Any experience of cycle to work?

[413x]

Annoyingly my company doesn't seem to do this.
But my Gfs does.

I'm thinking of either that she may need a new bike or my company might want to join?

Anyone had any experience of real world savings?
It looks like you save 25 percent and then have to pay 3-7 percent

Let's say that's a good 20 percent.

Bike I'm looking at is an ebike for nearly 2k. It's a substantial saving.
There are weird bits in there like you don't own the bike, what happens if you leave. Seems like it's possible for the company to ask for the bike back. I know this is unlikely but possible

Does the above check out?

 

[mattyfez]

Sounds about right, the savings aren't huge in tgerms of percentage of retail price but the payments come out of your wage pre-tax so there's a tax saving, think of it like an interest free 12 month loan with some savings built in.

Yes technically the company own the bike but asking for it back at the end of the term is basically unheard of...

 

[Quartz]

Huh? The company own the bike after you've paid for it? One day some accountant is going to notice that the company owns a substantial number of these things and they therefore represent a significant asset.

 

[mattyfez]

For the term, yes, then you can buy back at the end of the 12 months, but that rarely happens, in reality you just pay for 12 months and keep the bike

 

[Jonny ///M]

You save 32%(20+12%NI) as a basic rate tax payer and 42%(40+2%) as a higher rate tax payer.

Retail minus the saving over the term is the monthly payment.

At the end you can extend agreement which keeps it on the providers books but you are liable to pay less than you would be if you had to pay the full government. 3% or 7% vs 18% or 25% hmrc guidlence.

So all in all you'll save about 25-35% after paying fees.

 

[Psycho Sonny]

First of all buying a bike through your gf's cycle to work scheme is fraud and tax fraud.

Also they will expect her to use it to cycle to work. It's one of the main conditions of the contract. So when her manager asks her how come you aren't cycling to work eyebrows may be raised.

So questions may be asked why she bought a large framed bike and the order is in her name and yet she's not 6 foot 4, etc.

So my advice would be not to buy a bike for yourself through her scheme. However you are free to take the risk of losing your job and she hers if you want to save a few funded quid and found guilty of fraud.

Sounds about right, the savings aren't huge in tgerms of percentage of retail price but the payments come out of your wage pre-tax so there's a tax saving, think of it like an interest free 12 month loan with some savings built in.

Yes technically the company own the bike but asking for it back at the end of the term is basically unheard of...

You wot m8? Its up to 45% off how is that not a significant percentage?

Also the company only own the bike up until the extended agreement ends. After that it's yours.

Huh? The company own the bike after you've paid for it? One day some accountant is going to notice that the company owns a substantial number of these things and they therefore represent a significant asset.

No they don't. I will own my bike. It will take 6 years until I do. However I only make payments for the first 12-18 months after that it's £0 per month for 4.5 to 5 years which is nothing and then I own the bike.

During that time it stays with me and my only obligation is to make the payments and not sell it within that time.

For the term, yes, then you can buy back at the end of the 12 months, but that rarely happens, in reality you just pay for 12 months and keep the bike

After 12 months you need to agree to extend the contract for 5 years for £0 per month then they write it off and you keep it.

You save 32%(20+12%NI) as a basic rate tax payer and 42%(40+2%) as a higher rate tax payer.

Retail minus the saving over the term is the monthly payment.

At the end you can extend agreement which keeps it on the providers books but you are liable to pay less than you would be if you had to pay the full government. 3% or 7% vs 18% or 25% hmrc guidlence.

So all in all you'll save about 25-35% after paying fees.

It's a 32% or 42% if your figures are correct and depends on your tax bracket.

When I worked it out it was roughly 45% off so sounds right. I wouldn't listen to the other guy saying its insignificant and not worth it.

After the initial 12 or 18 month period I pay 0% per month for the rest of the total 6 year period.

 

[Mcnumpty2323]

My step son is on his 3rd bike now
Didn't ask him the small print about owning it after a year was up
But he's sold the other 2 definitely and there was no issue getting 2nd and 3rd ones
He's on high tax bracket so said he made a big saving
He also gets similar deal on a laptop
As all his work stuff gets rule updates etc over the air not on paper

 

[kefkef]

If you are getting your company to sign up go for the Green Commute Innitiative rather than C2W.

Speaking to the bike shop I got my last one from, C2W take 15% of the value of the voucher as their “payment” for running the scheme. GCI take around 3%. This means the shop could have given me a bigger discount against my current bike.

I’m on my 2nd bike, still got the first. Paid 12 payments and then signed an agreement for £0 for 4 years and it would be mine.

 

[tom_e]

Some companies also seem to limit the amount you can get, our scheme only allows us to get vouchers up to £1k

 

[Jonny ///M]

Here are figures for Cyclescheme, they all follow quite similarly as it's based on the tax.

The only thing that seems to differ is the final fee you have to pay which for Cycleschem they have an 3% under £500 and 7% anything above £500.

Here is a £2000 bike as basic rate and higher higher rate tax payer choosing to extend the scheme to 4 years. After year 1 your're done paying but it stays owned by Cyclescheme technically and you are free to start another scheme.




If you don't opt for the 4 year term them it would be:

BR £1000 Bike HR
- £200 tax -£400 Tax
- £120 NI -£20 NI
= £680 / £56.67pm = £580 / £48.33pm

+ 25% of £1000 = £250 + 25% of £1000 = £250

Total £930 Total £830


BR <£500 Bike HR
- £100 tax -£200 Tax
- £60 NI -£10 NI
= £340 / £28.33pm = £290 / £24.17pm

+ 18% of £500 = £90 + 18% of £500 = £90

Total £430 Total £380


Kept the £500 bike at £500 for easy figures as it's actually up to £499 before it changes.

All these schemes take up to 15% from the bike price so I'd say you will save more and pay it monthly vs getting only 15-20% max off and using a credit card.

I've never heard anyone getting looked into with the scheme be it a doctor or police officer.

A good few years ago Rolls Royce asked us to try and value the bikes as they had such an uptake in the scheme. We couldn't give an exact figure as bikes are worth more to the person than second hand, some people destroy bikes in 6 months whilst others will barely use it.

The rules used to be stricter but also ignored as much as they are.

You can get two bikes if you can justify it and it makes sense, and parts/groupsets to upgrade and maintain bikes is another one.

 

[mattyfez]

You wot m8? Its up to 45% off how is that not a significant percentage?

Only if you're a higher rate tax payer

Also they will expect her to use it to cycle to work. It's one of the main conditions of the contract. So when her manager asks her how come you aren't cycling to work eyebrows may be raised.

Maybe it depends on the employer, with me I got the form from the finance department, sorted it out with the amount I wanted and handed it back in. Couple of weeks later I got my voucher through and that was the last of the companies involvement, the payments just stopped coming out of my wages after 12 months and that was that. There's no provision in the contract to prove to anyone you use it to cycle to work, just that it should be used to cycle to work.

I didn't say it's not worth it, you do make some savings if you pay basic rate tax, the savings are much more attractive if you're a higher rate tax payer though.

Importantly, also as noted above, not many shops will give you a discount with a voucher, you'll more than likely end up paying full 'ticket price', where as a cash buyer can often negotiate a discount with smaller bike shops. This could potentially somewhat negate a ~20% saving through the scheme, which is why I suggested to think of it as an interest free loan with some savings.

 

[mattyfez]

I used mine to buy new brakes, bars, stem, lights, and some smaller items, grips, new cables and some other bits and bobs.

 

[Jonny ///M]

In regards to E bikes I've had loads of promo for this but nobody has started one so know how it works fully. Not sure if there is one for England either.

https://energysavingtrust.org.uk/scotland/grants-loans/ebike-loan

That seems like you get whatever amount you ask for and paid directly to you as it's a loan. This means a shop won't be hit by fees so you can strike a deal in the shop at whatever discount and then pay if back 0%.

 

[kefkef]

My employer was happy if the bike is used for fitness/health rather than directly for getting to work. You can also use it for part journeys to work, so can be used to get to train station as an example.

jonny, my understanding was it is your employer who actually pays out the money for the bike and you are paying them back. That way if you leave within the period of the scheme the employer gets the bike back?

We had our limit set at £4K, on C2W, it was previously £1k when I got my first bike. The bike shop I used discounted my bike from £4.1k to £3.9k as C2W took their 15% cut of the voucher they only received £3.3k.

If I could have used the GCI scheme they would have discounted it to £3.5k so would have saved me some cash!

Not sure on the final payment for this one, but I never got charged for my first bike after the initial 12 months.

 

[413x]

Interesting.

Because the bike I'm looking at is so expensive I think I'm going to see if I can wangle this

 

[daztrouk]

Questions in regards to this, as i was looking into it yesterday.

Do you have to purchase everything at once on the scheme?

For example, my employer covers £1000 on the scheme. I've seen the bike i want, which is £400, and want to get this now, but i haven't made my mind up yet on which specific helmet and accessories i wish to also purchase. Can i stagger the purchases, so i order the bike now, and then get the helmet etc when i get time to do my research on which ones i want at a later point?

Also, when you fill in the online form, does everything have to tally up with what you put on the form? If i say the bike i want is £400 on the form, and accessories £200, my cert will be valued at £600. However, if tomorrow i see a bike i want which is £600, can i use the cert for the full £600, or do i have to stick with the £400 bike as that's what i originally said when i submitted the form?

 

[Beerbaron]

What happens if things break or get replaced if your company owns the bike?

 

[tom_e]

Questions in regards to this, as i was looking into it yesterday.

Do you have to purchase everything at once on the scheme?

For example, my employer covers £1000 on the scheme. I've seen the bike i want, which is £400, and want to get this now, but i haven't made my mind up yet on which specific helmet and accessories i wish to also purchase. Can i stagger the purchases, so i order the bike now, and then get the helmet etc when i get time to do my research on which ones i want at a later point?

Also, when you fill in the online form, does everything have to tally up with what you put on the form? If i say the bike i want is £400 on the form, and accessories £200, my cert will be valued at £600. However, if tomorrow i see a bike i want which is £600, can i use the cert for the full £600, or do i have to stick with the £400 bike as that's what i originally said when i submitted the form?

AFAIK you need to spend it all in one go but you can split the bike/accessories however you wish once you've got the voucher.

 

[mattyfez]

Different schemes may be different, but for mine, it was up to £1000, my spend was less, and on the application form I could just put £500 or whatever, I didn't need to use the full £1000.

You can only use the voucher once though, so budget for bike + any accessories you want to throw in.

 

[Jonny ///M]

My employer was happy if the bike is used for fitness/health rather than directly for getting to work. You can also use it for part journeys to work, so can be used to get to train station as an example.

jonny, my understanding was it is your employer who actually pays out the money for the bike and you are paying them back. That way if you leave within the period of the scheme the employer gets the bike back?

We had our limit set at £4K, on C2W, it was previously £1k when I got my first bike. The bike shop I used discounted my bike from £4.1k to £3.9k as C2W took their 15% cut of the voucher they only received £3.3k.

If I could have used the GCI scheme they would have discounted it to £3.5k so would have saved me some cash!

Not sure on the final payment for this one, but I never got charged for my first bike after the initial 12 months.

Yeah the scheme provider are purely a middle mad, some smaller companies just do the accounting and let the employee use a company credit card which is good for us as we get no commission taken.

Most of the delay from the schemes is the company paying for the bike, I had hard Scottish Power waited to each quarter to run them all through at once. You then lease the bike for 12 months usually.



You have to use the vouchers in one go which is best as I've left some as credit hanging up and never saw the person again and annoys me that it sits there. You can chop and change bike/accessories as long as the total matches as the shop puts in the details when we redeem it. Even when the customer had selected a bike it can be changed, they don't care as long as it is a bike. Cyclescheme have slightly different commission on bikes and accessories I think 10/12% but it doesn't really make much difference.