What is a season ticket loan 7 April 2005 at 3:39PM edited 30 November -1 at 1:00AM in Loans 13 replies 13.4K views

gazsux

I've seen a few of these (season ticket loans) offered with decent jobs but have been unable to find out what they are and can be used for when Googling. Any ideas?

newfoundglory

Do you know what, I actually don't know! I've seen these with jobs too though. I suspect they are the employer offering interest-free loans for a fixed period, or maybe a loan where you don't have to start repayments for a given amount of time?

newfoundglory

Aaaah, makes sense now!

:beer:

tomh_2

Yep, it's a way for people to get an annual travelcard with the company paying up front, then i guess deducting a twelfth off your wages each month...

(e.g. instead of paying £18.50 pre week * 52 = £962 per year for a zone 1, the company pays the £740 up front and you pay them £14.23 per week out of your wages)

gazsux

Cheers for that. So it's more of a nice thing to have than a major benefit.

Thanks!

BenL

I have that facility at work.

Some people use them for annual rail tickets and others for car park contracts.

Interest free and pay it back out of your wage each month over 12 months

Ben

Bargain_Rzl

I have the option of one. My season ticket (London zones 1-4) costs a bit over £1100, and I used to take the loan because I did not have the cashflow to pay for an annual ticket, but wanted the benefits (better value for money, free built-in Network Railcard etc).

A couple of years ago I saved for the following year's ticket while still paying the instalments on the loan, and bought my next annual ticket outright. But since discovering this website I've decided that this July, when I next renew, I'm going to take the loan again just so as to earn a few quid in interest by having my cash in my account for an extra year!

isasmurf

I take the loan, stick it in high interest savings account, and buy my season ticket on a 0% credit card deal. So the loan remains in my savings account for a whole year!

DebtEverest

My company allows you to get a season ticket loan and pay it back over 6 or 10 months. This works out nicely for me as it means for November and December I have an extra 300 a month that can pay for christmas!

Some companies, however, mine included, insist on purchasing the ticket for you so that you cant get a 0% loan from them and then stash it in the bank.

Bargain_Rzl

DebtEverest wrote:

Some companies, however, mine included, insist on purchasing the ticket for you so that you cant get a 0% loan from them and then stash it in the bank.

My company insists that a photocopy of the season ticket is submitted to them within x number of days of the loan being issued. It's the same thing. But you can still gain financially from it by earning interest for the rest of the year on the cash you would have spent on the ticket if the loan was not available.

An ex-colleague got the sack over misappropriation of her season ticket loan - that is, she spent it on something else!

Debt_Free_Chick

Al_Mac wrote:

A loan given by your employer to buy your season, travel ticket. Popular in London, might be a taxable bemefit.

:beer:

Not any more

http://www.inlandrevenue.gov.uk/pdfs/ir176.htm

The new Travel Plan is designed to encourage transport, other than by car, to & from work and for business travel.