Companies operating fleets are losing hundreds of thousands of pounds after their drivers are involved in crashes.

The losses are the result of failures to reclaim wages paid to employees who are off sick following a crash.

Fleet managers need to write a clause into their driver handbook or company car policy that requires the driver to recover salaries paid while off as a result of a no-fault crash.

“It is a simple clause that all companies should have in place, but I have seen companies with fleets of over 1,000 vehicles that have not written this clause in,” explained Jonathan White head of corporate personal injury at Corclaim.

“A very large fleet may have a dozen people off work due to no-fault road accidents at any one time. Having an effective recovery process can be the equivalent of paying 12 staff.

“This is as big an issue for small companies as large companies.”

The full version of this story is in Fleet News, August 13, 2009. To register or subscribe call Caroline Brown on 01733 468659, email caroline.brown@bauermedia.co.uk