I get paid a car allowance as part of my salary package.

My company have just created a new policy that states all car allowances will removed / mileage claims not allowed if the “new” criteria is not met. Part of the criteria is that the care must be six years old or younger, and less than 160gsm emissions.

My 10yo BMW 330i won’t cut it then, and they are suggesting my car allowance, which represents 1/6th of my salary package is removed. With Mrs K on Maternity a new car isn’t really an option.

?

You probably need a contract lawyer but they can change your terms and conditions of employment if they want is my understanding. It may be that the allowance is outside of some aspects of the law as it’s not a part of yoru salary.

I went through this at a previous company. I negotiated a 1 year extension to the existing policy as it gave me time to sort out a replacement car that met the new rules.

I still miss that Saab 🙁

if its part of the criteria then yes they can.

ours is the same , hence why i dont have a company car allowance.

no need for a car in my work and i dont drive to work if i can help it so im not having a depreciating asset on my drive that the salary increase only covers a small fraction of so i asked them to try again with the salary offer without a car allowance part.

Lots of places stipulate conditions for car allowances. Company image, green wash issues etc.

In the words of my boss .. “we own the company , we can do what we like”

I would get some advice from an official source try the government sites on company car rules laws etc.. I know they are trying to cut down on emissions from company car use and hence are lowering the C02 ouputs accordingly.

Presumably the allowance will be sufficient to cover a vehicle which meets their criteria? Only, y’know, it’d seem that currently they’re giving you money to buy and maintain something for work and you’re pocketing the cash instead.

For reference, our policy is for it to be less than four years old.

Sounds like you’re going to have to use your car allowance to get a car.

There’s also been a set of changes to the law on Director responsibilities which places a duty of care on them which includes your safety doing business mileage whatever vehicle you’re in.

Many employers going back to company cars to cover that. If you want to keep the allowance you’ll eventually have to agree. Agreeing a time within which to comply is probably as good as you’ll get.

Sounds like you’re going to have to use your car allowance to get a car.

Imagine that.

I just re-read the OP and saw this,

With Mrs K on Maternity a new car isn’t really an option.

Why not? They’re paying you a car allowance. Is it not enough to get a car with?

I get paid a car allowance as part of my salary package.

My heart bleeds. Sell the bimmer, buy another car.

If the policy which details the stipulations for the payment isn’t explicitly part of your contract of employment (and unless you are working somewhere with pretty damn good union representation, chances are it’s not), then they can pretty much change it at will, and there is very little you can do about it – I’d suggest that negotiating an extension/grace period to replace the car is the most worthwhile course of action to pursue.

as deadlydarcy stated.

I know where you’re coming from but really, if the company is giving you a car allowance then I think you will have to follow their policy.

Where I worked previously there was an age limit too. And I think also things like no 2 seaters, asa you may need to carry clients, no motorcycles, boo!, and various other things.

Try ACAS, they’ll be able to give you some proper advice 🙂

Dave

Have you chosen to take the money as part of your salary, instead of using the company car list? Or do they just give you the money and you have to sort it out yourself?

keep bmw and get one of these to meet the car rules?

£121/month

http://www.lingscars.com/Volkswagen/Up/1805753-1.0_i_%2859bhp%29_Take_Hatchback_3dr_999cc-personal.html#models

as long as you use the vw when on compnay business you can drive the bmw the rest of the time…

Presumably the allowance will be sufficient to cover a vehicle which meets their criteria? Only, y’know, it’d seem that currently they’re giving you money to buy and maintain something for work and you’re pocketing the cash instead.

Well, ok that is true…

deadlydarcy – Member
Sounds like you’re going to have to use your car allowance to get a newer car.

Well, indeed.

My best guess would be to get something on one of those Options/Choices type deals thats handed back every 3 years.

I’m fuming at the threat though. We’re in tough times, and they’ll be more poeple than me that won’t wnt to buy a new car in the next few months.

FFS!

Part of the criteria is that the care must be six years old or younger, and less than 160gsm emissions.

I bet you could get something dirt cheap. A high-milage small Kia or something.

http://first-world-problems.com

“I bet you could get something dirt cheap. A high-milage small Kia or something. “

ill bet he rushes to do that.

vanity plate and tell no one ?

ours also stipulates a minimum 2 litre engine and 5 doors

Sell the BMW, lease something sensible like, sale pays for about 20 months of the lease costs. Simples.

With leasing though, dont you have to pay excess for damage / condition upon return?

I’d be worried about that as its going to be used as a biking car…

at my first job, i was given a car allowance, but knowone explained the policy behind it. After hunting about got a bargain ex-company owned top of the range mondeo, better spec and one yr older than the snr QS on site. I was meant to get a fiesta or similar with it! The policy was only designed to stop managers using the full allowance and buying a banger, not to stop granduate buying a managers spec car.

With leasing though, dont you have to pay excess for damage / condition upon return?

Not if you look after it but you might be unlucky and someone will reverse into when it’s only a few months old and drive off. The bastards!

And thats the exact reason I opted for a company car…
It may not be the what I would have bought myself, but at least is solves all this kinda worries..

Not if you look after it but you might be unlucky and someone will reverse into when it’s only a few months old and drive off. The bastards!

Someones’ dinged yours fella? Oooof… 😈

Aye a scuff on the bumper, oh how I laughed.

keep bmw and get one of these to meet the car rules?

£121/month

http://www.lingscars.com/Volkswagen/Up/1805753-1.0_i_%2859bhp%29_Take_Hatchback_3dr_999cc-personal.html#models

as long as you use the vw when on compnay business you can drive the bmw the rest of the time..

Holy ball buckets.> That website should come with a health warning.

8)

Hmmm. Kia Sportage or Skoda Yeti 1.6d – £199 on lease.

Or a Focus estate (probably my choice) 1.6d £214 a month. Even BMW will do a 111 pertrol (140bhp) for £244 a month.

Ok its not looking so bad….

Does leasing include Tax & Servicing?

Does leasing include Tax & Servicing?

Depends if you pay for it, not all lease packages are the same.

Does leasing include Tax & Servicing?

Some types will. Some won’t.

PCP will allow nicest car versus monthly outlay, but leave you with a car that’s not yours at the end and a balloon payment. HP (over say, five years) means not so nice a car maybe but at least it’s yours at the end. With mrs K on mat leave, would it be a time to go for a tourer/small people carrier type thing?

I’m fuming at the threat though. We’re in tough times, and they’ll be more poeple than me that won’t wnt to buy a new car in the next few months.

Again, isn’t this what the allowance is for? The only way anyone won’t be able to afford it is if either the allowance is insufficient or they’re using the car allowance to supplement their income. If I were your company I’d be threatening to cut off unused allowances too, sounds like everyone’s taking the piss.

Does leasing include Tax & Servicing?

I’d expect it depends entirely on the policy. Ours does.

Do you not have a company car scheme you can opt in to? Typically you get more value overall that way.

I think they all include tax (as they own the car so only they can tax it) but not all include servicing. Some include tyres in the servicing package.

I have an Audi A6 Avant SLine (special Edition) 2.0tdi – costs me £298 a month (no servicing) on 10k a year.

deadlydarcy – Member
Sounds like you’re going to have to use your car allowance to get a car.

This, sounds like you’ve abused the ‘car-allowance’ for a bit and now it’s pay back time!

Do you not have a company car scheme you can opt in to? Typically you get more value overall that way.

Only applicable if 1000 business miles a month or greater, so no.

patriotpro – Member

deadlydarcy – Member
Sounds like you’re going to have to use your car allowance to get a car.

This, sounds like you’ve abused the ‘car-allowance’ for a bit and now it’s pay back time!

Yeah, that was the way I was saw it too. ( But wasn’t sure how it would go down…)

So Im understanding this correctly, you get money from the company for using your own car on company business.
Presumably you’re also taxed on this allowance?
Can you not opt out of the scheme and use a company pool car as and when, claiming petrol on your expenses.
Thus you’re not out of pocket or taxed for it.
The company has a duty to reduce its evironmental impact, thus a 10 yo gas guzzler won’t cut it.

currently they’re giving you money to buy and maintain something for work and you’re pocketing the cash instead.

This is exactly what I’m doing 🙂

My grade qualifies for a ‘status car’ 🙄 , but we can just take the allowance as cash.

My role does not require a vehicle. I am not a senior grade. Who knows why I have an allowance. 😕

currently they’re giving you money to buy and maintain something for work and you’re pocketing the cash instead.

This is exactly what I’m doing

My grade qualifies for a ‘status car’ , but we can just take the allowance as cash.

Those apply to me also – it was well recognised and communicated that we had to actually have a car but how much we spent on it etc was irrelevant.

My car is a good car, in great condition with a decent (ie non rust bucket) image.

The rules have changed very suddenly with 3 months notice. One of the reasons I’m so annoyed is that I’ve recently completed the payments on it, and Mrs K has just started full time maternity, so the extra cash really helps, a reduction of which will feel painful.

You can pretty much guarantee that one of your colleagues has been royally taking the piss out of the scheme thus forcing the management’s hand to legislate any future such piss taking away.

It’s nearly always the same.

If I were your company I’d be threatening to cut off unused allowances too, sounds like everyone’s taking the piss

This and other comments while perhaps accurate are a little harsh IMO. A lot of companies I’ve come across and some I’ve worked for offer (or used to at least) car allowances as a way to top up your salary, petrol cards too. As far as I can tell this was a way for them to pay you a bit more money without all the additional costs to them that a higher salary would bring (pension contributions and bonus for example).

In my opinion the companies themselves are partly at fault here – they’ve been just as guilty of abusing the company car allowance as those employees who take the cash and use it top up their salary. I joined a big corporate back in 2001 on a fairly junior grade and got a car allowance that was about 25% of my salary. Pretty much everyone except the office admins and interns were getting them and very few did any business miles.

Unfortunately most people just saw the money and took it, rather than realising what the lower salary really meant. While the companies may well be within their rights to remove car allowances, I’ll bet a lot of them are on very dodgy ground morally (not that that counts for anything).