Can I be forced to have a company car?

At the moment I have a company car which I would love to ditch. I’d much prefer to commute and see having a second car at home is an extravagance.
We don’t tend to use the company car at home so it doesn’t really get used personally anyway other than the commute into and out of work.

If I was to forgo the vehicle it would have to remain at work as it is needed for the business during the day. Other company vehicles are left on the premises permanently so this is not an issue.

I am on call 1 week in 4 and need the vehicle to carry out a removal if the need arose when I’m on call. When this happens I could make my own way into work and collect the vehicle to carry out the removal anyway so its not an issue (other company’s do this as the norm any way).

Now at the moment I pay for personal mileage used (which is just the commute mileage) and also my pay tax on this “benefit in kind” for having personal use of the vehicle.

Can the company force me to have the car? or is it reasonable of me to not have it bearing in mind it wouldn’t impact the company in the slightest.

Its an old company and they’re not always the best at welcoming change.

If I just cycled in anyway my personal mileage would be zero so they couldn’t then charge me for anything. Would I be in a position to tell the inland revenue that I don’t have the benefit in kind as the personal mileage is zero so in affect I don;t have the car for personal use…

Would your employer not be better using a pool car system ???

At the moment I have a company car which I would love to ditch. I’d much prefer to commute and see having a second car at home is an extravagance.
We don’t tend to use the company car at home so it doesn’t really get used personally anyway other than the commute into and out of work.

Er you do commute?

But best discuss with someone at your company really. In your position a cash for cars scheme would be better.

They likely would and I know the current system is far from the most viable but they like to work they did 30 years ago! Very old school thinking.

Er you do commute?

Currently by the company car but only because I presently have the car. If I could lose the benefit of personal use I’d commute by bike.

Just drive it into a lake, or torch it on some wasteland. Then when they ask about it, simply give a gallic shrug and deny all knowledge of having ever seen it, but inform them in no uncertain terms that certainly won’t be paying for something you’ve never seen

do you have the option to ditch your other car and use the company car as the all day car, or is that used too much?

Hand the company car back. Use your car and claim business milage.

Ask if you can have an allowance instead. Should be good for a few hundred quid in your pocket each month.

Though as Sui said, anything stopping you from ditching your own car? If you don’t need two cars and work are giving you one, that would seem the obvious solution.

I fail to see what’s stopping you from cycling in, either. Just because you have the car doesn’t mean you have to use it every time you go anywhere. Why don’t you leave it at work during the week and take it home at weekends?

Hand the company car back. Use your car and claim business milage.

And get a quote for business insurance.

The 2nd car we have is my OH’s car. as a family we have two cars but don’t need two.
My OH needs her car and we use that at weekends etc. The only reason for me to have a car would be to commute and I’d rather do that by bike.

I’m not looking to make money and I won’t be able to change the company policy making it a pool car etc. I’d just rather not have something I don;t need or want.
I’d save a bit each month on the mileage I pay for the commute and the removal of the benefit in kind on my tax should mean I’m slightly better off again.
The main reason is a lifestyle choice though, I want to commute by bike for health reasons primarily.

one of the advantages of a company car in a 2 car family is that you can use it for all weekend and evening driving, for both parties, hence reducing mileage, wear and tear on the car you own.

I have a company car and my wife’s car rarely turns a wheel after 6pm weekdays and from Friday afternoon till Monday morning, unless we are out separately. Keeps mileage on hers to around 7k per annum, with resultant savings in servicing, insurance, wear and tear etc

Just ask your company to no longer make the car available for private use and treat it as a pool car, albeit one predominately used by you for business during the day. You would also be able to take it home when on call without endangering the position that it is not available for your private use. You would then have no tax bill.

I fail to see what’s stopping you from cycling in, either. Just because you have the car doesn’t mean you have to use it every time you go anywhere. Why don’t you leave it at work during the week and take it home at weekends?

I wouldn’t want it weekends either. I could cycle in now and my personal mileage would be zero. What I don’t want it to be paying tax on a benefit in kind that isn’t being used. ie paying for the benefit of being able to use it personally despite I never would.

You would also be able to take it home when on call without endangering the position that it is not available for your private use. You would then have no tax bill.

Tried this approach in the past but taking it home would mean I’m using it personally for my commute.

I just want to abandon it all together. Not have the responsibility of it or housing it for them, evenings and weekends when its not being used.

Tried this approach in the past but taking it home would mean I’m using it personally for my commute.

You can’t have tried it if the car was generally avail;able for your private use, this approach is certainly in line with the law and practice.

The way I see it…

The company pays for the car anyway, as it’s a requirement of your job for it to be available to you. They also pay to service it, insure it, fuel it etc.

You currently get taxed to the hilt to use it as a personal vehicle (because of the fantastic way company cars get viewed as a cash cow in this country!), but you don’t want to use it at all outside of work hours. You taking it home increases milage, wear and tear on the vehicle (albeit not greatly), so leaving it at work would mean you’re saving the company money…

I think as long as all you want to do is ditch it as a “perk” outside of office hours, your company shouldn’t have a problem with it. If you then start trying to get into negotiations about a car allowance or such like, I suspect they’ll tell you to jog on…

The main reason is a lifestyle choice though, I want to commute by bike for health reasons primarily.

I still don’t see what’s stopping you, the car’s just an excuse.

I think I see where you’re coming from though. You both need cars during the day, is that right? So you can’t make do with one vehicle, but the second car is only used for work purposes.

I can’t see any downside to the company by you still having use of a car but not being taxed for personal use. Though presumably the car is part of your remuneration package, so if it’s of no use to you then you might want to pursue an alternative. I’ve recently been told that when the lease on mine runs out they won’t be supplying we with a replacement as I’m not an essential car user, so they’ll be adding a few hundred to my monthly salary instead.

Regardless. It should just be a case of a chat to HR and / or whoever manages the fleet, I’d have thought.

Business insurance might not be that scary – I added 5,000 miles a year to mine and it actually brought the premium down slightly.

I have a company car and I assume gravitysucks’s issue with ditching his own car is that OH won’t be allowed to use it for her commute? It’s written in to our car policy.

As said above, I can’t see why you can’t commute by bike though? I do 90% of the time, my company car gets used far more personally than it does for business.

why not do as I suggested earlier though and actually use it evenings and weekends to get the benefit you are paying for and keep wife’s car parked up apart from when she’s using it during day when you’re at work ?

I can’t see why someone would use their personal family car when they have a company car sitting there ? Unless something to do with type of vehicle/suitability or similar ?

Difficult one. HMRC see a company vehicle as a taxable benefit if ‘available’ for private use. You might not use it at weekends/evenings but if parked at your house then it is ‘available’. Commute to normal place of work = private use.
The only way that I would think the benefit in kind would cease is if it became a pool car for other employees to use. With mileage/usage logs kept etc to prove you weren’t using it for more than 2.5 days of any working week.
There is lots and lots of information on HMRC website. I would speak to your Fleet Manager.

iainc talks a lot of sense providing your company car is suitable.

Unless the car can’t be used by anyone else I am at a loss as to why you want to ditch it – company car is by far the cheapest way to own a decent car and completely hassle free. We sold our private car when I got one as the company car costs so little in tax and contributions it was crazy.

Why won’t you use it at weekends? Seems silly to knacker in your OH’s car rather than the companies.

Oh you should say beware of unintended consequences and company politics if you make your car a pool car. The company may decide if it works well that’s the policy for everyone else and suddenly you are less than popular when they’ve all had their company cars removed.

company car is by far the cheapest way to own a decent car

You sure about that? I don’t think so, assuming of course that you get an allowance of reasonable value as an alternative as most companies do.

completely hassle free

This bit is true and no doubt why a lot of people do it.

Makes no sense for you not to use for the company vehicle when you can. Evenings/weekends/holidays. That’s why you pay the tax on it! Assuming it also has a maintenance contract to cover things such as replacement tyres, servicing, breakdown assistance etc as well as insurance.

It depends on what you mean I decent car I suppose. My sub £2k cars I had before my company car were fine with me but having a £22k company car was still cheaper per month, as I don’t have to pay tax/insurance/servicing/repairs etc. I pay around £80 a month for my company car and my private car was about the same to keep on the road if nothing went wrong with it, but that didn’t include the money I lost through depreciation which was £600+ a year even on a cheap car.

Aren’t pool cars even faster than hire cars?

From your company’s prospective, if the car is changed from being permanently allocated to an employee to a pool car, then who pays the lease? Your company probably won’t want to take it on, unless they’re short of a pool car.

When I had a company car, the car policy was very clear that you had to have the car for the 3 year term, and there was no option to change to cash for cars mid-term. (unless you could find a company-car eligible employee who was willing to take your car, rather than order one of their own)

From your company’s prospective, if the car is changed from being permanently allocated to an employee to a pool car, then who pays the lease

The same people who pay the lease now?
The financial viability of dropping a company car depends on the length of commute, the milage allowance and the car allowance alternative. I do 30 miles each way and the cash alternative is £5K (which would be taxed as income). Having a company car is a no-brainer for me.

Your assuming the company car is leased, I can think of at least 2 companies that still buy their company cars, but agreed it is less common that it was.

Ok to clarify a few points…

Car is owned by the company not leased.

I take car home but am taxed as benefit in kind.

During work hours it’s a pool car, everyone uses it.

We don’t use it at weekends as not really suitable. (Bike racks on roof of family car, dog in boot, two messy kids etc)

I don’t want anything extra or travel allowance.

If I don’t use it at weekends and I commute by bike then I would not being using it personally. That’s fine but I then don’t want to pay a shed load of tax to have the benefit of personal which wouldn’t be used.
I get it would be cheaper to have the company car than buying my own but the point is I wouldn’t replace it with my own. I’d commute by bike and use the family car at weekends as we already do.

If I don’t use it at weekends and I commute by bike then I would not being using it personally. That’s fine but I then don’t want to pay a shed load of tax to have the benefit of personal which wouldn’t be used.

You wouldn’t especially as it appears to be a pool car

If it’s classed as a pool car, why are you paying BIK on it?
Teachers pet (brownest nose employee, usually gets the pool car so they don’t pay tax).
Just leave it there if its a problem.

I think you’ve just answered you own question. If it’s company owned and used as a pool car, then that is exactly what it should be. Sounds to me the company have not run the scheme (either) correctly and are trying best of both worlds which is 1 illegal and 2 doesn’t work. I’d be getting it written off on your tax code, you can do this through finance.

It’s always seemed wrong in my eyes.
Think small family business with 9 employees not big corporation by the way.

I take car home but am taxed as benefit in kind.

During work hours it’s a pool car, everyone uses it.

Eh? I’m no expert, but surely it’s either your car or it isn’t. Is it listed as your car on your P11D?

I take car home but am taxed as benefit in kind.

During work hours it’s a pool car, everyone uses it.

something wrong in there. You shouldn’t be paying full BIK on a pool car. AFAIK you have the right to say that as you pay the full BIK no other staff can get to use it and then you can have bike racks, dogs and messy kids in it anyway.

I could be wrong though 🙂