C2W Scheme - Proof of 50% worth of commuting??

[Drago]

Don't be daft. C2W doesn't give you a free bike.

You still pay for it but monthly out of your wages. It's a Hire Purchase scheme, and after 12 months 'rental' you make a final payment based on. the value of the bike at 1 year old (or hand it back and walk away). This final payment used to be tax advantageous because inland revenue would value the bike typically at a fraction of its real value, though there days the valuation is more realistic and the saving is very little.

No bugger is being given a free bike. They buy them, just like everyone else.

 

[winjim]

.
People on the cycle to work scheme get a free bike and it looks like they don't even need to use it to cycle to work.

No they don't. They pay full price for the bike. They just don't pay income tax on the money earned to pay for the bike.

 

[Drago]

Free bike indeed. Still pithing myself laughing at that one! My 'free' bike cost me a thousand pounds, thank you very much.

 

[Learnincurve]

Ok so I looked it up, looks like it's a lot like hire purchase at a huge discount, as in you get up to 40% off RRP, so that "free" bike cost the tax payer something like £500, add in a top of the line garmin edge on the accessories bit and that's another £100.

I just don't understand why this scheme isn't open to everyone. Surely the decrease in the number of heart attacks the NHS has to deal with would cover it.

 

[Drago]

My 'free' bike retailed at 11 hundred and something quid, and cost me a grand almost to the penny. In the last couple of years the revenue boys have changed the way they value the bikes for the final payment, which has negated a lot of the tax saving higher up the line. Savings are nearer single figures percentage wise now. 40% would've been 4 or 5 years ago when the final value of the bike after one year was set at 5% - today it's set closer to genuine market value. The biggest advantage now is interest free repayments rather than any nominal tax advantage.

The scheme is open to everyone... if you can persuade you company to enrol. Problem is, someone has to administer it and in a larger organisation such as the NHS that's potentially a full time job for someone, a salary that might be better served paying someone who treats patients. To make it more accessible maybe it should be administered by central government instead of via the employer?

 

[Flying Dodo]

Ok so I looked it up, looks like it's a lot like hire purchase at a huge discount, as in you get up to 40% off RRP, so that "free" bike cost the tax payer something like £500, add in a top of the line garmin edge on the accessories bit and that's another £100.

The scheme can only provide for a bike & safety equipment, which would include helmets & lights, not a GPS.

 

[Drago]

Spot on Mr Dodo. Things are getting a bit hysterical because someone hasn't got something someone else has and they don't like it.

 

[Drago]

The twat nav users who drive into rivers and off cliffs present a safety issue alright.

PS, I love your avatar Adrian. My nipper is into Ben and Holly.

 

[w00hoo_kent]

You don't think that not getting lost couldn't be viewed as a safety issue?

C2W doesn't think that any form of bike computer is an aid to commuting in any way so they aren't in. It's a little odd as I think they are the only bit of cycling kit that is out of the scheme, although I could be wrong.

 

[hopless500]

Or, in other words, when you find yourself in a hole, stop digging.

For goodness sake. Give over will you.
This is getting petty.

 

[NorvernRob]

Ok so I looked it up, looks like it's a lot like hire purchase at a huge discount, as in you get up to 40% off RRP, so that "free" bike cost the tax payer something like £500, add in a top of the line garmin edge on the accessories bit and that's another £100.

I just don't understand why this scheme isn't open to everyone. Surely the decrease in the number of heart attacks the NHS has to deal with would cover it.

With the final payments now being much higher than previously, the actual saving on a £1000 bike for a standard rate taxpayer is around 10%. When you factor in that many independent stores pass on their cost of the schemes to the buyer, it can actually work out as cheap or cheaper to get a bike straight from a shop on 0% finance.

I got mine from Planet X, the total I'll pay from salary sacrifice is £680 after tax, I also paid PX 12% deposit (the aforementioned costs they pass on) and if I choose to pay the final payment it will probably end up costing more than the £1000 cost of the bike!

As opposed to that, I've just bought a Cube Peloton Race as a winter bike, full 105, Mavic Aksium wheels for £700 reduced from £1000 - I paid a couple of hundred £ deposit and financed the rest over a year for close to the same amount I paid on my C2W bike for 18 months.

C2W was never a free bike but these days it's hardly worth doing it when there are so many good deals around.

 

[KneesUp]

For goodness sake. Give over will you.
This is getting petty.

I 'gave over' 3 weeks ago, about the time I made the post you've just quoted - there is no point in discussing things with people who insist black is white because it is in their own interest to do so.

 

[adscrim]

With the final payments now being much higher than previously, the actual saving on a £1000 bike for a standard rate taxpayer is around 10%. When you factor in that many independent stores pass on their cost of the schemes to the buyer, it can actually work out as cheap or cheaper to get a bike straight from a shop on 0% finance.

I got mine from Planet X, the total I'll pay from salary sacrifice is £680 after tax, I also paid PX 12% deposit (the aforementioned costs they pass on) and if I choose to pay the final payment it will probably end up costing more than the £1000 cost of the bike!

As opposed to that, I've just bought a Cube Peloton Race as a winter bike, full 105, Mavic Aksium wheels for £700 reduced from £1000 - I paid a couple of hundred £ deposit and financed the rest over a year for close to the same amount I paid on my C2W bike for 18 months.

C2W was never a free bike but these days it's hardly worth doing it when there are so many good deals around.

It's not the case that every C2W scheme is the same so it may still be possible to make savings. For example, my employer uses cycle solutions as a dedicated provider and offers extended lease periods at the end of the scheme. This means there is no deposit payable and almost no payment at the end of the scheme. However, the cycle solutions website is almost entirely 'RRP' in it's pricing.

 

[martint235]

I made my last payment on my C2W bike in the August payslip. Roughly how long do I need to wait before it gets finalised and completed so I can get another bike? Already decided what it will be.

 

[w00hoo_kent]

Should be able to do it now. Check your account on the website?