Company took away fuel card, expect me to pay up front.

[Hyburnate]

This makes absolutely zero sense.

We used to not have fuel cards and we would put a £300 float in an employees account so they could afford the fuel costs which is returned on cessation of employment.

We then moved to fuel cards and reclaimed the float and our yearly fuel saving is huge due to the preferential rates.

 

[cheesyboy]

I agree, they are indeed only advisory and the maximum that can be used without been questioned or taxed on. But perhaps the business just wants to keep things simple? Afterall having to work out and verify the exact costs fro each employee is just another burden.

Plus varies so much which drivers. We used to run a fleet of vauxhall astra diesel vans and one driver always did 10+ mpg less than all the rest. We got him to swap vans with another driver to see if it was his van which was an issue - it wanst. He just had a lead right foot and to him the accelerator was either on or off!

After a little talk, his MPG increased to where the rest were.

With your suggestion that employee would be "rewarded" with an 20% more mileage payment than his more gentler fellow employees.

So I can see why a business would just want to keep things simple and just pay the HMRC advisory rates.

With clear data like that, it's obviously an issue with the driver that training can, and did, improve.

But for op, presumably, the only data is that the advisory rate is inappropriate, so the actual fuel use should be used instead.

 

[Greebo]

With clear data like that, it's obviously an issue with the driver that training can, and did, improve.

But for op, presumably, the only data is that the advisory rate is inappropriate, so the actual fuel use should be used instead.

And yet the OP has admitted that if he drives everywhere at 60mph then he hits the required mpg that the HMRC rate fully reimburses him. Therefore as a company and HMRC they can quite legitimately claim that the rate is sufficient.

Once as a company you have to assess every vehicle to come up with a true rate then it gets messy. Hence why there is a flat HMRC rate. Yes its not great and some people will win and others will lose.

But if I was the OP having come from a different system, i wouldnt be happy either and would be asking the company to pay me the difference.

Issue is in the current climate, depending on your job role, will anybody leave for the £400 per annum they might lose out which could be fixed by just driving slightly slower

 

[ubersonic]

I have had a company car since 2012 and always had a fuel card, I normally do over 25k miles per year. I paid back my personal fuel at the government rate and was quite happy.

Suddenly they decided we couldn't have fuel cards any more and gave us 2 weeks notice. Now we are expected to pay for the fuel ourselves and claim back at the government rate, then we will be paid back in our next wages, it could be as much as 6 weeks if we miss the cut off.

Dude, are you seriously complaining about hitting the jackpot like this? Lol.

Use a rewards credit card and profit, either use a cashback one or if you have/get an Amex you can basically have free holidays thanks to the air miles

 

[Greebo]

Dude, are you seriously complaining about hitting the jackpot like this? Lol.

Use a rewards credit card and profit, either use a cashback one or if you have/get an Amex you can basically have free holidays thanks to the air miles

Indeed a few years ago i had a friend who did 50k miles a year and the cashback/points bought his holiday every year

 

[Tinders]

What cards/rewards would you recommend?

 

[dlockers]

What cards/rewards would you recommend?

AMEX. And then a backup card like an Amazon or BarclayCard incase AMEX isn't accepted. AMEX will have different flavours depending on your minimum spend - Platinum Cashback is a good place to start. Gold is good if you have a heavy few months as it typically has a bonus period and then gives you points. MSE forum will have a lot more in depth analysis of the various offers.

I get 45p on my private car alongside many other expenses and was making an easy £400/year on the Platinum card.

 

[lordrobs]

AMEX. And then a backup card like an Amazon or BarclayCard incase AMEX isn't accepted. AMEX will have different flavours depending on your minimum spend - Platinum Cashback is a good place to start. Gold is good if you have a heavy few months as it typically has a bonus period and then gives you points. MSE forum will have a lot more in depth analysis of the various offers.

I get 45p on my private car alongside many other expenses and was making an easy £400/year on the Platinum card.

Yup plus;
Nectar
Tesco Clubcard
Shell Go+
BPme
etc...

Also worth keeping an eye on the Amex offers (if you go that route) as they often have handy work expense offers like £5 back when you spend £30 at Esso.

I don't keep track of how much I make back on my company expenses but I've had some nice perks by bankrolling the company expenses. 42 nights (3 people for two weeks) half board 4* hotel at 7% quidco cashback + 1% credit card cashback was a particular highlight My company is always on the button with my expense payments though so YMMV and all that.

 

[dlockers]

Yup plus;
Nectar
Tesco Clubcard
Shell Go+
BPme
etc...

Also worth keeping an eye on the Amex offers (if you go that route) as they often have handy work expense offers like £5 back when you spend £30 at Esso.

I don't keep track of how much I make back on my company expenses but I've had some nice perks by bankrolling the company expenses. 42 nights (3 people for two weeks) half board 4* hotel at 7% quidco cashback + 1% credit card cashback was a particular highlight My company is always on the button with my expense payments though so YMMV and all that.

Mate, tell me about it; if it wasn't for lockdown I'd still be on the drug. I'm talking Maldives, Waldorf Astoria in NY, Conrads... the works. I have spent over 400 nights in Marriotts though in the last 3 years (excluding 2020/21 of course) . The ones that mean I have various AMEX for my family to milk the system meant I could do the £50 cashback at Hilton/Marriott 3 or 4 times, too. Made a big difference to bottom line. And don't get me started on putting expenses on a 0% purchases card and then investing the expense payment

Holidays are going to have to go back to normal now that has stopped Caravan in Devon Cliffs it is...

 

[Haggisman]

And yet the OP has admitted that if he drives everywhere at 60mph then he hits the required mpg that the HMRC rate fully reimburses him. Therefore as a company and HMRC they can quite legitimately claim that the rate is sufficient.

And you don't think the company would start questioning why it takes him 15% longer to get anywhere?

 

[Greebo]

And you don't think the company would start questioning why it takes him 15% longer to get anywhere?

Well that might make them rethink their fuel payment policy. Plus I know lots of companies who fit speed limiters to their vehicles as just a few mph drop can save them a fortune in fuel costs.

And it never works out at 15% slower. It never does. How many times do you see somebody overtake you at 90mph and several miles down the road you pull up behind them at traffic lights?

 

[lordrobs]

Well that might make them rethink their fuel payment policy. Plus I know lots of companies who fit speed limiters to their vehicles as just a few mph drop can save them a fortune in fuel costs.

And it never works out at 15% slower. It never does. How many times do you see somebody overtake you at 90mph and several miles down the road you pull up behind them at traffic lights?

Nowhere near as often as I'm overtaken by someone at 90mph who steadily disappears into a spec in the distance never to be seen again

Seriously though, the last thing you want to be doing when trying to cover 300 miles home is sitting in lane 1 mixing it up with the trucks. I got the lecture about how you don't save any time by driving quicker when I did my speed awareness course. I stuck my hand up when they asked the question of "so who was driving over the limit to get where they were going quicker" so the guy asked how much time I thought I'd save. I told him "about 25 minutes" and his eyes lit up as he made his way to the whiteboard to "do the maths. "...and how far were you driving?" "about 320 miles" "...oh"

I am a good boy and stick to the limits now though so the course worked.

 

[Haggisman]

Depends on the journey type I guess, but assuming 50% of OP's travel is motorway miles (which if he covers the whole country then IMO that's an underestimate), that's still ~31 hours/year, almost a whole working week

 

[ArchAnGeL]

I'm just going to skip to the end of the thread
Raise a grievance against the company with the points you have raised and the cost implications to you from the change (a collective grievance would be far more effective). Have a clear idea of what you want the resolution to be and include that. (tip, don't say put it back to a fuel card as getting rid of that will be a done deal by now)
If nothing changes, then suck it up or leave - those are your options I am afraid