Motor vehicle records (MVRs) can be a good source of information when deciding who should drive your company vehicles, or which employees should be allowed to drive their own vehicles on company business. This effective driver selection tool can help prevent liability claims, damage to your company vehicles, and workers’ compensation claims.

There is another reason to go through the time and expense of pulling MVRs, and this is to help avoid law suits resulting from “negligent entrustment”. If your employee injures others while driving in the course of their employment, you can be sued. If you cannot prove that your company has made a reasonable effort to make sure you are entrusting your company vehicles to employees with good driving records, you can be without an effective defense in the event of an accident. Having an employee use his/her own vehicle for a company errand does not get you off the hook. If they are driving on company business and they cause a collision, then your company could be sued.

It is important for you to secure a copy of each driver’s motor vehicle record, and to compare it to an objective written standard. Exceptions to the written standard should not be made. If an employee does not meet the standards that you have set, do not let them drive on company business.

An accident caused by an employee with an unfavorable driving history can jeopardize the financial stability of your company. Routinely checking MVRs before you place an employee behind the wheel will help protect your corporate assets, and could be one of the smartest decisions you’ll ever make.

This article was written and provided to Premier by Patrick Hagge, CSP of Rich and Cartmill Insurance of Colorado. For additional information please contact Premier at (800) 350-7941.