Car Allowance?? Confused??

EllieA_3

Hey there,

Can anyone explain how car allowances work?? im just been offered and interview for a job that grants one.

I'm already happy in a job and wasn't really looking for new work but the person hiring hunted me out on the recomendation of an old boss of mine. I aced the telephone interview and the employer wants to see me face to face.

Because im really happy in my current job i want to seriously weigh up the pro's and con's before concidering the interview. It's in london and will cost about £150 to attend they've said i can claim the money back even if unsucessful but i don't want to waste anyones time or money if the job is unrealistic for me.

In short the sitution is something like this .. my current job involves me traveling about 30 miles a day so reasonably local and offer's no car allowance. (I guess it costs me around £250 a month to keep my car running presantly)

The new job will involve traveling daily, they've said most of thier contracts are in the "northwest" but admitted thier version of the northwest extended down as low as Birmingham and up into scotland. Though they did also say they would hope i wouldn't often travel for more than 2 hours daily in each direction.

Many of the pro's and con's are simple, the new job is a really good oppertunity for career advancement, but the traveling will mean i'm out of the house for alot longer daily and it's not a cushy 9-5 like the job i have presently.

Most of it i can work out.. but i have no idea how a car allowance figures into any of this?? I know it's an allowance to use towards a car but beyond that im clueless. I tried looking on the web and there's tons of info about this and that but nothing which simply explained how it works.

If im traveling upto 2 hours daily each way i guess that amounts to a huge amount of petrol. Is it as simple as £4,500 per year extra to go towards the petrol/car tax etc?? Because if thats the case im thinking if i get unlucky on locations i could end up seriously out of pocket very quickly?

Advice?

Thanks in Advance.

Sambucus_Nigra

We don't know if you will be offered the job at all; so my advice would be to attend and then see what's offered.

Car allowance is just that - to use towards a car. You should also ask about mileage allowance to cover the fuel. And also factor in the additional time, plus an hour each day on top of travel for traffic.

Do the calcs when an offer comes, and then decide.