Cycle to Work Schemes

[Inertia]

Im thinking of setting one up for work but it seems more complicated than i thought. Everywhere I look there are diferent schemes who deal with groups of shops

http://www.bike2workscheme.co.uk/
http://www.cyclescheme.co.uk/

and also larger shops who run their own like Chain Reaction cycles and Halfords.

My question is once you sign up to one of these, can you then not use the others. My confusion arose when people said their companies scheme doesnt stock a particular type of bike, why cant they just use a different scheme for that purchase?

Hopes this isnt too daft a question

 

[schlafsack]

Depending on the size of your company, you might find it easier to administer the scheme yourself. You don't need to use a third party.

 

[Norm]

+1 to schlafsack, my advice would be not to use a scheme if you have a small company, it's very easy to set up and administer yourself.

I set a scheme up which just required the employee to get a quote from a bike shop, the company did the cheque to the bike shop and deducted the rental payments from the employees salary.

You may have to capitalise the bikes, depending on your accounting policies, but our capitalisation limit was USD5k so we wrote them off on purchase.

Lots easier than using a third party, more flexible, and cheaper for the employee and employer.

 

[killiekosmos]

My LBS offered to do all the work for the scheme. You fill in a form from their web-site pick the bike, they get it approved by our Finance Dept you sign a form and take the bike away. (Simples)

They source almost any bike you want, offer to deliver, offer training, servicing....

 

[Inertia]

Thanks for the replies guys and the info is still useful for me but I think I phrased my question badly :-D

Can I sign up for more than one scheme, ie if I run my own, can I also get a bike through Halfords scheme etc?

 

[Flying Dodo]

Assuming your employer is agreeable, then there's nothing in the rules to stop you getting more than 1 bike, assuming of course the total cost of the bikes is less than £1,000 if your employer doesn't have a CCL. Of course to stay within the rules, at least 50% of each bike's mileage has to be commuting to work.

If your employer isn't going down the DIY route of simply letting you get an invoice from a LBS for a bike, for them to pay, as Norm mentioned above, then you'll be stuck with whichever bikes are available through their nominated scheme. I'd be surprised if any employer would want to run several different schemes though. However, as mentioned on other topics, if using Halfords, they generally can get in other brands they don't normally stock.

 

[Norm]

Can I sign up for more than one scheme, ie if I run my own, can I also get a bike through Halfords scheme etc?

Based on the agreements which I looked at before deciding not to use any of them, you can sign up to as many as you like as they are not exclusive contracts. Given the hoops and hurdles that they create, though, I can't see why anyone would want to use more than one, if any.

That said, all of my LBS's appear in Cyclescheme's "partner finder", so you shouldn't need to sign up with too many.

 

[Inertia]

Thanks guys, I hope I wont have to but I wanted to know where I stood

 

[killiekosmos]

Assuming your employer is agreeable, then there's nothing in the rules to stop you getting more than 1 bike, assuming of course the total cost of the bikes is less than £1,000 if your employer doesn't have a CCL. Of course to stay within the rules, at least 50% of each bike's mileage has to be commuting to work.

If your employer isn't going down the DIY route of simply letting you get an invoice from a LBS for a bike, for them to pay, as Norm mentioned above, then you'll be stuck with whichever bikes are available through their nominated scheme. I'd be surprised if any employer would want to run several different schemes though. However, as mentioned on other topics, if using Halfords, they generally can get in other brands they don't normally stock.

Is this correct? I understood that it was 50% of commute (or parts of commute, like cycle to station) had to be done by bike and that you could do as much mileage as you wanted away from commuting.

 

[BigSteev]

Is this correct? I understood that it was 50% of commute (or parts of commute, like cycle to station) had to be done by bike and that you could do as much mileage as you wanted away from commuting.

Like anyone ever checks? Besides unless you've fitted a computer on it, or obsessive log your mileage, how can anyone tell?

 

[Norm]

Is this correct? I understood that it was 50% of commute (or parts of commute, like cycle to station) had to be done by bike and that you could do as much mileage as you wanted away from commuting.

Sorry but you understood wrong. (I should set up a macro to write the next bit for me... )

From the DfT's own guidance:

The tax exemption only applies when an employee mainly uses the cycle and cyclists’ safety equipment for qualifying journeys. A qualifying journey for an employee means a journey, or part of a journey,
●● between his or her home and workplace, or
●● between one workplace and another,
in connection with the performance of their duties of employment. So, for example, cycling to and from the station to get to work would qualify. In this case, ‘mainly’ means that more than 50% of use of the cycle and safety equipment must involve a qualifying journey.

Employees are not expected to keep mileage logs but employers should make clear to them that if they do not use the cycle mainly for qualifying journeys, they may lose the benefit of the tax exemption. In that event the employer would have to report the benefit in kind on form P11D, and account for Class 1A NICs, in the normal way. The employee would be liable for the tax due on the benefit in kind.

Note that the bit I've emboldened in last paragraph gives the get-out which Big Steev suggests.

 

[killiekosmos]

Norm,

Thanks for this. If I understand this correctly, if I got a bike via the scheme, used it once to commute to work then locked it in the shed for a year I would be OK. OTOH if I used it every day to commute an clocked up 30 miles a week but then did 40 miles free time at weekend I'd be beaking the rules.

This is interesting as I had a colleague who was discouraged from applying as HR suggested she would not use the bike most days.
Cheers

 

[Norm]

If I understand this correctly, if I got a bike via the scheme, used it once to commute to work then locked it in the shed for a year I would be OK. OTOH if I used it every day to commute an clocked up 30 miles a week but then did 40 miles free time at weekend I'd be beaking the rules.

That is my understanding - I did pretty much this myself. The first bike I bought was last October and it was parked up for the 3 month "rental" period. I had intended to commute but the weather and bronchitis conspired against me, although I did use it once to go to the station when I was working up in London.

Anyway, point is that the regs say that more than 50% of the use must be for a qualifying journey so I think that both of your scenarios are correct.

 

[HLaB]

I heard today that the government are now insisting that you pay the market price for a bike instead of the old system where you paid say 5%. Meaning that on a bike of say 1k at the end of the year you have to pay what its actually worth not a percentage, which may be £350 + :-(

 

[Moodyman]

If they ask you to pay the market fee, then you might as well buy your bike outside of C2W. Give you my example:

I opted for a £1k voucher. My employer uses Halfords who charge me (via my employer) an 11% admin fee - total cost £1116. I pay £93 salary sacrifice, so after 12 months, I will have paid £1116. I would then expect the bike to be free. My tax & NI saving is 22% so a £1k bike actually cost me £780.

If I then have to pay a market fee of say £360 after 12 months, then I might as well not bother with C2W. I assume other schemes run similarly, so where will the benefit for commuters?