Is you bend it - you mend it fair?

[mamatwo]

I volunteer as a scout leader. The group has it's own minibus which is insured for any driver over 25, fully comp with £150 excess.
Another leader recently damaged the front bumper on a scouting activity and the Group Scout leader has asked him to pay for the repair out of his own money (£90). I queried this with him and he said why should the scout group pay for someone's accident and that this was the basis he expected all leaders to drive it on - a big suprise for me as I have driven it in the past and was unaware of this!
I don't have much money and if it was me being asked to pay I would struggle to, it would mean my kids missing out on stuff.
Scout leaders don't get paid (and as well as giving there time don't claim back the money it costs to run the sections such as personal mileage, uniforms, camp fees etc). So as well as what we already give we are being told to give more.
I think it is going a bit far expecting volunteers to pay for any accidental damage to equipment.
I was wondering if maybe it's me being unreasonable or missing the point - would love to hear other peoples views please!

[mccfluff]

i can't see how they can make him do this esp without prior knowledge, the repair cost will be down to the insurance/owner of the van.

[jackthehat]

Hmmmmmm................
I think it would depend on 'how' the accidental damage was caused.
Some accidents are more avoidable than others (although by definition accidents are all accidental).
However, if I was being expected to reimburse/replace/repair something, I'd think it only fair that I was given the opportunity to make my own investigations as to the costs of doing so.

[mamatwo]

We were on a campsite towing a trailer, trying to get up a narrow track, to get enough turning circle drove into some long grass which was hiding a log and has damaged the bus. Couldn't see it was there until we hit it.
It's more the principle of a volunteer all of a sudden being expected to pay out of their own pocket for the privilage of doing some charity work to help the community that has got to me!

[jackthehat]

I think that it ought to be made absolutely clear who is responsible for what......
Then the volunteers can decide whether any *risk* on their part is acceptable. I know that there are probably no written 'terms & conditions' but is there anyone further up the chain who can explain exactly your rights and responsibilites ?

[mamatwo]

I think that's the most important thing - getting it sorted for the future so everyone knows what they're committing to when they dedcide whether or not to drive.
I think I will go futher up the ladder if it doesn't get sorted out, but don't want to get his back up if I can help it as we all will have to work alongside each other in the future.
Thanks for your posts guys!

[Dodger666]

If it were me I wouldn't volunteer to drive the minibus at all. I assume if the repair cost £500 they would look to you for the £150 excess.

You can take out insurance to cover you excess should you want to. However, if the claim is less than your policy excess, as in your case, you can't claim.

http://insuremyexcess.com/public/about.aspx

[rogerr]

I can only advise re company vans. If an accident occurs during company use then the company insurance pays out. If a van is borrowed for private use then a £400 excess is charged.
Your friend was on 'company' business as such so the policy holder is resposible for the excess.

[paddywak]

Personally I think it unreasonable to expect the driver to pay anything if he was using the vehicle for scouting related business. My nephew is a member of a local R.U.F.C who have ther own mini-bus insured on an any driver policy which the lads often use for their own trips, the policy of the club being if you're on club business and have an accident the club pays, if it's on private business you pay. Everybody who uses the bus knows this up front, if the scout group are going to continue this policy they should at least make it clear what they will or will not cover and what they expect the driver to be resposible for. Personally if it was on scout related business as it seems to be in this case I'd be tempted to tell them to get stuffed