JC
|
| posted on 9/2/17 at 08:29 AM |
|
|
Employers mobile phone insurance
Hi all,
As this is the collective font of all knowledge...
I am required by my employer to carry a mobile at all times. They have said that this isn't insured and that I must take good care of it and
keep it in good condition - the emphasis is being placed squarely on the individual.
Do they have any legal obligation, if say I accidentally drop it, to replace it as I get the feeling I would be presented with a bill!!!
Thanks
JC
|
|
|
|
|
cliftyhanger
|
| posted on 9/2/17 at 08:33 AM |
|
|
I think you need to ask them. They ought to have a document about it?
|
|
|
JC
|
| posted on 9/2/17 at 08:49 AM |
|
|
Oh I wish they did....
Its not quite that organised!
|
|
|
cliftyhanger
|
| posted on 9/2/17 at 08:59 AM |
|
|
In that case I suppose as long as you take all reasonable steps to look after it then you are not liable.
However, it is all very grey.
You really ought to ask them what happens in an accident/theft etc (bit like a company car)
Are companies still able to insist you carry a phone and are in contact at all times??
|
|
|
tims31
|
| posted on 9/2/17 at 08:59 AM |
|
|
I'd get them to pay for the insurance for it, although you would probably have to pay the excess if anything happened to it. The other option is
get an old phone and put the SIM card in that then it doesn't matter too much then.
Build: http://www.martinsfurybuild.co.uk/
|
|
|
pekwah1
|
| posted on 9/2/17 at 09:28 AM |
|
|
i think legally that unless they have made you sign a policy or similar, they have effectively given you a company asset and if accidental damage were
to happen, it would be on them.
That said i have a company mobile as do most people at my work, and i don't know of anyone that has had to pay anything when they've
broken theirs, although i have no idea if they are insured or not!
As people have said on here - best to ask.....
|
|
|
nick205
|
| posted on 9/2/17 at 09:41 AM |
|
|
Whether it's your fault or not they should provide a written policy stating the rules. They should also ask you to sign this policy to confirm
your agreement.
I'm in sales and I have a work mobile. Work pay for the contract and insurance on the phone. In short it's their phone (not mine) and
their responsibilty. Whilst I endeavour to look after it as best I can they will have to replace it in the event of damage or loss. It is a clause
within our written employment contract. Not that we have them anymore, but company cars were treated in the same way - the company insured them and
was responsible for repairs in the event they were required.
Do you have an employment contract? If so it would be worth re-reading it to check for any detail on such a matter and item.
|
|
|
steve m
|
| posted on 9/2/17 at 09:56 AM |
|
|
"I am required by my employer to carry a mobile at all times. They have said that this isn't insured and that I must take good care of it
and keep it in good condition - the emphasis is being placed squarely on the individual. "
To me, its nothing to do with any possible losses etc, they want you to carry it, at all times, as they are tracking you
Is there not a way, that you could have the business mobile forwarded to your own number ?
thus only carrying around one (your) phone
steve
Thats was probably spelt wrong, or had some grammer, that the "grammer police have to have a moan at
|
|
|
Theshed
|
| posted on 9/2/17 at 10:16 AM |
|
|
An employee owes a contractual duty to exercise reasonable skill and care carrying out the work they are employed to do. If they breach that duty then
they are liable for any loss. There is nothing preventing an employer insisting that the employee carrying a company mobile phone and requiring them
to take care of it.
On a more practical level it is quite possible to damage a phone without being negligent - all that is required is to take reasonable steps to look
after it. If it slips from your hand or pocket I would not imagine a court would find negligence. Even careful people drop things.
|
|
|
nick205
|
| posted on 9/2/17 at 10:31 AM |
|
|
quote:
Originally posted by steve m
"I am required by my employer to carry a mobile at all times. They have said that this isn't insured and that I must take good care of it
and keep it in good condition - the emphasis is being placed squarely on the individual. "
To me, its nothing to do with any possible losses etc, they want you to carry it, at all times, as they are tracking you
Is there not a way, that you could have the business mobile forwarded to your own number ?
thus only carrying around one (your) phone
steve
Pretty sure you can have calls to one mobile diverted to another - seems a logical thing to do.
When given my "work" mobile I carried two mobiles for a while. After a short time friends and family started calling my work one anyway
so I didn't renew the contract on my own when it ran out. That was 10 yrs ago now. Never suffered damage or loss of my work mobile in that
time.
|
|
|
ReMan
|
| posted on 9/2/17 at 11:28 AM |
|
|
Sure the individual should look after the tools they are provided with.
many companies "self insure" ie take the hit of such equipment losses, but as said unless you were specifically negligent, it would be a
"poor do" if your contact or policy made you pay for its loss or accidental damage
But neither is it an unreasonable request to ask you to carry it for the purpose of work, to have supplied it at all they must belive there is a value
to that
www.plusnine.co.uk
|
|
|
nick205
|
| posted on 9/2/17 at 11:35 AM |
|
|
I believe there are some mobiles that accept two sim cards. Maybe a way of you enabling your own phone to deal with work calls.
|
|
|
ReMan
|
| posted on 9/2/17 at 11:39 AM |
|
|
quote:
Originally posted by nick205
I believe there are some mobiles that accept two sim cards. Maybe a way of you enabling your own phone to deal with work calls.
I don't think they exist for current phones, I have the 2 phone dilemma for the past 20 yeasr and did look at this, I also used to have 2 lines
on one phone, business and personal, but I think it stopped with the advent of smart
www.plusnine.co.uk
|
|
|
geoff shep
|
| posted on 9/2/17 at 12:48 PM |
|
|
They do still exist for smartphones, although they don't appear to as cheap as they were for older basic models. The advantage with smart
phones though, is that you don't have to switch them off and on to change sims. The phone would need to be unlocked from your provider, if the
second sim was from someone else. Providers should unlock phones for free, even in contract, and I know O2 do it very quickly and it can be done
online. Do check, if it is for an iPhone, that it is not limited to jailbroken phones.
http://www.magic-sim.com/category/id/1/Dual_Sim_for_Apple_iPhone.html
I'm guessing you might be needing this work phone to be on call, or contactable? I used to have a work phone, which really is just the
sim/number, and used a dual sim case. I had the phone set on my personal sim, and set the work sim to auto forward calls to my own number so i would
always receive calls. For outgoing work calls, just change over to the work sim.
You could also just set auto-forwarding from the work phone to your own number. That way you would always get any incoming calls, although you
wouldn't be able to reply, at the works expense, without that phone being accessible.
Do you have other kit or home insurance that covers items in your charge but belonging to your employer?
|
|
|
stevebubs
|
| posted on 9/2/17 at 02:27 PM |
|
|
quote:
Originally posted by ReMan
quote:
Originally posted by nick205
I believe there are some mobiles that accept two sim cards. Maybe a way of you enabling your own phone to deal with work calls.
I don't think they exist for current phones, I have the 2 phone dilemma for the past 20 yeasr and did look at this, I also used to have 2 lines
on one phone, business and personal, but I think it stopped with the advent of smart
Search for 'twin sim' and the phone you want...they're definitely out there..
e.g.. http://www.samsung.com/ae/smartphones/galaxy-s7-edge-g935fd/SM-G935FTKDXSG/
|
|
|
garyo
|
| posted on 9/2/17 at 02:27 PM |
|
|
A lot of the new Samsungs are multi Sim - e.g. http://www.samsung.com/ae/smartphones/galaxy-s7-edge-g935fd/SM-G935FZBUXSG/
and the J5 Duos
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Samsung-Galaxy-J5-Duos-Display/dp/B01F2KSP4U
|
|
|
garyo
|
| posted on 9/2/17 at 02:28 PM |
|
|
You can probably set up transparent call forwarding by installing the right Apps too.
|
|
|
ash_hammond
|
| posted on 9/2/17 at 03:23 PM |
|
|
I have a company phone and a personal phone, both Android.
I forward alls call from the work phone to my personal phone, I have an app that also forwards any sms messages from the work phone to my personal
phone so I only have to carry one phone.
I then block my number (setting on the phone) so that when I make out bound work calls customer and work people do not get my personal number. You
cannot reply to sms messages from your personal phone unless you want your personal number to be revealed. If anyone sms my work phone, i just call
them back if needed. Been doing this work years. All it costs work is the sms messages that are forwarded to my personal phone which are included in
the contract.
.: www.mac1motorsports.co.uk | www.m1moc.com :.
|
|
|
sdh2903
|
| posted on 9/2/17 at 04:26 PM |
|
|
I'm of the opinion if it's their phone they should cover it end of. I've managed to break 2 work phones over the past couple of
years with no questions asked. We suggested they should provide us with rugged phones to prevent damage. They won't so they keep getting broken.
The last one ended up going for a swim in an aircraft toilet.
|
|
|
JC
|
| posted on 9/2/17 at 05:40 PM |
|
|
@steve, they don't need to track us, they know where we are - you always knew where your Virgin crews were, right? 
Thanks for all the helpful suggestions. The bright side is that they are giving us iPhone 7s for calls but mainly emails - the volume of traffic we
get makes using an older phone more difficult - my current work iPhone 5 struggles!! The downside is that it would be expensive to replace if they
could prove negligence - hopefully unlikely!
|
|
|
steve m
|
| posted on 9/2/17 at 07:04 PM |
|
|
"@steve, they don't need to track us, they know where we are - you always knew where your Virgin crews were, right? "
WOW, you must have a terrific memory ! as I had forgotten I used to work there
Thats was probably spelt wrong, or had some grammer, that the "grammer police have to have a moan at
|
|
|
.JPG)
