Bike For Work - Benefit, explain it please

[Jonny ///M]

Halfords is Cycle2work,evans is ride2work and the bike independent bike shop one is cycle scheme.

We've had a lot of business from the police and the NHS. They saved around 41.3% on the RRP and take it over the 12 months period. T

You can't take cycle computers or car racks but the shop can just pretend it's something else on the invoice.

Bikes have to be at RRP or the special offer price +11%. Shops take around a 10% hit so a £1000 voucher is only worth £900 to a shop. If you want to go over the £1000 voucher you end up paying that £100 ontop of the RRP of the bike so the shop still makes the RRP price after it's paid off.

The new nominal value thing is 18% for bikes up to £500 and 25% for bikes over £500.

There's some sort of way around it such as saying the bike was £500 and making the value up with accessories. The only company we had that wanted the shops valuation of the bike was rollys royce.

 

[teulk]

You can spend the money on whatever you like from the bike shop (I believe), however most (probably all) have a maximum limit of £1000. That said, you can still take that £1000 and pay the difference for a £3500 road bike if you really wanted to

No you cant, the whole idea is that the company you work for own the bike and you are essensially leasing it from them, at the end of the hire period ( generally 12 months) you are given the option of buying the bike or handing it over to the company to dispose of. If you buy a bike worth more than your voucher and add your own money to it then the company does not fully own the bike and that is against the rules of the scheme. Having said that know that there are bike shops that will allow you to pay extra on top of your voucher, my mate did it................

I also believe that you could be paying upto 25% instead of around 5% as it is now of your voucher fee at the end of the hire period now so the savings are minimal now and if you have the money you could make bigger savings by buying a bike in a sale etc

 

[agnes]

No you cant, the whole idea is that the company you work for own the bike and you are essensially leasing it from them, at the end of the hire period ( generally 12 months) you are given the option of buying the bike or handing it over to the company to dispose of. If you buy a bike worth more than your voucher and add your own money to it then the company does not fully own the bike and that is against the rules of the scheme. Having said that know that there are bike shops that will allow you to pay extra on top of your voucher, my mate did it................

I also believe that you could be paying upto 25% instead of around 5% as it is now of your voucher fee at the end of the hire period now so the savings are minimal now and if you have the money you could make bigger savings by buying a bike in a sale etc

Strange as the company I work for own the bike until you pay all 12 months then it's 100% yours. I have asked around and the girls in HR (only 4 of them lol).

The scheme name for me is "Bikes for Work".

ags

 

[teulk]

Strange as the company I work for own the bike until you pay all 12 months then it's 100% yours. I have asked around and the girls in HR (only 4 of them lol).

The scheme name for me is "Bikes for Work".

ags

Its up to the employer as to if they charge you a final fee ( at the moment) but the way i understand it a fee will have to be charged shortly at the end of the hire term (unless its longer than 6years) and that decreases the longer the hire term is. It all comes down to the fact that the government is losing money and not making much out of the scheme.

 

[Morba]

Also the nominal fee (be it company decided or these percentages being given) is of the market value at end of year, not purchase price iirc.

 

[cheets64]

I went for the scheme for 3 reasons 1) I live 1.2 miles away and walk in daily, so with the bike, I can leave later, get home earlier and still keep up my fitness. 2) I have been meaning to get back into biking for a while 3) It's a good deal.

Those saying the company owns it, they don't, once you finished your payment's you owe nothing and the bike belongs to you (I don't have to pay a fee at the end I don't think). So I will probably sell this bike after the end of the 12 months and buy my gf a nice bike with that money and opt for a new bike again. Who knows.

None the less, there is a bargain here and those that can take it, I suggest you do

ags

What, I use to ride 14 miles a day and couldn't claim, that was 4 years ago, 1.2 miles and you get a bike WTF

I had to use my own wages to pay for my bike.

 

[Morba]

Why couldn't you get a bike on the scheme? It's nothing to do with distance travelled.

 

[cheets64]

Lack of interest

And that was working for Asda.

 

[Gixer]

I also believe that you could be paying upto 25% instead of around 5% as it is now of your voucher fee at the end of the hire period now so the savings are minimal now and if you have the money you could make bigger savings by buying a bike in a sale etc

This is only true if you dont have your hire period extended from 1 year to 4 years. It is only if you chose to purchase the cycle after 1 year, or your company chose to not go the extended hire period route you'll be stung 25% of RRP for the purchase of a cycle. Also that is only on bikes over £500. Bikes sub £500 FMV after 1 year is 18% I believe.

Strange as the company I work for own the bike until you pay all 12 months then it's 100% yours. I have asked around and the girls in HR (only 4 of them lol).
ags

I'm unsure on the rules when it comes to a company just giving a bike away. If you are a small company with few employees it would be OK I guess. We have 820 employees where I work and the issue is that the cycle is a company asset. This means if the company choses to give the bike away technically the offer should be open to every employee and not just the person who has been hiring the bike. It is because you have only been hiring the bike and not actually purchasing it that this is the case.

From what I've read most cycleschemes are adapting their schemes so that you still get about a 39-35% saving on RRP if you are an earner in the lower tax bracket so it's still a good deal.

 

[agnes]

Well, should get my vouchers in the post today, email from Halfords was sent to HR on Monday saying they were going to mail the vouchers within 4 working days. So either today or tomorrow

Looking forward to it, need to hunt around for my old biking gear.

Glad this thread has come out with a lot of advice, will help some in the future me thinks

ags