Does a car automatically go with a nannying job today? Is it seen as an essential tool of the trade, or a liability?
No matter who the car belongs to, driving children around is a serious responsibility. Less than two years ago an East Sussex girl was awarded a record 5m in damages after being left wheelchair-bound from the age of three when she was a passenger driven by her nanny, Carrie Elphick, who lost control of her car on the A22. Carrie herself suffered brain injuries in the accident; her insurers paid up to the child's family.
Fortunately such disasters are rare, but questions of responsiblities and costs should be decided before you get behind the wheel.
With many employers deciding to economise on outgoings in 2005, it seems that providing the nanny with a car for use on- or off-duty isn't the perk it was a few years ago. Parents may provide a car for their nanny to ferry children to and from school, friends' houses and after-school activities, but the nanny will still have to win their trust before getting the all-clear to use the car at weekends. Even when it's the nanny's own car, negotiating such issues as insurance, who pays for petrol and a potential drop in net wages, can be tricky, so it pays to be clued up. Some cases have been raised by nannies as follows.
'I'm an 18-year-old, newly-qualified nanny looking for my first job in London. I passed my driving test last year and am hoping that this job will come with a car that I'll be able to use at weekends - most jobs do, don't they?'
Not at the moment, unfortunately. Plus, mothers with babies or pre-schoolers aren't always confident about letting a relatively young nanny drive their children around, especially in London, where there's plenty of public transport anyway. Insurance for drivers aged under 21 is also very expensive, which is a factor your employers will have to take into account. It's quite common for parents today to demand a six-month period of 'probation' for a young nanny, after which car use can be considered.
'I've been nannying for nearly ten years and love it, but I haven't managed to pass my driving test although I've had two attempts. This has really knocked my confidence, but ultimately I'd like to find a job in the countryside nearer my friends and family. Should I try again?'
Yes! The world really can be your oyster when you are an experienced nanny with a driving licence. Driving is particularly important in the suburbs and rural areas, where transport is scarce and parents prefer their children to be taken door to door for practically everything.
As for allowing their nanny to use their car in her time off, employers'
attitudes vary tremendously. Some, in recruiting an experienced nanny, still consider it a perk that goes with the job, and they will agree at the job interview to provide and tax a car for the nanny's use. Being keen to attract and keep a good nanny, they often agree a net wage with her at the outset and are happy to pay the extra tax which accrues to her gross wage as a 'benefit in kind' (see 'Cars and Money' box).
Try to establish at the interview the employers' attitudes. If, for the time being, they are providing the car solely for use on duty but with a view to later allowing you to use it in your free time, this may affect your gross wages.
'I've just been given the use of the second car at weekends, which I'm thrilled about. But when I told my employers I wanted to drive it back to my home up in Glasgow for the weekend they were really negative about it.
Surely it's up to me what I use it for?'
This is a typical dilemma that arises because parents, while wanting to keep their valued nanny, haven't really thought through the implications of letting her loose in their second car. If you have a good working relationship, then free and frank discussion and agreement on who pays for petrol, whose responsibility it is to pay for minor bumps or scrapes and so on, is the way forward. Usually, for example, parents pay for petrol use when it involves transporting the children, while the nanny pays for any other use. But parents vary enormously in their attitude to expenses like this. Some give the nanny a set amount of money for petrol each week and are unconcerned as to whether she uses it or not; others will regularly check the mileage and keep weekly logbooks listing the amount of money spent. If this a job you are happy with, it's sensible to consider compromising with the parents, especially if they are sensitive about car use, and not let these relatively minor matters cloud your horizons.
'I am a nanny in Wales, and the parents have asked me to drive my three charges (aged seven, three and nine months) to Swindon soon to visit their grandparents. They are lovely children, but I get quite stressed when they are all in the car together for long periods, plus I am really nervous about motorway driving.'
Obviously, story and song tapes are a great stand-by for long journeys - why not buy some new ones just for this occasion? Persuade your employers to have an observational mirror fixed to the driver's rear-view mirror, so you can keep an eye on what's happening in the back - not only can you nip potential squabbles in the bud this way, but when the children inevitably shout 'Look at this!' you won't have to turn round to do so. If you feel very nervous about motorway driving with them, ask permission to take a friend with you for the journey - or find a diplomatic way to decline making the trip altogether.
'I've got my own car and I'm happy to use it in any future nanny jobs, but do I need to change my insurance policy? And who should pay for the petrol?'
When using your own car on the job, you must be insured for business use (just as employers providing a car must insure it for the nanny's business use, not just her personal use). Nannies providing their own car can be reimbursed by their employer for the mileage - the Inland Revenue's recommended rate is currently 40 pence per mile. This could involve a lot of bookkeeping, so if you only make short local journeys it may not be worth letting it become an issue between you and your employer.
With thanks to Kensington Nannies, Hyde Park International, the National Childminding Association, Layton Blackham Insurance and Nannytax.
Motorminder (0800 854 124) and Morton Michel (020 8768 6701) offer a car insurance policy in conjunction with the NCMA especially tailored to nannies and childminders. Nannytax (0845 226 2203) will advise on tax and benefits in kind.
CARS AND MONEY
If a nanny is allowed to drive a car to and from work and use it at weekends, it is defined by the Inland Revenue as a 'benefit in kind'. Its value should be added to her gross wages and included in the employers'
annual tax return. Technically, the nanny is then liable to be taxed on that benefit. For example, a car that costs 10,000 new, with carbon dioxide emissions of 155g per km, is calculated as a benefit value of about Pounds 1,500 per annum, and that is the amount which will be added to the nanny's gross wages. If a nanny has agreed a net wage with her employers of 250 a week, the total cost to her employers will rise by 10 a week, and they will also have to pay a National Insurance charge of 192 a year (12.8 per cent of the value of the benefit). If, however, the nanny has agreed a gross wage of about 323 per week, which translates into 250 net, she will be liable to a reduction in her net weekly pay of about 6 (her employers will still pay the NI charge).
Despite the temptation to agree a net wage with your employers, regardless of benefits received (meaning that they pay any tax you incur on those benefits), sa Nilsdotter from Nannytax emphasises how important it is to agree on a gross wage, which means that you will regularly pay a small amount of extra tax if you have use of a car in your time off. As well as making it fairer for everyone, this can also forestall later problems with the Inland Revenue, who, apparently, are notoriously slow in claiming such tax back. It is sometimes two years or more before payments are claimed, in which time the nanny has often moved on to a different job. This may mean that the nanny's new employers will be stung for the tax (if she originally agreed a net wage with them), and all sorts of bad feelings can ensue.
