Cyclescheme bicycle condition assessment

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dubman

Guru
Location
Derby
Hi all , Im coming to then end of my cyclescheme now , and have been contacted regards the condition of the bicycle. Im required to take it back to the shop for them to assess the final condition. They have provided me a form to take (BCAF1) which has 4 conditions A - D with 'A' being the best.

My question is does anybody have any experience with cyclescheme.co.uk. I understand prices will vary according to initial value of the bicycle.For example if the initial value of the bicycle was £1000 , what would cyclescheme consider a fair payment at the end of the scheme , how much may they charge for a condition A ?
 
I've not really any experience of the 2nd hand market but I believe a fair price for a bikein good condition is: half the retail price, minus 10% per annum. I heard a rumour that cyclescheme were going to start doing this :-( I hope I wrong or it seems like there is little or no advantage in C2W :-(
 

summerdays

Cycling in the sun
Location
Bristol
I would be interested in hearing the outcome of the valuation - both which band it ended up in and what the final price turned out to be. Mr Summerdays (who has still done nothing about getting on any of the bikes you lot suggested - too busy doing all his other duties) Bike to Work scheme will open in a couple of days time and he is contemplating whether to get a bike on it. I'm not sure whether it would be better to buy it outright instead.
 

potsy

Rambler
Location
My Armchair
This was one of my concerns too,seems fairly pointless if you end up paying market value at the end of it,where's the saving coming from?
 

Ben1982

New Member
They used to say on the site that typically it would be around 5%, they don't anymore.. I'm guessing it's only for the bike too rather than the bike+any extra kit you bought.

If it's around the purchase value of the bike (or even 50%) then it would seriously tarnish the benefits of the scheme, and I would hope it would get lots of complaints as the tax benefit would disappear.
 

MrRidley

Guest
Location
glasgow
Direct from the site,

At the end of the hire period employees may be given the opportunity to buy the bike for a full market value, however this cannot be an automatic entitlement. The cost of full market value cannot be stated before or during the hire period as this could be considered a benefit in kind and therefore not be eligible for tax benefits. Many employers opt for Cyclescheme to take ownership of the bikes at the end of the hire term, in which case any offer sale to the employee will come directly from Cyclescheme.

As this is my second bike from the scheme in two years, this is vastly different from last year, where i paid £25 back on a £500 voucher, as the final payment, now it seems they want quite a bit more :angry:
 

BenM

Veteran
Location
Guildford
dubman said:
Im required to take it back to the shop for them to assess the final condition. They have provided me a form to take (BCAF1) which has 4 conditions A - D with 'A' being the best.
Lovely - so there is an obvious get out of jail card (almost) free there... write off the bike just before the assessment :angry:
 

rusky

CC Addict
Location
Hove
jimbhoy said:
Direct from the site,

At the end of the hire period employees may be given the opportunity to buy the bike for a full market value, however this cannot be an automatic entitlement. The cost of full market value cannot be stated before or during the hire period as this could be considered a benefit in kind and therefore not be eligible for tax benefits. Many employers opt for Cyclescheme to take ownership of the bikes at the end of the hire term, in which case any offer sale to the employee will come directly from Cyclescheme.

As this is my second bike from the scheme in two years, this is vastly different from last year, where i paid £25 back on a £500 voucher, as the final payment, now it seems they want quite a bit more :angry:

I can't help thinking that's a typo & should read fair market value
 

Panter

Just call me Chris...
This is the reply I received from them when I asked about it a while ago:



Dear Chris,
Further to your email regarding the Transfer of Ownership.
Following clarification from HMRC on their stance regarding the sale of cycles to employees at the end of the hire period it has been confirmed that the bikes should be individually valued at the end of the Hire Period. If you would prefer to opt out of Clause 5 of the employer contract and handle the Transfer of Ownership of the cycles please write to us on company headed paper and we can amend your account to reflect this.
We would recommend that the following procedures are put in place if you would like to handle the Transfer of Ownership to ensure you are operating within the HMRC guidelines:
At the end of the Hire Period contact the employee and ask them if they wish to take ownership of the bike.
If the employee does want to take ownership, the employer should seek expert advice (from local bike shops) to assess the value of the bike.
Based on this assessment, calculate how much the full market value should be.
Send an invoice to the employee along with a Secondary Agreement that they employee will need to sign to confirm the transfer
If the employee is able to purchase the bike for less than its market value, the difference will be liable to tax and employers NIC liability.
To avoid any such liability employers can take advantage of Cycleschemes free-of-charge Transfer of Ownership service.
Cyclescheme pays the employer a one-off nominal fee to transfer the ownership of all bikes, and subsequently handles all aspects of the administration of the sale of cycles to the employees. There is no cost to the employer, but Cyclescheme retains Full Market Values paid by the employees.
After the end of each hire period Cyclescheme will contact the employee to assess the condition of the Bicycle and issue a Secondary Agreement for the appropriate value. The employee can self-assess the condition of the bike using Cyclescheme simple yet comprehensive condition guide, or print off the form and take the bike to their local Partner Store for assessment. The employee would then be asked to categorise the condition of the bike on-line; below is a summary of the conditions:

Condition A: A cycle that has been ridden regularly but infrequently to and from work throughout the hire period. Predominantly used on the road or cycle paths for short distances

Condition B: A typical commuter’s bike that has been used regularly and frequently, maintained and serviced, been cleaned and lubricated throughout the hire period. Some leisure use has occurred

Condition C: A cycle that has been regularly used for commuting all year round. It has been used regularly for leisure that may have included off-road riding.

Condition D: A cycle that has been used frequently for commuting & leisure but without anything more than the minimum care necessary. Large mileages would have accumulated on the bicycle and a reasonable percentage of these may have occurred off-road.

The value of the FMV is variable according to the assessed condition of the bike, and the original retail price of the bike. Needless to say, it is not possible to predict the market value of a bike prior to the end of the hire period, but in our experience the bike’s value is typically a fraction of the original retail price due to the frequency of usage encountered when commuting to work throughout the year and any additional leisure usage.
Employees can pay to take ownership of bikes with ease using our on-line payment portal, and Cyclescheme issues a full receipt to the employee. All stages of the transaction and the value of sale are stored securely on our Extranet system, accessible to employer administrators at all times.
I trust to have answered your question fully with the above information, but if you require any further guidance, please visit our website at www.cyclescheme.co.uk where you will find in-depth details and FAQs regarding many more aspects of the scheme.
Best wishes from the team at Cyclescheme!
 
OP
OP
dubman

dubman

Guru
Location
Derby
BenM said:
Lovely - so there is an obvious get out of jail card (almost) free there... write off the bike just before the assessment :angry:

Ive considered this but really , but would like to keep it long term. It seems a shame that for looking after it well i could be punishied. I have a few ideas , i could put on some knacked parts or i could offer the mechanic who assess it a little incentive to tick box D.

I will keep you all informed of the final valuation and outcome.
 

killiekosmos

Veteran
It is against the rules to ageee a final price in advance. Before you get it valued you need to ensure it looks right.

Plent of mud all over, worn, flat tyres, basd brakes, poor shisting etc. Just make some bad adjustments which you can correct later!
 
killiekosmos said:
It is against the rules to ageee a final price in advance. Before you get it valued you need to ensure it looks right.

Plent of mud all over, worn, flat tyres, basd brakes, poor shisting etc. Just make some bad adjustments which you can correct later!

You won't need to, read the condition types again:

Condition A: A cycle that has been ridden regularly but infrequently to and from work throughout the hire period. Predominantly used on the road or cycle paths for short distances

Condition B: A typical commuter’s bike that has been used regularly and frequently, maintained and serviced, been cleaned and lubricated throughout the hire period. Some leisure use has occurred

Condition C: A cycle that has been regularly used for commuting all year round. It has been used regularly for leisure that may have included off-road riding.

Condition D: A cycle that has been used frequently for commuting & leisure but without anything more than the minimum care necessary. Large mileages would have accumulated on the bicycle and a reasonable percentage of these may have occurred off-road.

I use mine all year round for commuting, which in my eyes qualifies it for category C. Add some age-related degradation into tht mix and the final value shouldn't be too high.
Oh, this was all explained in the Cyclescheme rules and has been since the beginning, all they've done recently is removed the (completely errouneous) bit about the final value nominally being 5%,which was total cobblers.
 

g00se

Veteran
Location
Norwich
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?
 
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