Ramifications of selling my car when I get company car.

kremmen

I have just landed a job which comes with a company car ( condition of the job ) .:j
I have decisions to make . Hopefully I can find out how to use this for personal use and the costs . If it is financially reasonable I have thought about selling my car ( keeping my motorcycle )
If I sell my personal car I would obviously save running, tax , insurance costs but I think I will lose my no claims allowance when I give up the job.
Does anyone know if continued insurance on a motorcycle will count towards a no claims discount? ( Planning on being in the job for up to 5 years )
Plus ..... have I forgotten anything else I should take into consideration?

Thanks.

Paul

jaybeetoo

When you sell your private car your NCD will last for 2 years before you lose it (for most insurance companies).

You can't automatically transfer your motorcycle NCD to a car although companies like Carole Nash have deals for customer who have motorcycle insurance with them and now wish to take out car insurance.

If you don't have an accident in your company car, when you come to having a private car again, your company car lease company can provide a letter about your claims history which many insurance companies will accept to give you an introductory NCD.

Don't forget you will be taxed on your company car, normally through a change of tax code, so don't forget to inform HMRC.

caliew

Hi I have worked in insurance for a number of years and I have just left due to childcare. The no claims bonus on a private car can tend to be frozen from 2 - 3 years depending on which underwriter picks this up once reinstated. Usually no claims bonuses are not transferable from car to bike and vice versa, however there may be a specialist underwriter out there that can do that but in my experience I have never stumbled across one.

Also I have a friend who has a company car and bear in mind he is charged more on his income tax as he has a company car so that is another thing you may need to look into.

Hope this helps

starrystarry

caliew wrote: »

Hi I have worked in insurance for a number of years and I have just left due to childcare.

It's like Groundhog Day on this board these days.

ChemistDude

Just insure yourself on a family members car - preferably a low insurance group car. That way you keep your no claims over next 5 years.

maddogb

not having had a company car for a few years now but when I last did I found it a complete waste of time.
If you have the space to park it up and can resist the temptation to use it ask the company if they allow a no use policy, I was told by my boss the taxman will look for threats of serious discipline of caught using before they can agree to allow it.


The thing is if you have a company car you are probably doing some serious miles, I did 40,000 in the first year at that last position.
The last thing I wanted to do was drive when not working and my wife had a car so mainly she drove for leisure outings,
The previous comments are reasonably accurate, though I did have a bit of trouble when returning to my own car, satisfying the conditions required to allow some of my no claim period as a company car driver to be used as NCD.
The taxation is quite considerable now as well it, unless you have a really low emission company car I think the tax rate is averaging about 22-23% and this is doubled if you take a fuel allowance as well.
To give and example if the car is about £20,000 at the HRMC valuation, taking both private use and fuel would wipe out about 10,000 of your tax free allowance about 2,000 in real money.
You got to ask yourself if the car is worth that to you.
As stated I found that the average private mileage I was doing was no way worth the money it was costing me, taxis were cheaper.

kremmen

Thanks for the advice. I was told at the interview that I would have to use the car for travelling between multiple work locations. The total milage isn't going to be much ( max 40 miles a day ) but I am aware of other people who have asked not to have a car and this has been refused. The employer is a non departmental public body and quite inflexible on the matter.
I am a named driver on my sons car already as I do use it occasionally maybe that will keep me in the system.
Paul

maddogb

there's a difference between taking/having the car and having access for personal use, your really need to add up the figures, see if your intended personal use will equate to the guestimated £180ish a month you will pay ( might be more or less) if you accept personal use of the vehicle.
It might be better to bung your boy a few quid a month for use of his car if you can work it.

caliew

Sorry to the benefit of starrystarry I know just giving my credentials beforehand 5 years in insurance in last job, 3 years service management degree and 10 years in former work in home/motor/social. Just to give peace of mind I am not picking answers up out of thin air, I will stop that now.

kremmen

Just an update to say that I have had some information from someone who already has a company car in this organisation. He says that the deal is that the company will lease , insure , mot etc a car for me and all I have to do is put petrol in it .
I then claim back the cost of petrol for work ( rate unknown )
Apparently the lease deal is for a basic Corsa or similar and I can upgrade to a "better" car for a monthly payment.
I understand that my employer will advise the HMRC and then there is no more cost to me. I await confirmation from the employer.

Paul