employers insurance excess

[dodge282]

Hi guys need some advice. A couple of months ago whilst working long nights in dim light areas I was removing old cabling out of a shopping centre. Whilst removing the cables it was a case of finding old cables and cutting them out. On this night I accidently cut a fibre optic cable. Didnt cause anything on the network to go down as it was a secondary fibre. My boss got me to fill in an accident report to his insurer so he could claim there. Now the bill has come through at £2000 excess being £500. He called me in yesterday and basically said it was gross negligence and I have to pay. II need to keep my job but cant afford to pay this. He says he will accept monthly payments. I currently hold no contract with him but when the accident happened I was on a 6 month provisional which doesnt state anything about me paying for damages. Where do I stand and what can I do? TThnks in advance

[renegadeimp]

Sounds like he doesnt want to pay the excess himself, and is trying to force you to pay it instead.

[dodge282]

Thing is im not obliged to pay it as no paperwork has said otherwise however will risk losing my job.

[renegadeimp]

Hold off a bit and wait for the more knowledgeable members to come along. We have people here who advise specifically on employment matters.

[Emmzzi]

It's a gamble. If you've worked there less than 2 years you can't claim for unfair dismissal; on the other hand he can't deduct wages unlawfully.

[Sidewinder]

You are stuck between a rock and a hard place. There is no obligation as you haven't agreed to any responsibility for paying the excess, nor could your employer lawfully deduct the amount from your wages without permission, however if you don't pay it, the employer could find any number of reasons to let you go - negligence being a prime example - and you would have no redress whatsoever.

 

What sort of monthly payments will he accept?

[dodge282]

I said ill pay £50 a month. Doesnt seem alot but in these times it would have gone far.

[becky2585]

Of course, the converse risk is that he could let you go in a few weeks and take the rest from your wages, or he could do the same after ten months anyway, at which point you would have consented to the deduction and so wouldn't have grounds to claim it back, but you'd have had ten months employment in the meantime I suppose!

 

Do you think that you have realistic job security? If it was me, I would probably have offered £50 per month too - to try and keep my job.

 

You could take a hard line, of course, and refuse as there's no contractual right for him to deduct - but a savvy employer would probably sack you BEFORE any deductions were made if you had asserted your statutory right not to suffer unlawful deductions (in which case any subsequent dismissal could be automatically unfair), but I'm not sure it would be automatically unfair over a speculative deduction - only an actual one.

[steampowered]

The key question is whether you were negligent/careless in cutting the cable.

 

If yes, then although the employer couldn't deduct from your wages, he could sue you in the small claims track of the county court. He could do this even if you resigned.

 

If no, then legally you are not likely to be liable for the £500. However as stated above the employer could sack you if you do not have two years service.