Many companies continue to believe, wrongly, that they have no responsibility for employees who drive their own cars on business,' says Jason Francis, managing director of fleet software and risk management specialists Jaama. 'It is imperative that the same monitoring process is in place for these people and their vehicles as for company-owned vehicles and their drivers.
The law clearly states that employers have an absolute legal health and safety responsibility for all employees who drive on business irrespective of who owns the vehicles. Therefore, Jaama has written a fleet policy template for staff who use their own vehicles and also a driver guide directed at these employees.
For example, stipulating that vehicles should be fit-for-purpose, insured for business use and serviced in accordance with manufacturer recommendations. Our software has a bespoke section designed to manage all data associated with private vehicles driven on business. This includes the ability for fleet managers to store insurance document details, V5 registration details, vehicle maintenance records and MoT certificates. Additionally, automated reminders related to the renewal of annual documentation such as insurance and MoT details can be set-up for the benefit of both fleet managers and drivers.
He concludes by saying that because Jaama’s web-based software interfaces with software used by other corporate departments, such as HR and payroll, cash for car scheme payments can be stopped if employees do not provide the correct documentation within a given timescale such as mileage returns and insurance MoT and servicing documents.’