Cyclescheme bicycle condition assessment

[Panter]

Grrr - well, my company's intranet still 'estimates' 5% for the final fee. I've kept the bike in immaculate nick and I don't want to hand the thing over - nor end up paying back most of the saving's I made. What's the point in the whole scheme?

There isn't one now. Not unless your company will lease it to you for free when the scheme ends.
It's well worth digging out the (very lengthy) thread on here about it, Norm explains it very well.

 

[g00se]

Well, if it does come to this when mine in valued - I think I've got some good leverage with my employer what with how they describe the scheme internally. I'll see in a few months....

 

[Panter]

Good luck, keep us posted.

It would be great if the scheme can continue.

 

[peteoc]

This is strange............I've already done the cycle scheme when I bought a MTB - at the end of the scheme I paid my work £25 and the bike became mine.

I'm now onto my 2nd cycle scheme bike, and I expect to pay the £25 again at the end

 

[mark barker]

What's the point in the whole scheme?

I guess for some people its a way of getting a bike that they would've been unable to get otherwise. The scheme doesn't use a credit checking service, so for many it'd be an easy way to get finance.

 

[g00se]

It looks like the HMRC have been leaning on cyclescheme. The problem for them is that the 'current' members are not going to be happy when they find out their promised 40-50% saving may be modified. I would think most folk bought a bike nearly twice the value they could afford if they were paying directly themselves. Some may say that no-one should expect anything for free, but that's what everyone's been just about promised by their employers.

 

[peteoc]

the main point of the scheme is not paying the tax/national insurance on it.

Basically you pay for the bike before your tax and national insurance, so a £1000 bike costs around £780. you pay it off monthly.

 

[Helly79]

I have just come to the end of my works cycle to work scheme and just looked on the Halford site where is says about how much you buy it back for and the say fair market valve of 5%

http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/..._productId_563154_langId_-1_categoryId_173017

 

[AndyCarolan]

I cant see how the rules could be changed for those currently in the scheme as it would in effect change the terms and conditions to the member

 

[JNR]

I have just come to the end of my works cycle to work scheme and just looked on the Halford site where is says about how much you buy it back for and the say fair market valve of 5%

http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/..._productId_563154_langId_-1_categoryId_173017

I assume that the 5% referred to is TOGETHER with the 12 monthly payments already made. If a bike lost genuinely 95% of it's value in a year we'd all be cruising around on Tour de France bikes, surely?!

 

[ufkacbln]

What happens if you don't take up the offer, can you get a new bike every year and just pay the monthly payments?

Strikes me that if you declined the option then the bike would simply belong to the company..... and what would they do with it?

 

[Norm]

I cant see how the rules could be changed for those currently in the scheme as it would in effect change the terms and conditions to the member

And there's the root of the problem. The rules have not changed, these are the rules as they have always been written - no pre-agreed sale price and the sale must be at market value.

People have bent the rules in the past and HMRC are wanting to drag it back on track.

 

[ufkacbln]

My employer has a site NHS Bikes

Their breakdown for a Sirrus Elite;

RRP £539
Basic Rate tax payer total payments £353
"Disposal Fee" £53.90 +VAT

So the NHS is quoting a 10% disposal fee


You can also buy HiViz, helmets and locks with the same system and 10% fee.

However.... the closing date for applications is July 2009 - so this may have changed

 

[AndyCarolan]

And there's the root of the problem. The rules have not changed, these are the rules as they have always been written - no pre-agreed sale price and the sale must be at market value.

People have bent the rules in the past and HMRC are wanting to drag it back on track.

I think the confusion is in the wording on individual offerers of the scheme. On all the documentation that Helen received last year, it listed disposal fees of 5% or 10%. Maybe its simply down to interpretation but in the case of Helen's Carrera Fury, between 5 and 10% = between £25 and £50 ish

 

[g00se]

I think the confusion is in the wording on individual offerers of the scheme. On all the documentation that Helen received last year, it listed disposal fees of 5% or 10%. Maybe its simply down to interpretation but in the case of Helen's Carrera Fury, between 5 and 10% = between £25 and £50 ish

Exactly, the small print hasn't changed. It's just things like the cyclescheme savings calculator; the articles in the press; internal company advertising.... they all lead you to 'understand' that the final payout is about one more month's payments.