Cycle to Work - £1000 limit

thistle_

Morning!

Is the £1000 limit on cycle to work scheme bikes at some companies (like ours) down to the employer not having the required consumer credit licence, or is it due to the scheme provider (e.g. Cyclescheme)?

We have people coming in to talk to answer questions about the cycle to work scheme (among other things) but it's only people from the company that administers our benefits programme, not anybody from our HR department so I was wondering if there's any point asking them if they can up the £1000 limit or if I need to be finding out who in our company I need to ask.

hopkinb

Section 9 of the bumf here should help. I think as a matter of policy, helping people who can afford to buy £5k bikes to do so tax-free would be a bit of a no-no. It does seem possible, but the guidance suggests this is appropriate in only a few specific circumstances, e.g. if a disabled person needs cycling equipment costing >£1000.

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/s ... idance.pdf

oxoman

Tends to be down to the retailer in my experience. If your willing to put extra cash down plus the C2W voucher within reason a lot of places will allow it. Just don't expect to put 2k cash against one. Personally i would go for 0% interest deal myself as less hassle at work. You will also find some retailers will charge full RRP against a C2W voucher or add a handling fee. Look for sale bikes possibly and get 0% finance on it would be my suggestion if you can.

thistle_

DfT wrote:

If employers .... wish to offer packages in excess of £1000, they will need to obtain a
standard consumer credit licence to cover that business.

I guess that means that it's my employer that needs the CCL (or exemption from FCA rules as it now is) to offer bikes over £1000, not the scheme provider (e.g. cyclescheme).

I was thinking more of a general case, rather than a exceptional circumstances, the guidance for that is pretty sensible.

I think the limit on the group licence/exemption has been £1000 since the scheme started, with no increases for inflation etc.

fenix

£1000 still gets you a really nice bike.

tangled_metal

It makes sense to me because it's a cycle to work scheme and do you really need a £1000+ commuter? Want one is different.

Of course everyone buys for personal use too but officially you're supposed to use it mostly for commuting I always thought. However if true his is true and things were somehow checked up on then I wonder if the take up would be as high.

As a lower tax rate employee it's not much of a saving. I can get more shopping around in the end of year clearances. Add in interest free deals on clearance/sale prices and up to 3 years in some shops. Why bother with the C2W scheme?

The Rookie

The £1K limit is due to the need for a consumer credit licence.

There is an argument (untested either way) that 'topping up' is tax evasion (criminal offence) by circumventing the rules of the scheme but many retailers allow it.

Or there is the person that buys a £100 BSO fitted with some £900 Zipp wheels which are then swapped to the good bike!

The Tax break requires the majority of journeys (not distance) to be for commuting.

redvee

The Rookie wrote:

The Tax break requires the majority of journeys (not distance) to be for commuting.

Only rode my C2W bike to work six times in the time I had it, kept to the other bike I was happy to use in all weathers but nobody checked which bike I rode.
I did end up with a £1100 bike and guards and rack for my £1k voucher with no input from myself. Retailer suggested one bike but wasn't available for several weeks so offered me an alternative which was dearer and forgot to charge me for the rack and guards.

UndercoverElephant

Tangled Metal wrote:

It makes sense to me because it's a cycle to work scheme and do you really need a £1000+ commuter? Want one is different.

Oi! You! Off to Commuting General and think about what you just said.

Tsk!

dhope

UndercoverElephant wrote:

Tangled Metal wrote:

It makes sense to me because it's a cycle to work scheme and do you really need a £1000+ commuter? Want one is different.

Oi! You! Off to Commuting General and think about what you just said.

Tsk!

Just to get things back on track, you can now blow the whole £1k on Rapha clothing
http://pages.rapha.cc/cyclescheme
:twisted:

UndercoverElephant

dhope wrote:

UndercoverElephant wrote:

Tangled Metal wrote:

It makes sense to me because it's a cycle to work scheme and do you really need a £1000+ commuter? Want one is different.

Oi! You! Off to Commuting General and think about what you just said.

Tsk!

Just to get things back on track, you can now blow the whole £1k on Rapha clothing
http://pages.rapha.cc/cyclescheme
:twisted:

Did that once - not on Rapha though. Did without a new bike and got a load of tools and reflective clothing instead. Castelli, Park Tools, etc. Lovely.

Was slightly miffed I couldn't get parts, though.

fenix

Grrrr - my employer is massive and still won't sign up to C2W. Annoying.

daniel_b

dhope wrote:

UndercoverElephant wrote:

Tangled Metal wrote:

It makes sense to me because it's a cycle to work scheme and do you really need a £1000+ commuter? Want one is different.

Oi! You! Off to Commuting General and think about what you just said.

Tsk!

Just to get things back on track, you can now blow the whole £1k on Rapha clothing
http://pages.rapha.cc/cyclescheme
:twisted:

That is Hilarious!

chilling

I think it depends on the shop.

I bought my last bike with C2W voucher through Evans. They were quite happy for me to top up the extra £250.

Last year I used my C2W voucher to buy 'safety equipment and clothing' So a lot of Castelli and Oakleys

They wouldn't cover a Garmin though as that's not safety related.

Initialised

https://greencommuteinitiative.uk/employers/ has been set up for e-bikes but you don't have to buy an e-bike and there's no limit. I'm considering it for a new mountain bike