Dartmouth has established channels for asking questions about regulatory compliance, seeking guidance about College policies or procedures, or reporting suspected violations of law, policy, or business ethics. Reports may be made anonymously.
College owned or leased departmental vehicles or other licensed equipment, and the fleet of VOX rental vehicles, are to be used for College related business only and are insured for auto liability (third party bodily injury and property damage). The College is currently self-insured for comprehensive and collision coverage. The annual cost of insurance and any deductible charge in the event of an accident, along with annual registration fees, are all charged to the individual departments.
Please report any vehicle accidents, regardless of the circumstances, to the Risk and Internal Controls Services Office (see Claims Reporting). In the case of damage to a College owned, leased or rented vehicle, it is the responsibility of the departments to fund the cost of the $1,000 deductible. In the case of an auto liability claim (College driver is at fault), it is the responsibility of the department to fund the cost of the $1,000 deductible as well.
Parking and Transportation Services manages the driver approval process. For questions related to the policy please contact Driver Safety at 603-646-9876 or refer to: http://www.dartmouth.edu/~fom/services/parking/driver-safety/policy.html.
Domestic: Rentals through AVIS have liability and full collision coverage included in the College program. This provides the best option for the rental of vehicles. Business rentals are defined as a rental in support of college business paid by the college for domestic business rentals, (non-Avis) the College's insurance will cover the individual as well as the vehicle when the vehicle is rented for business purposes; therefore, employees should not sign (or initial) for additional insurance coverage provided by the rental company. Travelers must use the JPMorganChase Corporate Card to receive free primary collision damage waiver (CDW) insurance for the value of the rental vehicle. This reduces the College's expenditures for any accidents, and will prevent your department from potentially incurring an expense of $1,000 for the deductible due to any at-fault accidents. This coverage includes automobiles, mini-vans and sport utility vehicles traveling on municipal, state and federally maintained roads. Travelers not using the JPMorganChase Corporate Card will not be reimbursed should they select the CDW insurance coverage.
Trucks & Trailers: When renting a truck such as with Ryder or UHaul, the collision damage waiver (CDW) should be included. This charge is reimbursable.
International: It is recommended that renters purchase liability and collision insurance offered by the rental company. The benefit to this policy is that in the event of an accident, the claims process is handled locally.
The College does not have a formal policy for the use of personal vehicles being used for College business. Each department must formulate its own policy taking into account the need, alternatives, and the risk involved. However, the use of personal vehicles for College business is discouraged for many reasons, some of which are cited below:
If there is an accident, it is often difficult to determine whether an individual was on personal business, or College business.
When staff and faculty use a personal vehicle for College business, their personal auto liability, comprehensive and collision insurance is always primary. Therefore, owners of personal vehicles used at any time for College business must maintain automobile liability insurance of at least $100,000/$300,000/$100,000. A portion of the mileage allowance is considered to cover the cost of gas, oil, repairs, depreciation and insurance. In the event of a liability claim, the College does provide insurance in excess of personal insurance for employees, but only in the event the driver has been approved, per the College driver approval process.
