Cycle to work scheme - is it worth it?

mcfisco

DCodd wrote: »

I always thought that the you could only buy a bike at the list price? I was informed that even though there were retailers selling the previous years Croix De Fer models at £999.99 the C2W scheme would disallow it as it's list price was £1049.99.

Was I given duff information?

The limiting factor is the admin fee that the retailer needs to pay to the scheme.
If they knocked £50 off and sold you the bike @ £999.99 and took the voucher as payment, the best they could hope for when cashing it in would be £900.
This probably wouldn't apply to the very few firms that administer their own scheme though

eagle_eye

I thought this was a no brainer too until I saw some of the posts on here. I got my 2 bikes a Giant Road bike and a Specialized MTB on a cycle to work scheme about 6 years ago. I worked for a large Finance company and was made redundant soon after getting the bikes. I don't know whether that had a bearing on the scheme but I don't remember paying a final payment and if there was such a thing it was minimal. Whether it's worth it depends on whether you will use the bikes or not but I seem to recall that you only had to use the bike for part of your journey to meet the conditions. So you could always cycle to the station if work was too far. I still have the bikes and I don't regret getting either of them.

Oh and as I was a high rate tax payer I got 40% off the list price.

pinkteapot

My employer has a cunning trick that put me off using Cycle to Work. In the year after you sign up for it, you're only allowed an "occasional user" parking permit for the car park, which means you can only park your car here two days a week.

It's good really - most employers don't bother checking you're actually cycle commuting so you can buy a bike for use at home with the scheme. Mine does force you to use it as you won't be able to park your car every day (unless you pay the horrific visitor pay and display cost).

After hearing the new Cycle to Work scheme setup, and the fact that I would have to keep cycling in three days a week in the depths of winter, I decided just to buy the bike myself.

stevemcol

pinkteapot wrote: »

My employer has a cunning trick that put me off using Cycle to Work. In the year after you sign up for it, you're only allowed an "occasional user" parking permit for the car park, which means you can only park your car here two days a week.

It's good really - most employers don't bother checking you're actually cycle commuting so you can buy a bike for use at home with the scheme. Mine does force you to use it as you won't be able to park your car every day (unless you pay the horrific visitor pay and display cost).

After hearing the new Cycle to Work scheme setup, and the fact that I would have to keep cycling in three days a week in the depths of winter, I decided just to buy the bike myself.

That's a bit unfair since many people choose to ride in everyday during BST then use the car during GMT.

pinkteapot

stevemcol wrote: »

That's a bit unfair since many people choose to ride in everyday during BST then use the car during GMT.

Yep.

I work for a university with 12,000 students and 2,000 staff. They have lockers for cyclists which are great...

Except they have 20 of them. 20! I'm on the waiting list but don't have much hope of getting one before I retire.

Dave_the_Ginger_Cat

For me it was a borderline cost saving due to the change in the way residual amounts are worked out.

Had I got mine in the sale, I may have got about the same value. The one good thing for me is that it focused my mind, and made me buy one - I would have procrastinated for longer had I not had a deadline

mikeysmith

Cant understand some peoples logic ....why would you pay the FMV the government has issued. surely the best option is to pay for the extended use option (7% if the cycle is £500+, 3% if less than £500 and after 3 years the cycle is yours to keep with no extra cost !!

Yorkie1

mikeysmith wrote: »

Cant understand some peoples logic ....why would you pay the FMV the government has issued. surely the best option is to pay for the extended use option (7% if the cycle is £500+, 3% if less than £500 and after 3 years the cycle is yours to keep with no extra cost !!

I wasn't offered that option - it was either return it (and pay a large admin fee into the bargain), or pay a substantial final payment fee (the sums changed during the scheme).

Mids_Costcutter

If it helps to make a comparison here is the link to the AA's running costs calculator (2013 for petrol cars):

http://www.theaa.com/resources/Documents/pdf/motoring-advice/running-costs/petrol2013.pdf

As most people will own a bicycle for more than one year, even if you own a car and leave it at home for your daily commute then cycling will always be cheaper. That's assuming you're buying a new bike that cost a few hundred pounds, not thousands!

thatlemming

Mids_Costcutter wrote: »

If it helps to make a comparison here is the link to the AA's running costs calculator (2013 for petrol cars):

http://www.theaa.com/resources/Documents/pdf/motoring-advice/running-costs/petrol2013.pdf

As most people will own a bicycle for more than one year, even if you own a car and leave it at home for your daily commute then cycling will always be cheaper. That's assuming you're buying a new bike that cost a few hundred pounds, not thousands!

Surely those insurance costs are way out? The cheapest on there is 667 or something, I didn't even pay that much at 17! Paid just under £300 last year as a 21 year old, so I can't imagine there'd be many people paying sooo much more?! My car wasn't brand new but it was only a couple years old, it wasn't a banger.

Who knows. I sold my car last month and bought a bike for just over 2k instead. Insurance is less than £100 and that includes race insurance. I have no need to drive anymore, my work, uni and home are in the same city, and my parents live 35 miles away which is an easy cycle ride.