Tens of thousands of car accidents happen in the U.S. alone each year, many of which result in serious injuries.
If one of your employees is involved in a car accident, it not only affects the employee. It can also be costly for your business in several ways.
Consulting a Car Accident Lawyer
Before we look at the potential costs to your business, let us first consider liability.
If one of your employees is involved in a car accident while driving a company vehicle, the victim’s attorney could make a case for holding you liable.
For instance, your company could be responsible for the negligent maintenance of the car or the negligent lending of the vehicle.
Therefore, it is always a good idea to consult with an experienced and knowledgeable car accident lawyer, such as Humbert Polito, to get sound legal advice and attain the best outcome should you face a lawsuit.
Now, let us consider five of the potential costs to your business if an employee is involved in a car accident.
1. Repairs and Replacements
If it is a company car, you could have to cover the cost of repairing or replacing the vehicle and any property that was damaged during the accident.
Even if you do not have to pay out compensation to the victim to cover things like medical bills and pain and suffering, if the car is badly damaged, it could be costly to fix or replace.
2. Insurance Costs
When the employee involved in an accident is driving a company car, you could have to pay out for the first claim if you took out excess with your insurance policy.
Furthermore, when a serious car accident happens or multiple accidents happen, you could end up having to pay a higher premium in the future.
In addition, the administrative time it takes your staff members to handle insurance claims can also cause you more expense.
3. Staffing Costs
Regardless of whether you own the car that is involved in the accident or not, when an employee has a car accident, it can cause you a number of other costs.
For instance, if the employee is injured, he or she will not be able to work. That means you will have to keep paying him or her for a certain time while going understaffed.
Actually, you will probably have to hire temporary employees to cover the absence. And the salary for another employee is sure to be costly too.
If you do not hire temporary staff members, you will probably have to pay overtime to your existing employees. That could work out as being more expensive than hiring a temporary employee, as you will have to pay more than the basic hourly rate.
4. Quality of Work
When you hire temporary employees or reposition existing employees to cover the absence of the staff member involved in the car accident, the situation can prove costly besides salary expenses.
For instance, the new staff members may not have the same experience and skills as the absent employee. In turn, that means production can become less efficient; and lower productivity equals lower profits.
5. The Emotional Cost
The costs to your business when an employee is involved in a car crash are not only financial costs.
The employee could be seriously injured, perhaps to the extent that he or she cannot work again.
The cost of losing a good worker can be high. Not only do you have to replace a valuable member of staff. Your whole team could be emotionally affected by the situation.
A serious car accident could even result in the cost of a life.
