Cycling UK Forum

Apparently the government have launched a new scheme to encourage people to cycle to work to reduce the amount of cars and pollution on the roads as well as getting people fitter.

I would love to buy a bike to cycle to work (wouldn't want to use my MTB to cycle to work on roads but would I probably buy a sports hybrid or maybe a roadbike!) I've heard you can get about 50% off the normal SRP of a bike as the government and the govenrment are going to be building more cycling lanes and other essential safety features for cyclists.

I can't seem to find much info about the scheme on the internet and would be really greateful if anyone knows anymore...

Hi Stu
Don't think this is a particularly new scheme. You have to get your company to sign up - in my case its proved a little difficult but apparently they've recently given the go-ahead so I'll hopefully be on a shiny new bike some time soon!
I think various dealers can opt in and out of the scheme. I have friends who've accessed the scheme through evans cycles - the link?
http://www.evanscycles.com/ride2work.jsp;jsessionid=8384FB1933542C4DD8432E6AC4150099.tc7
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here's another link.
http://www.cyclescheme.co.uk/

Thanks for the info hubgearfreak and grw!

A friend e-mailed me some more really useful information about how the scheme works here:

www.cyclesolutions.co.uk

www.dft.gov.uk/pgr/sustainable/cycling/ ... mentat5732

The scheme is indeed a superb way of encouraging people to buy bikes, the best way to sell the scheme to your employer is that they naturally save on you NI contribution giving them an incentive as well.

IMO the government need to find an easier way for employers to process the scheme, in our experience it does often seem that employers need to be nagged into submission to get them to do it, sometimes customers have failed to get them, this I have heard of on more than one occasion, intresting to note that this has normally been when the company is the UK branch of a foreign Company. As such many a few 'middle men' have come on board to take over the paperwork for the employer, funded by the retailer who pay a commison to the company who adminster the paperwork on behalf of the employer, the retailer of course must be signed up with the relevant 'middle men'.

The result has pros and cons, some of the pros are that some employers have introduced and then promoted the scheme when they may not have bothered otherwise, of course the retailer may also get a sale that they may have not got otherwise; at least that is what their salesmen keep telling us . One of the cons is that the consumer must then buy the bike through one of the appointed retailers, which as they are charged by the 'middle man' the retailer may then be reluctant to sell you certain bikes, for example if they have one reduced to clear, they may not be able to supply that bike and then pay the 'middle man' their commision, resulting overall in possible less choice for the consumer.

Paul Smith
www.bikeplus.co.uk

Sporty Stu wrote:Apparently the government have launched a new scheme to encourage people to cycle to work to reduce the amount of cars and pollution on the roads as well as getting people fitter.

I would love to buy a bike to cycle to work (wouldn't want to use my MTB to cycle to work on roads but would I probably buy a sports hybrid or maybe a roadbike!) I've heard you can get about 50% off the normal SRP of a bike as the government and the govenrment are going to be building more cycling lanes and other essential safety features for cyclists.

I can't seem to find much info about the scheme on the internet and would be really greateful if anyone knows anymore...

It depends on how much tax you pay and whether your company will claim back the VAT and pass it on to you (they're under no obligation to do so) as to how much money you'll save.y

But it's going to be at least a 3rd.

My company used Halfords this year and they offered an extra 15% on the voucher value for accessories.

I bought a Brompton for when I don't fancy taking my road bike or MTB (I'm lucky enough to have a 9 mile off road route to get home) and will use it with public transport. The voucher I needed was for £700, it got topped up by Halfords to £805 and by the time the year is up I will have paid £448 back plus £20 to buy the bike from my company at the end of the lease.

Not bad huh?

Oh, and if anyone does end up on the Halfords scheme, contact the head office in Redditch (details on their website) and they will tell you how to buy a bike they don't stock (such as a brommie) through a 3rd party. You're not limited to their stock.

Gazza

This is not as straight forward as it may seem. Search for Department for Transport DFT, then use their search for cycle to work.
Basically your employer purchases the bike lights helmet etc (max £1000). You then rent from them under a purchase scheme, the money is deducted before tax & NI so you do not pay both on that part. This also means you pay less pension contributions (less money when older). This is payed back over at least 1 year, at the end of the agreement you do not own the bike and the employer can sell it to who they like (it might be you not guaranteed). Various bike retailers operate the scheme doing all the paperwork but you pay a price you agreed at the start and must be new.
If it is stolen or damaged beyond repair you keep paying.
It can work out cheaper to buy in a sale or second hand.

Edwards wrote:This is not as straight forward as it may seem. Search for Department for Transport DFT, then use their search for cycle to work.
Basically your employer purchases the bike lights helmet etc (max £1000). You then rent from them under a purchase scheme, the money is deducted before tax & NI so you do not pay both on that part. This also means you pay less pension contributions (less money when older). This is payed back over at least 1 year, at the end of the agreement you do not own the bike and the employer can sell it to who they like (it might be you not guaranteed). Various bike retailers operate the scheme doing all the paperwork but you pay a price you agreed at the start and must be new.
If it is stolen or damaged beyond repair you keep paying.
It can work out cheaper to buy in a sale or second hand.

You're right on most counts.

Your reduced payments shouldn't affect your state pension. I work for HMRC and will do some digging around, however in a FAQ I read on the scheme some time back it was stated that future state benefits (and current such as tax credits) are uneffected.

If the bike is stolen you keep paying. This would be the same for a hire purchase agreement. Or if you'd bought the bike outright you'd lose your money then too. This is hardly a problem witht he scheme but a problem with bike ownership. One that's sovled with insurance (in all cases)

As I said in my previous post, you do indeed lease the bike from your company and at the end you have to buy the bike from the company. You should exepct to pay somehwere between 2% - 5% of the cycle value. My lease contract with the company offers me the option of buying the bike at the end of the lease period.

If you're buying a new bike, I think it's hard to beat this deal. I'm paying approximately half the bikes worth over 12 months.

Obviously, if you can get a better deal, then you'd be fool not to pursue it. For my brommie, I couldn't find such a deal.

The cycle scheme has been running for 9 years or so now and I've not heard one negative report as yet.

Gazza

Just found this info... kinda scary what we do to our environment!

Cycling England analysed the carbon commutes of the 6.6 million employees who use cars or buses to travel less than five miles to work, as part of its campaign to promote Bike Week (16-24 June).

Staggeringly, if each of these target commuters were to cycle during the five working days of Bike Week, they would save over 44,000 tonnes of CO2, pocketing around £61 million in the process through economising on fuel and fare costs.

A week’s pedal power would save the equivalent carbon generated by more than 102 million kWh of electricity. To put this into perspective, over six million people freewheeling during just one week saves enough CO2 to:

offset the domestic emissions generated by heating more than 16,700 houses for a year
balance out the emissions generated by more than 205 million standard light bulbs in just one day
ill 8,800 hot air balloons

At the moment, 78 per cent of all commuters drive or are driven to work, generating a weekly CO2 footprint of more than 341,000 tonnes. However, Cycling England predicts that more “carbon-conscious commuters” will begin to consider cycling to work, with many testing out their wheels over Bike Week. 600,000 people already cycle to work, saving a weekly tally of almost 5,250 tonnes.

More than 6.6 million people make work-based journeys of under five miles, and these short-distance commuters are the target for the government organisation’s new campaign, as their journeys could most easily be switched from car/bus to bicycle, saving them almost £500 a year in the process.

This is my point exactly, the government need to make the scheme simple, that way the more HR departments may actually promote the scheme than do now as the administraion would be less of a deterent; the empoyer has an incentive of course even now, but if the whole thing was easier this incentive would to them seem far more attractive

Paul Smith
www.bikeplus.co.uk

Edwards wrote:This is not as straight forward as it may seem. Search for Department for Transport DFT, then use their search for cycle to work.
Basically your employer purchases the bike lights helmet etc (max £1000). You then rent from them under a purchase scheme, the money is deducted before tax & NI so you do not pay both on that part. This also means you pay less pension contributions (less money when older). This is payed back over at least 1 year, at the end of the agreement you do not own the bike and the employer can sell it to who they like (it might be you not guaranteed). Various bike retailers operate the scheme doing all the paperwork but you pay a price you agreed at the start and must be new.
If it is stolen or damaged beyond repair you keep paying.
It can work out cheaper to buy in a sale or second hand.

Is the scheme really that hard to administer?

If an HR manager signs up for a scheme who does the administration of it - the business or the company supplying the bikes?

I got the impression from reading info on sites like www.cyclesolution.co.uk and www.cyclescheeme.co.uk that the scheme is very simple to implement and run as all the administration is done for you? I think these companies might offer more administration than if your business decided to get its bikes from a bike retailerlike Halfords or Evans?

Those two links indeed look like the middle men that I mentioned above (assume you actually mean www.cyclescheme.co.uk ) who offer to take on the paperwork; for a fee of course.

Otherwise normally the HR dept'/accountant would complete all the adminstration unless they have links to one of the schemes of course, the retailer then supplies the bike to the customer as normal, as such they can offer any of the normal products, including special offers as I outlined in the Pros and Cons of my earlier post.

So unfortunately in answer to your question "Is the scheme really that hard to administer?" Then to some employers it seems to be, even though they have a financial incentive many do not feel it warrants the time and effort to do, even though they save money themselves, I know of several customers who have had to nag their employers into submission to get them to agree.

To an extent it is understandable, especially for a small business who may not have an HR department that spends time on this kind of thing, many struggle to do tasks that are a necessity let alone indulgent perks like this. Suprisingly though many who have struggled with their employer in this way have worked for large companies, some of who even promote themselves as being environmentally friendly.

Paul Smith
www.bikeplus.co.uk

Sporty Stu wrote:Is the scheme really that hard to administer?

If an HR manager signs up for a scheme who does the administration of it - the business or the company supplying the bikes?

I got the impression from reading info on sites like www.cyclesolution.co.uk and www.cyclescheeme.co.uk that the scheme is very simple to implement and run as all the administration is done for you? I think these companies might offer more administration than if your business decided to get its bikes from a bike retailerlike Halfords or Evans?

Our Company used to use Booost (www.booost.uk.com) and these acted as agents for the scheme handling all but the smallest amount of administration.

My company used Halfords this year, and they also administer the scheme on behalf of our company. As you’re not limited to the Halfords range it doesn’t work out too bad offering incentives such as free accessories. I got 15% of my voucher value.

There are plenty of agents about (some of them are the big cycle store chains) only too willing to run the scheme for your employer. Most work on a sales or commissions basis so it’s free to you and your employer.

BTW, the employer gets tax relief too, so the more people they get to take up the scheme, the more money they save. Just in case they need a little push . . .

Gazza

I copied the above from the DFT website, also there is a lot there about qualifying journeys. If you are thinking of joining the scheme I suggest that look at this site and find out more.
I think it is a good idea but do not like things like if you leave your employer the rest of the money will be deducted from your final pay, also the part about paying the employer compensation.

The feedback that I have got from customers who have bought through the scheme is that it depends on the type of accountantthe employer uses.

By this I mean that some accountants do everything exactly to the letter (or should that be to the number) and shall we simply say that some use accountants work every angle and utalise every loophole to work the system (hope that makes sense), if the latter then often the customer will just buy the bike, then as far as all parties are concerned the net amount is all they pay.

Paul Smith
www.bikeplus.co.uk

Edwards wrote:






I copied the above from the DFT website, also there is a lot there about qualifying journeys. If you are thinking of joining the scheme I suggest that look at this site and find out more.
I think it is a good idea but do not like things like if you leave your employer the rest of the money will be deducted from your final pay, also the part about paying the employer compensation.