use them, resulting in a rear-end collision on the road.
- An employer failed to have an MOT, which would have highlighted defective front windscreen wipers. During a severe downpour, the wipers failed, causing the driver not to be able to see sufficiently, and they crashed into a tree.
- The tyres on a van needed replacing, but an employer did not do so. When braking, the tyres failed, and the employee slid into a parked car.
When is another road user at fault for an employee car accident?
- Whilst driving a company lorry, another motorist swerved in front of you on the motorway, causing you to collide with other vehicles and sustain serious multiple injuries.
- A motorist speeding above the legal limit could collide with you at a junction, causing a serious head injury in a side impact collision.
- While waiting for the lights to change, the motorist behind could rear-end you because they failed to allow enough time to stop. This might create a whiplash injury that takes months or years to resolve.
These are just a few examples of how others may harm you by breaching their duty of care on the road. If you would like to discuss your employee car accident claim, don’t hesitate to contact the team.
How Do Employee Car Accident Claims Work Involving Uninsured Drivers?
If you have an employee car accident involving an insured or hit-and-run driver, you can claim through the Motor Insurer’s Bureau (MIB). This organisation can pay compensation for a company car accident caused by an uninsured or untraced driver, even if they cannot be identified.
Please note that both kinds of drivers commit criminal acts:
- S143 of the Road Traffic Act 1988 makes using a vehicle without insurance illegal, even if you didn’t mean to.
- s170 of the same Act states that drivers must stop to swap details if they cause an accident. If they can’t stop safely, they must report the incident to the police within 24 hours.
You may, therefore, need a police crime reference number to claim. Other than this, the procedure is the same as that for other employee accident car claims.
What If I Was Partly At Fault For A Company Car Accident?
Sometimes, both parties are at fault in a car accident. This is known as ‘split liability,’ as the fault for the accident is split between the two parties. The split can be 50/50 or any other split that adds up to 100%, e.g., 75/25 or 60/40.
The parties allocate shares of blame as a percentage, and your share reduces the compensation you receive. If you were deemed 50% responsible for an accident that would have seen £10,000 compensation, you would receive £5,000. That is 50% of £10,000.
You may also ask, ‘Does an accident involving a work vehicle affect my personal insurance premium?’ Usually, an accident in a work vehicle can impact your private insurance. A company vehicle collision is still classed as a road traffic accident, and insurance providers require accidents like this to be disclosed.
Your insurance should not be affected if the accident was not your fault. Still, you should read your insurance’s terms and conditions to ensure you meet your responsibility for reporting accidents.
How Much Compensation For A Vehicle Accident?
Two heads of loss can make up compensation when making a personal injury claim. General damages compensate the person for the pain and suffering caused by the injuries. In addition to this, it can reflect any psychological injury and suffering created.
Legal personnel who calculate general damages can refer to medical evidence. They can also refer to publications listing suggested award bracket amounts, such as the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG).
We’ve compiled a table below using excerpts from this publication to illustrate potential compensation awards. However, please note that every employee car accident claim will vary, and these amounts are strictly guidelines:
Compensation Guidelines
| Injury | Severity | Award Bracket |
|---|---|---|
| Multiple Injuries Plus Special Damages | Severe | Up to £1 million or more |
| Head | (a) Very Severe | £344,150 to £493,000 |
| Neck | (a) Severe (i) | In the area of £181,020 |
| Back | (a) Severe (ii) | £90,510 to £107,910 |
| Leg | (iii) Serious | £47,840 to £66,920 |
| Ankle | (b) Severe | £38,210 to £61,090 |
| Hand | (e) Serious Hand Injuries | £35,390 to £75,550 |
| Pelvis | (b) Moderate (i) | £32,450 to £47,810 |
| Knee | (a) Severe (iii) | £31,960 to £53,030 |
| Arm | (c) Less Severe | £23,430 to £47,810 |
Our table includes a topline figure that does not come from the JCG:
Can I Claim For Loss Of Earnings After A Car Accident?
You may also qualify to claim special damages, including loss of earnings. This second head of loss reimburses the claimant for financial harm caused by their injuries. Documented evidence must be submitted to prove these amounts. For example:
- Wage slips show a loss of earnings because of time off work recovery.
- Receipts and invoices showing the costs of domestic care provided by others.
- Medical expenses and any costs for rehabilitation.
- Property damage caused by the accident.
- Proof of paid travel costs for essential appointments.
Claim For An Employee Car Accident On A No Win No Fee Basis
Our panel’s expert personal injury solicitors negotiate the maximum compensation settlements for their clients. If your claim is eligible, they can offer various services:
- Help you to collect supporting evidence.
- Interview eyewitnesses to obtain statements that support your side of events.
- Explain any complex legal terminology.
- Meet court deadlines.
- Send and receive important correspondence about your case.
- Most importantly, they can calculate and argue for the maximum compensation possible for your case.
They can offer these excellent services through a No Win No Fee agreement called a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA). This arrangement usually means that:
- A solicitor can start work on your claim without taking upfront fees.
- If the claim is unsuccessful, you don’t pay for their services.
- Should the claim settle in your favour, you pay a small success fee capped by law.
A success fee is a percentage of the total compensation, subject to a legislative cap. This is always stated when you start your claim, so there are no nasty surprises.
After a road traffic accident in a work vehicle, why not take a moment to see how a No Win No Fee accident claim might help you? Simply start the discussion about employee car accident claims with our advisory team now by:
- Call us on 0800 408 7825.
- Contact us via our online form.
- Use the Live Chat feature below.
More Resources About How To Claim For A Road Traffic Accident
We hope this guide on how to claim compensation for employee car accident claims has been helpful. These other articles from our website look at personal injury claims more broadly:
- Read more about a brain damage payout after a road traffic accident.
- This guide explores hit-and-run claims.
- Also, we discuss accidents at work and time limits for starting a claim.
Some external help
- Read some details on claiming Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) after an accident at work.
- Information about the employer’s responsibilities for drivers at work from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE).
- Government information on employment contracts.
We appreciate your interest in our guide to employee car accident claims. If you need further advice, don’t hesitate to contact the team using the options above.
