I got my bike 2 years ago. I have just completed the 24 payments and have been expecting a letter to say you can buy it or extend the hire term. Now I haven’t had this. Should I shout or keep quiet?

I never ended up paying the final purchase payment and nothing ever came of it (and I still have the bike). I guess if work had been audited there could have been an issue with tax or something but it’s a few years ago now.

I don’t think you extend the hire terms as you’ve essentially paid for it so its yours minus the fair value payment. Some employers will pay this on behalf of their employees as a gift or bonus. If I were you I’d keep quiet, its their responsibility to sort out 🙂

The scheme as operated by my employer allows me to continue to use their bike at no additional cost as long as I remain employed by them. If I want to buy the bike from them, then the FMV payment becomes payable. As this reduces with age, I’m putting this off for as long as possible.

[edit – I’d suggest that in the first instance, you check the contract you signed at the start of the term to see what that says, though it’s unlikely to make anything more than passing mention to the possibility of transfer of ownership]

The contract says

At the end of the Hire Period, you will need to discuss with your
Employer what is to happen to the Equipment

Does that answer your question then?

Does that answer your question then?

no, as I dont want to ring HR and say “I have finished my hire period, what now?” and for them to say “ahh you need to pay the market value now or give it back”.

Check they have registered your details correctly. Mine had me living at another address. I queried it because I want another contract and hadn’t had the three year termination.

after the first year on mine (april 2012) i had an email from the cycle to work people, i have paid £67 to continue the use of the bike then after 3 years (in total) the bike is mine no further payments are required, I would call them, im sure the wording about non payment was very strong, be honest its the best policy.

this is the email I had i paid the £69.30 was close with my £67 guess.

Dear ,

Re: End of Hire Agreement options – email dated 21/04/2012

Our records show that you have still not yet actioned any of your 3 options available to you now that your Agreement has come to an end.

As part of the completion of your hire period for the cycle to work scheme provided by your employer, your options are:

You now have 3 options:

Under a separate agreement with Cyclescheme, you pay a small, one-off refundable deposit (3% or 7% including VAT of the equipment value*) and continue to use the bicycle for up to 3 years. The monthly payments are zero. At the end of this period, Cyclescheme refund the deposit if you do not wish to keep the equipment.? This option will cost you £69.30.

Take ownership of the equipment by paying Cyclescheme a much higher valuation (e.g., for a one year old bicycle this would be 18% or 25%* of the certificate value in accordance with HMRC requirements).? This option will cost you £247.50.

Return the bicycle to Cyclescheme, at your own cost.

As our payment terms are strictly 28 days, you need to complete one of the options listed by 19/05/2012.

For further details of each option and to complete the end of hire process, please click on the following link:

Kind regards,

The Team at Cyclescheme

My contract said much the same, so I did what the contract suggested and discussed with my employer. Their response was basically “You can either give it back to us, buy it from us for the FMV or if you’re happy to keep using it but don’t really care whether you own it or we own it, keep using it and we can discuss it again if/when circumstances change” – which is basically what I’m doing. I’ll decide whether to hand it back or pay the FMV when I leave the company.

However, this is the stance taken by my employer. Your employer may take a different stance. Suggest you either do as the contract suggests and speak to your employer. If you’re really not keen on doing that, you might first seek out others others at your place of work who have been in the same situation and speak to them.