William Hill has added a new end-of-contract damage recharge policy to its company car scheme.
The scheme, which is provided by Zenith, has already resulted in a 38% reduction in the company’s end-of-contract damage charges.
Under the scheme, where the damage is due to driver fault, the driver is charged £100 for logging a claim, or the cost of the repair if this is less than £100. If the driver fails to report damage, and it is returned at the end of contract with damage, they are charged £200.
William Hill has also introduced ad-hoc visits from British Car Auctions (BCA) inspectors, who select a random sample of cars each month. If a driver is found with damage they have to pay a penalty.
The charging structure has been designed to both reduce the incidence of damage and to encourage employees to report it before the end of contract, because a higher penalty is due if the damage goes unreported. It also makes employees consider how they drive and look after their car to avoid damage occurring.
Andy Potter, fleet manager at William Hill, said: “The new policy has improved awareness among employees of the need to look after their cars.
“They know that they will be penalised for damage outside of fair wear and tear, and incur higher charges if they do not report damage before it is returned.
“We have implemented the new policy following advice from Zenith and it has been even more successful at reducing charges than we anticipated, with a substantial decrease in charges within the first 12 months.”