Green Commute Initiative - E-Bike C2W Scheme

[R120]

I was just mentioning this scheme in another thread, and it occurred to me it doesn't get talked about much on here - never used it myself but know people who have, and for a lot of users may be something that makes getting a decent bike a realistic option:

The cycle to work scheme with no £1000 limit - Green Commute Initiative

This is how they describe it on their website - again i am not endorsing or familiar with the scheme other than knowing about it, but could help a few of you out.

"Your employer buys a voucher which entitles you to the hire of a bike of your choice directly from us. Because we’re authorised by the FCA there is no £1,000 limit.

The cost of the voucher is the same as the bike so for a £1,500 bike the voucher is £1,500.

You repay the cost of the voucher by sacrificing a part of your gross (before tax & NI) salary. This means you save the tax and NI that you would pay if you bought the bike from your net (after tax) pay. Your employer also saves 13.8% employer’s NI. So it’s worth them doing it.

At the end of the initial hire period we can’t give you the bike because you would incur a tax liability. So we make you a free of charge loan of the bike for five years. After which you can buy the bike from us for £1.

We manage all the end of scheme arrangements so there is nothing for your employer to do and best of all no end of scheme sting as there is on old fashioned Cycle to Work schemes.'

 

[Dax]

Damn I wish I had known that existed when I bought my kenevo!

My one issue with these schemes is higher rate tax payers get a bigger saving, whereas the lower rate tax payers are more likely to need help buying a bike.

 

[Doomanic]

I should really suggest this to my employers. They use the C2W scheme, which is shit, and have a £1000/12month limit, which is shitter.

 

[Pottsy]

Just a word to the wise.
Some of these schemes e.g C2W, can impact on work pensions. The impact is relatively small and may only affect people who are close to pension age when they enter a scheme.

I'm not a pensions expert and I'm sure there will be one along soon but best to ask your employer before you buy the latest £10k carbon ebike as you are about to retire.

 

[MattyB]

I should really suggest this to my employers. They use the C2W scheme, which is shit, and have a £1000/12month limit, which is shitter.

Agreed, but getting an employer who is already with one C2W supplier to change to this one is probably harder than getting them to start a scheme from scratch. I know my employer (a big corporate) would be very difficult to convince as there is not much in it for them.

Damn I wish I had known that existed when I bought my kenevo!

My one issue with these schemes is higher rate tax payers get a bigger saving, whereas the lower rate tax payers are more likely to need help buying a bike.

Yes, and with the changes they have made in recent years around transfer of ownership at the end (which now often requires a decent sized payment of your bike is only 3 years old) have devalued the scheme for std rate payers. However I would question whether this GCI scheme will be allowed to survive long term with an unlimited top value - decent commuter ebikes are available for £1.5-2k, so if the Treasury see lots of people saving up to 42% on a £4-10k Levos (for instance) they are going to squish it quick as a flash.

 

[Allysnell]

Damn I wish I had known that existed when I bought my kenevo!

My one issue with these schemes is higher rate tax payers get a bigger saving, whereas the lower rate tax payers are more likely to need help buying a bike.

Yup me to.