Car Allowance over Company Car - Strict Criteria
Discussion
Hi all,
currently changing employers and i have the option of a car allowance - my current employer didnt offer this, but i do have a Tesla Model 3 as a company car (which has honestly been great - 25k in 13 months!).
I miss my E63s and having the choice as to what i want to drive. However, my excitement was slightly dented when i read that if i take the car allowance, the car needs to be have under 150k miles (which is fine), under 5 years old, and emits no more than 130g C02/KM.
Anyone else who takes a car allowance under parameters too - are Employers slightly flexible with this or no? When i used my E63s in a previous employment they didnt care. A Fuel card was offered then to cover business miles and that is also on offer now.
I've never paid attention to C02s previously (or ignorantly?), but i guess this is where plug in hybrids come into play.
Panamera Turbo SE Hybrid is a consideration, so is a new Range Rover P440/460e. I've even considered a Taycan GTS Sport Turismo.
Ultimately i wanted to get back into an E63s or an M5c but it looks like thats out of the question!
Thew new employer doesnt have a company car list thats been updated yet. So when i join i can take a hire car or car allowance. I went for the hire car to bridge me over till i buy something to take the car allowance. Just hoping there'd be flexibility - if i kept the hire car im essentially paying for a car i dont want in BIK, but i cant get out of it into a company car as there is no list to choose from currently.
currently changing employers and i have the option of a car allowance - my current employer didnt offer this, but i do have a Tesla Model 3 as a company car (which has honestly been great - 25k in 13 months!).
I miss my E63s and having the choice as to what i want to drive. However, my excitement was slightly dented when i read that if i take the car allowance, the car needs to be have under 150k miles (which is fine), under 5 years old, and emits no more than 130g C02/KM.
Anyone else who takes a car allowance under parameters too - are Employers slightly flexible with this or no? When i used my E63s in a previous employment they didnt care. A Fuel card was offered then to cover business miles and that is also on offer now.
I've never paid attention to C02s previously (or ignorantly?), but i guess this is where plug in hybrids come into play.
Panamera Turbo SE Hybrid is a consideration, so is a new Range Rover P440/460e. I've even considered a Taycan GTS Sport Turismo.
Ultimately i wanted to get back into an E63s or an M5c but it looks like thats out of the question!
Thew new employer doesnt have a company car list thats been updated yet. So when i join i can take a hire car or car allowance. I went for the hire car to bridge me over till i buy something to take the car allowance. Just hoping there'd be flexibility - if i kept the hire car im essentially paying for a car i dont want in BIK, but i cant get out of it into a company car as there is no list to choose from currently.
Edited by irfan1712 on Tuesday 6th February 07:54
Sporky said:
irfan1712 said:
Anyone else who takes a car allowance under parameters too - are Employers slightly flexible with this or no?
I think you need to ask them, not us - even if one scheme has wiggle that doesn't mean yours does. Or vicey-versey.PT1984 said:
How much do you get to spend after tax? What are they offering PPM?
£470 p/m before tax. 40% bracket.. so admittedly not an awful not.this doesnt bother me as im happy to fund my own car be it my own choice. It's nice to have the allowance alternative instead of being pushed into a company car that i dont really want, but i would have liked the flexibility to spend the cash within reason how i wanted.
i used to have a similar set of rules
no convertibles
no 2 seaters
no more than 5 years old
plus a few others
and as far as not telling them, that's laughable.. it was a sackable offense if you dont comply, i think the term is gross misconduct?? at least at my very large company.
we had to provide the registration (ofcourse) and proof of insurance and crucially business cover.
didnt bother me, i have my own cars for fun anyway - ended up buying a mini cooper S and then later a 3 door M140i
no convertibles
no 2 seaters
no more than 5 years old
plus a few others
and as far as not telling them, that's laughable.. it was a sackable offense if you dont comply, i think the term is gross misconduct?? at least at my very large company.
we had to provide the registration (ofcourse) and proof of insurance and crucially business cover.
didnt bother me, i have my own cars for fun anyway - ended up buying a mini cooper S and then later a 3 door M140i
Pent said:
i used to have a similar set of rules
no convertibles
no 2 seaters
no more than 5 years old
plus a few others
and as far as not telling them, that's laughable.. it was a sackable offense if you dont comply, i think the term is gross misconduct?? at least at my very large company.
we had to provide the registration (ofcourse) and proof of insurance and crucially business cover.
didnt bother me, i have my own cars for fun anyway - ended up buying a mini cooper S and then later a 3 door M140i
offense no? when you provide the reg if it doesnt meet criteria then you would imagine the payments stop.no convertibles
no 2 seaters
no more than 5 years old
plus a few others
and as far as not telling them, that's laughable.. it was a sackable offense if you dont comply, i think the term is gross misconduct?? at least at my very large company.
we had to provide the registration (ofcourse) and proof of insurance and crucially business cover.
didnt bother me, i have my own cars for fun anyway - ended up buying a mini cooper S and then later a 3 door M140i
Pent said:
didnt work like that where i worked - you cant just opt out lol comes with the job -
depends on the employer and the role - opt out of a company car and get paid an allowance is different to not having a company funded vehicle at all.Those without a company car will have a method for claiming mileage rates for any business miles done, it may possible to opt out entirely, get zero as an allowance but still claim expenses for mileage at the agreed government rates.
Hell i have a colleague in a position with a car/allowance and no license who still gets paid the allowance and uses it to pay for taxi's rather than a car!
Terminator X said:
How can they restrict you on a car allowance? It's just more salary so I'd hope you can buy whatever you want. Even more so once you start spending your own money to get a "better" car.
TX.
commonplace where you can have an approved car provided and you're opting out, maybe not at employers who only offer an allowanceTX.
i have to provide the V5 and proof of insurance as mentioned above, so there is no sourcery with badging an E63s with a 220d badge sadly.
HR dept got back to me today. If i did have a car that didnt meet one more of the criteria then it would be a HR Directors decision. They said the liklihood is they'd give you a grace period of x amount of months to look for a new car.
As for actually buying your own car after you've joined, she basically said the same - it 'may' be approved if some of the critera isnt met, but it 'may' not. Expensive decision to make if it isnt approved though.
Bit of a ball ache..i get the company wants to get their carbon footprint down but ultimately its a bolt on to salary so its a bit salty that there are still parameters on how i spend that money when it comes to funding a vehicle.
I'll stick with the hire car for a few months and decide after the probation period finishes i think. Or dump the cash into a pointless plug in hybrid just to score car allowance brownie points. Very little appeals though!
HR dept got back to me today. If i did have a car that didnt meet one more of the criteria then it would be a HR Directors decision. They said the liklihood is they'd give you a grace period of x amount of months to look for a new car.
As for actually buying your own car after you've joined, she basically said the same - it 'may' be approved if some of the critera isnt met, but it 'may' not. Expensive decision to make if it isnt approved though.
Bit of a ball ache..i get the company wants to get their carbon footprint down but ultimately its a bolt on to salary so its a bit salty that there are still parameters on how i spend that money when it comes to funding a vehicle.
I'll stick with the hire car for a few months and decide after the probation period finishes i think. Or dump the cash into a pointless plug in hybrid just to score car allowance brownie points. Very little appeals though!
irfan1712 said:
£470 p/m before tax. 40% bracket.. so admittedly not an awful not.
this doesnt bother me as im happy to fund my own car be it my own choice. It's nice to have the allowance alternative instead of being pushed into a company car that i dont really want, but i would have liked the flexibility to spend the cash within reason how i wanted.
Similar to me, but £500 p/m before tax, also 40%. this doesnt bother me as im happy to fund my own car be it my own choice. It's nice to have the allowance alternative instead of being pushed into a company car that i dont really want, but i would have liked the flexibility to spend the cash within reason how i wanted.
I opted for a 2017 Audi S4 Avant.
My employer has similar rules, 4 years is the maximum age, no restriction on mileage but there is a similar restriction on emissions. Safe to say my car didn't meet any of the restrictions and they didn't say anything.
Now I'm in a 2014 530d with 150k miles, no one has said anything.
All employers differ, my FiL employer is very strict on the requirements and are forced to change when car hits 4 years old or car allowance is revoked.
Terminator X said:
How can they restrict you on a car allowance? It's just more salary so I'd hope you can buy whatever you want. Even more so once you start spending your own money to get a "better" car.
TX.
It's a discretionary allowance, one which can be removed with little notice. Whilst some companies use it as a way to give extra salary without having to pay the pension contributions on it, others genuinely intend for it to be used to mitigate personal travel costs and so they implement restrictions to ensure the money is spent towards a vehicle they consider suitable - In my past the restrictions have been age, mileage, minimum 4 doors and the need to prove that the insurance I held included business usage.TX.
The issue is that after tax, NI and student loan (if applicable) you're left with 50p to try run a car. I'd be wanting my company to ensure there were EV's on the company car list or asking them to be more realistic with the allowance value and their restrictions - Obviously they can tell you to take a long walk off of a short pier but nothing ventured nothing gained.
Terminator X said:
How can they restrict you on a car allowance? It's just more salary so I'd hope you can buy whatever you want. Even more so once you start spending your own money to get a "better" car.
TX.
Part of receiving the company car allowance will be signing up to the company car policy, which usually stipulates things such as age, number of doors, suitability, etc.TX.
This is very commonplace - few companies will just allow you to buy whatever you like in this day and age.
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