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Wednesday morning, the Caddy is parked in the yard with a dent in the rear bumper. Since Monday it has been booked three times. The first driver says the dent was already there. The second didn't look. The third parked it in the dark. Nobody reported anything, and now someone has to decide whether the repair goes on the company's bill.
With a company car that has one driver, the question never comes up. With a pool vehicle it's the normal case. This post explains where the duty to report damage comes from, how to trace damage to the right trip, who pays in the end and what to do after an accident. At the end there is a damage report to copy. It describes the situation in Germany and is general information, not legal advice.
A pool vehicle belongs to everyone, so nobody looks after it. Small damage goes unreported because people don't want to look guilty, or assume the previous driver already reported it. The next person sees the dent, thinks "it was like that already" and drives off. Two weeks later nobody knows when it happened.
That costs you in three ways. A stone chip in the windscreen turns into a crack, a scratch starts to rust. Faults that affect safety only show up at the inspection or in the workshop. And with leased vehicles, everything beyond normal wear ends up on the bill when the car goes back, months after it happened.
For vehicles that employees drive at work, the German accident prevention regulation DGUV Vorschrift 70 applies. Its § 36 sets two duties for the person at the wheel:
For a pool vehicle, that means the report to the next driver is explicitly required. In a pool without a personal handover, that only works through something the next person actually sees: a note under the wiper, an entry in the vehicle folder, or on the booking.
For the report to arrive, decide two things once: who receives it (a named person with a deputy, not "admin") and how (by phone for anything that stops the car from being driven, in writing otherwise). Both belong in the usage agreement. In our free pool vehicle usage agreement it's in clause 8, with a field for the contact person.
Who caused a dent can rarely be proven after the fact. When it happened usually can. The principle is simple: the damage happened between the last handover where it wasn't noted and the first one where it was. The closer those two moments are, the clearer the answer.
That needs a quick look around the vehicle at every pickup. A minute is enough: walk round once, bumpers, doors, mirrors, windows, tyres. Anything new is noted before driving off, with its location ("dent rear bumper, right") and ideally a phone photo. Whoever skips this takes over the damage on paper.
So that nobody has to write down every old scratch again, keep the known damage once per vehicle: a list in the vehicle folder or as a note on the resource. At handover, only new damage gets noted. Once something is repaired, it comes off the list.
What else a handover should record is in our handover checklist. A printable sheet with a sketch to mark the spot is our handover form template.
An accident is more than damage to the vehicle, because other people are often involved. The driver should:
The organisation then reports the claim to its motor insurer. The deadlines are in the policy terms, and reporting late can cause trouble with the claim. That's why the report to the contact person belongs on the same day, not the following Monday.
When employees cause damage on a work trip, German law applies the principles of internal loss sharing (innerbetrieblicher Schadensausgleich) developed by the Federal Labour Court (BAG). They depend on the degree of fault:
| Fault | Example | Who bears the damage |
|---|---|---|
| Slight negligence | missing a bollard while manoeuvring, the kind of thing that happens to anyone | the organisation |
| Ordinary negligence | following too closely, distracted in traffic | usually shared, weighed case by case |
| Gross negligence, intent | knowingly running a red light, driving after drinking | usually the driver, though limited if the amount is grossly out of proportion to pay |
Contracts can't change this to the employee's disadvantage. In 2004 the BAG struck down a clause that made an employee pay up to the insurance excess even for the slightest negligence (judgment of 5 February 2004, 8 AZR 91/03). A flat excess for every damage is therefore a bad idea. If you want one, limit it to damage caused by gross negligence. That's how our usage agreement template sets it up. For civil servants, § 48 of the Civil Servants Status Act applies, which also means liability only for intent and gross negligence.
And here is the point that decides it for pool vehicles: the organisation has to prove it. Under § 619a of the German Civil Code (BGB), an employee is only liable if they are responsible for the breach of duty, and it's the employer who has to show that. If you can't establish on whose trip the dent appeared, the damage stays with you. Tracing it, as described above, isn't bureaucracy. It's what makes the liability rules work at all.
If you have a works council, it has a say in usage rules and checks. For specific liability questions, ask a lawyer specialising in employment law.
One report per damage. It fits on a sheet in the vehicle folder, in a form or as an email template to the contact person.
| Field | Entry |
|---|---|
| Vehicle (number plate) | |
| Date and time the damage was found | |
| Found by | |
| Found at | pickup / return / during the trip / in the yard |
| Location on the vehicle | e.g. rear bumper, right |
| Description | |
| Photos taken? | yes / no |
| Accident involving third parties? | yes / no, if yes: police, reference number, parties |
| Vehicle still safe to drive? | yes / no, if no: blocked from |
| Reported to, on | |
| Closed (repair, insurance, resolved) |
The last row is for the contact person. A report without "closed" is an open case, and open cases pile up unnoticed in the folder.
Dispoly doesn't manage damage claims and doesn't talk to your insurer. It makes sure the two moments between which damage happened are on the booking, with names.
Damage question at pickup and return. Under "Pickup & return", set up the "Driver logbook" template on the vehicle. It comes with the field "Damage / remarks". So the question doesn't get skipped, add a field of type "Select", for example "New damage?" with Yes and No, tick "Required" and ask it at "Pickup & return". A "No" at pickup is then a written statement that nothing new was visible when the car left. The other vehicles take over the setup with "Copy from resource".
A logbook instead of notes. Every entry is in the vehicle's logbook, with the name of the person who recorded it and the time. All members of your organisation can see the logbook. Admins export it with "Export logbook…" as CSV or Excel, one row per booking with "Driver", "Picked up at" and the answer to your damage question. To trace a dent, look for the first return with "Yes".
Damage without a booking. If someone spots damage in the yard and nobody had booked the car, record it as an "Entry without booking" or via the QR sign on the vehicle, with the reason "Other" and a note.
Taking the vehicle off the road. If the car has to go to the workshop, add a blocked period with a reason, such as "Workshop, dent rear right". Nobody can book it during that time, and anyone who tries sees the reason.
Set the rules before the first damage with the pool vehicle usage agreement. Who may drive is covered in Driving licence checks for pool vehicles. How individual company cars become a working pool is in Sharing company cars. The feature at a glance is on the handover checklist page.
Pickup & return is included in all plans, including Starter, at no extra cost. Trying it costs nothing: no contract, no setup fee, 30 days free.