PDA

View Full Version : Insurance issue for non-employee?



RecruiterRay
30-06-2011, 04:04 PM
I am just hoping to find out what our insurance liability may be for the travel of a non-employee.

We have a staff member who will be travelling for work (in a work hire-car). This is very straight-forward, but he has asked about taking his partner on the trip, and she is not an employee.

I would just like to know what potential issues there may be with respect to insurance if they happened to be in an accident, and if there is anything else I should be aware of.

Thanks!

Greg Schmidt
29-07-2011, 05:49 PM
There may be an operational reason why this would be a bad idea - and the employer could then refuse permission. If you have no objection to the partner accompanying your employee, you could give provisional approval (or lack of opposition) to the request but state that the final decision is up to the employee. I would suggest that you clearly specify (in writing) what will or will not apply.

Some items for consideration:

Worker's Compensation for any illness/injuries sustained - won't apply to the partner
Is the partner permitted to drive the vehicle? Will this invalidate the vehicle lease agreement or insurance cover?
Third Party injury insurance for injuries from a motor vehicle accident - assume that this will apply to all passengers, but it might be worth checking
Comprehensive insurance for the vehicle - does it cover "private travel" or only business travel by employees?
Accommodation expenses - at "single" or "double" accommodation rates?

This may all seem like much ado about nothing, but it's waaayyy better to know the answers before the accident than getting stuck with the costs unexpectedly afterwards. If it costs extra money to make sure that the insurance covers the non-employee passenger as well as your employee, you could ask that the employee pay up as part of the approval process.