Greedy employment agency bosses mis-selling worthless insurance to temporary workers

The Mirror's investigative columnist Andrew Penman uncovers a 'shabby practice' which lawyers claim could make the minimum wage 'meaningless'

Persuader: Blue Arrow interviewer 'Cosman'

The Government has promised to investigate how low-paid temporary workers are conned into buying worthless accident insurance by greedy bosses.

And the Mirror is happy to pass on our own evidence – because we’ve just gone undercover to show how the rip-off works.

One of the recruitment firms we investigated was Blue Arrow – which could be embarrassing for the ­Government because of its links to Tory peer Lord Ashcroft.

After posing as a jobseeker, a Mirror reporter was offered catering work on the minimum wage by Blue Arrow, working at Wembley Stadium.

But first the Mirror mole was told about the supposedly “optional” ­accident insurance scheme.

The Blue Arrow interviewer, who only gave the name Cosman, said: “This covers you in case anything happens at work – you trip, you fall down the stairs, I don’t know, you get cut with a knife, you get burnt with hot water or whatever.

"We recommend everybody to do it because if, God forbid, anything should happen to any of you guys we don’t cover anything.

“It’s for your own safety, plus it’s not a lot of money.”

He said the cost was £2.50 monthly depending on the number of hours, but we’ve seen Blue Arrow payslips showing it deducted £2.50 weekly – and even had the cheek to put the payout under the heading “benefits”.The Mirror has also seen evidence that the corporate cost of insurance such as this can be nearer 3p a week per worker.

 

Workplace: Wembley Stadium

Whatever the amount, Blue Arrow was deducting money from wage packets when there was no need for the insurance at all because the catering at Wembley is provided by a company called ­Delaware North, which automatically insures all workers.

A spokesman for Delaware North said: “Any person who works for Delaware North, whether engaged directly or via an employment agency, is covered by our employers’ liability insurance.

“No charge is or has ever been made by us to any worker for this insurance cover – it is provided as a matter of course.”

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