xichrisxi:
This company is really not helping itself,why even bring up the cost to them of sending another driver out almost as if they are showing how much inconvenience Paul’s death has caused them,wouldn’t surprise me if they asked Paul’s family to pay the costs…
This letter doesn’t surprise me in the least, standard alleged care and consideration making out that they are doing their best whilst suffering at the same time. Then there is the effective blackmail/threat that hush money/help will be withdrawn if adverse publicity is generated against the firm.
dieseldog999:
seeing as how its such a big deal on here,then i wonder if its such a big deal to the masses of matthews driver currently employed all over europe and uk for them to stand together and stop work ,park u etc until 1… the dude is brought home,and 2… till they see an addition to their companys insurance covering them if they peg it abroad…one might think it would be somewhat more of their business than the masses posting elswehere? id be more interested in seeing if some form of cameradri with their own drivers would be forthcoming…somehow i wouldnt be holding my breath though time will tell.i dont think itl cost matthews 10p in lost revenue…obviously just another company where you are nothing more than a bum on a seat…theres plenty like them.
A lot of Matthews drivers are foreign, don’t think they would do it.
that would go a long way into explaining their attitude towards their drivers ,
Right, I’ve made a petition, it needs 5 signatures before it goes live. Give it a click, and a share, and point everyone you know towards it, it will be for everybodys benefit.
Tris:
Does anyone know how you get a petition started so Matthews handling of this can be debated in parliament? With enough online sharing I’m sure we could get this issue debated. It could after all affect any of our families.
I don’t know if it would raise any eyebrows to be honest, but it does show the need for compulsory repatriation insurance for business travel. That might be worth a petition
Who ever starts it will also need the emails of five more to support it.
My suggestion for the wording would be…
“We who support this petition demand that parliament debate how a British company, Matthews Transport, can abandon the body of a British employee in Italy who died whilst working for them in one of their own vehicles, instead sending staff out to recover the vehicle as a more urgent priority. Furthermore that they are able to use the high cost of repatriation to blackmail into silence the relatives of the driver from exposing such callous and immoral conduct.
We believe it should not be legally possible to have no responsibility towards your staff should they die whilst on duty in your employment whilst away from British soil no matter what the industry.
We further believe that the management of this company should be forced to appear before a parliamentary committee to explain their disgusting conduct”
I’m sure others can expand or change the above but it needs to be done very quickly before tommorow morning when the pathetic attempts at damage control will no doubt start in the offices of these scumbags…
OVLOV JAY:
Right, I’ve made a petition, it needs 5 signatures before it goes live. Give it a click, and a share, and point everyone you know towards it, it will be for everybodys benefit.
Reading the email thread I think the insurers reaction may have been misconstrued.
It’s sounds like the policy covers repatriation in the event that the driver dies as a result of a road accident.
As this was seemingly natural causes then it isn’t covered.
There is no mention about not being covered because he wasn’t working or on rest etc.
I know this is an emotionally charged subject and rightly so as I’m sure almost all of us can picture ourselves in similar circumstances.
As I’ve already said, if anything comes of this, let’s hope that it is that other drivers question their companies policies should they be in similar circumstances and that companies double check exactly what is and is not covered (and if needed, upping cover to include repatriation)
I know it ain’t much but I’ve put a fiver in. RIP to a fellow trucker and to the bunch of lowlife bar stewards who run this company and the joke of an insurance company I hope they rot. If the drivers who worked for them had any morals those who are running out on Monday wouldn’t leave the yard and those allready over the water would be making their way back home without the truck or load.
m1cks:
Reading the email thread I think the insurers reaction may have been misconstrued.
It’s sounds like the policy covers repatriation in the event that the driver dies as a result of a road accident.
As this was seemingly natural causes then it isn’t covered.
There is no mention about not being covered because he wasn’t working or on rest etc.
I know this is an emotionally charged subject and rightly so as I’m sure almost all of us can picture ourselves in similar circumstances.
As I’ve already said, if anything comes of this, let’s hope that it is that other drivers question their companies policies should they be in similar circumstances and that companies double check exactly what is and is not covered (and if needed, upping cover to include repatriation)
I agree, reading the email it looks as if Matthews only had Employers Liability and Commercial Vehicle insurance, I assume this would only cover the driver in the event of an accident while driving the vehicle or while working. Matthews failed to get separate cover for an employees who are either injured or who die abroad in circumstances that aren’t covered by standard commercial vehicle insurance.
SteveBarnsleytrucker:
and the joke of an insurance company I hope they rot.
I’m not really sure you can blame the insurance company, they supply products based on cost and cover. If Matthews chose only basic cover rather than comprehensive that would have paid out, you can’t say that’s the insurance company’s fault…
dieseldave:
IMHO, there’s some incompetence somewhere.
There are two parties involved.
The insurer should gain a picture of the customers requirements and give good advice.
The company should get adequate insurance cover.
It’s not difficult, but I just hope that the whole truth comes out, whatever that might be.
If the £5,000 mentioned does amount to ‘gag’ money, then that’s utterly shameful.
I also think the family are being shafted for the extortionate repat of the body cost no way does it cost 15k even with storage unless they have been quoted for a private chartered plane for some reason or other
SteveBarnsleytrucker:
and the joke of an insurance company I hope they rot.
I’m not really sure you can blame the insurance company, they supply products based on cost and cover. If Matthews chose only basic cover rather than comprehensive that would have paid out, you can’t say that’s the insurance company’s fault…
It’s a bit like getting 3rd party cover only and then moaning that you’re not covered for theft when your cars nicked.
That’s harsh reality of how insurance works unfortunately.
I just hope the facts are more than the Matthews press releases. I hope the facts reflect that the emails suggest the 5 grand offered wasn’t towards repatriation, it was to shut the family up. I hope the facts represent they thought it appropriate to turn the knife by complaining to the family they had to pay for a hotel for their driver.
What disgusting low life, divorced from humanity principles must they have to believe it is acceptable to mention that to a family just stunned by loss. Absolutely disgusting.
For facts - it is a fact that they are claiming he wasn’t covered as not at work. It also fact that in their own text they cite that drivers are responsible for the load during the entirety of its journey. That little dichotomy is a starter for ten alone.
It’s not acceptable for a company to pass buck as “it’s insurance won’t cover it”. They chose the insurance. They clearly took ownership of what they expect from a driver overseas. They expected him to be responsible for the load for it’s entire journey. What bit of that goes hand in hand with having time off then? Absolutely money grabbing gits is only half. They other half is the visciously weasle way in which they handled the correspondence and situation with the family. I’d like to say I was surprised but having money is no account for having character.
dieseldave:
IMHO, there’s some incompetence somewhere.
There are two parties involved.
The insurer should gain a picture of the customers requirements and give good advice.
The company should get adequate insurance cover.
It’s not difficult, but I just hope that the whole truth comes out, whatever that might be.
If the £5,000 mentioned does amount to ‘gag’ money, then that’s utterly shameful.
I also think the family are being shafted for the extortionate repat of the body cost no way does it cost 15k even with storage unless they have been quoted for a private chartered plane for some reason or other
tommy t,
Whilst it’s possible that repatriation might/could be done cheaper, there might well be some good reason for the £15,000 fee mentioned.
TBH, I’ve no idea about those costs, but I do know that something very shameful is happening.
I don’t often write stuff twice, but I REALLY hope that the whole truth comes out.
Meanwhile, I found this from Pamela Hirst (Paul’s partner):
dieseldave:
IMHO, there’s some incompetence somewhere.
There are two parties involved.
The insurer should gain a picture of the customers requirements and give good advice.
The company should get adequate insurance cover.
It’s not difficult, but I just hope that the whole truth comes out, whatever that might be.
If the £5,000 mentioned does amount to ‘gag’ money, then that’s utterly shameful.
Unless those e mails were made up then quite clearly it was gag money. Absolute gangsters. My jaw dropped when I read all of this. The ■■■■■■■ insult is rich people thinking they can own everything with money, even someone’s grief, even hide their dirt that clearly they recognise by their own volition is wrong. Otherwise they wouldn’t have offered the money.
I can’t stand rich people hiding behind the mask of “company”. It’s just humans who’s crap smells the same as anyone else’s. Just greedy, nasty little humans. The worlds full of them and the top level of the business world that has people working for peanuts is endemic.
SteveBarnsleytrucker:
and the joke of an insurance company I hope they rot.
I’m not really sure you can blame the insurance company, they supply products based on cost and cover. If Matthews chose only basic cover rather than comprehensive that would have paid out, you can’t say that’s the insurance company’s fault…
I agree nothing to do with the insurance company, if my fence blows over and damages next doors car and my house insurance doesn’t cover it then obviously it’s my fault not the insurance’s but in that instance I would (unlike Matthews) do the right thing and cough up .
OVLOV JAY:
Right, I’ve made a petition, it needs 5 signatures before it goes live. Give it a click, and a share, and point everyone you know towards it, it will be for everybodys benefit.
It’s now awaiting approval. I will sign it when it’s ready. Good effort mate.
On Monday I will be bring Matthews conduct up with a driver represtative so their actions can be brought to the attention of our directors. We need to know that we would not be treated the same.
