Giving a friend lifts to work, am I wrong for charging him?

chesky

It's not terribly clear from the OP but the £25 might be for more than one week.

annandale

I was responding to the poster above me who mentioned 10 pounds a week. What I don't get is how the OP wanted ten then said that he wanted at least 30 but could go to 25. Quite a large jump from 10 to 30 but hey, sure it will make sense to some.

Just a bit confusing as to how the OP proposed 10 then said 20 wasn't enough, doesn't make sense to me at all. But am sure it will to some so fair enough.

annandale

Not clear at all. Anyway hope you get it all sorted one way or another

arbroath_lass

annandale wrote: »

I was responding to the poster above me who mentioned 10 pounds a week. What I don't get is how the OP wanted ten then said that he wanted at least 30 but could go to 25. Quite a large jump from 10 to 30 but hey, sure it will make sense to some.

Just a bit confusing as to how the OP proposed 10 then said 20 wasn't enough, doesn't make sense to me at all. But am sure it will to some so fair enough.

The £25 is for the 4 weeks as I read it OP originally asked for £40 (£10 per week)

Sorry OP friends pay their way your "friend" is a scrounger.

gettingtheresometime

The other thing I'd look into is what would happen should you have an accident with the friend as a paying passenger.

springdreams

arbroath_lass wrote: »

The £25 is for the 4 weeks as I read it OP originally asked for £40 (£10 per week)

Sorry OP friends pay their way your "friend" is a scrounger.

This is the same way I read it.

Voyager2002

Personally, if a friend offered to drive me to the place where we both worked I would make my own way to her/his house.

There are two aspects to this:
1. the journey between the OP's home and work place. Allowing someone to ride for a trip that is being done anyway costs very little. If the person is a friend then a zero or nominal charge would be appropriate, but with the friend feeling an obligation to buy drinks or maybe fill up the petrol tank on appropriate occasions;
2. the extra bit between the friend's house and the OP's home. Doing this is a real favour, and a fair price would include the OP's time; petrol; depreciation of the car... basically something similar to the cost of doing this distance with Uber would be appropriate.

PeacefulWaters

Car insurance is unlikely to allow you to profit from this.

HMRC values wear and tear on the car as 45p a mile. If he is in the car for 4 miles each way that's 40 miles in a five day week.

45 x 40 = £18 so half that (you pay your share) makes £9 a week reasonable without you turning a profit. Divide by three if you only want a petrol contribution.

Yes, it's reasonable to ask.

Pollycat

Jlawson118 wrote: »

His friends who drive claim he is also right and I am wrong.

Then let his friends pick him up and drive him to work.

TBH, he sounds a user to me and I wouldn't class him as a friend.
If you do continue to drive him, I'd tell him that he pays you £10 per week or makes his own arrangements.

FBaby

I also took it that he wants £10 each week but they settled to £25 a month.

I might be the only one, but I'm with your friend on the basis that it doesn't cost you much more in petrol since you are picking him on your way, so what you are charging him is for your inconvenience, and I do think this quite high paid for helping a friend, even if it means you have to go through traffic lights rather than the motorway.

The mother of one of my daughter's school mate suggested that she could picked up and bring back my daugther from school as she picked up hers whilst mine had to get on a bus and wait 25 minutes for it. We lived a few streets away. We didn't know each other at all by then. I of course suggested that I give her something for it but she insisted she didn't want anything. Similarly to you, it meant that she had to go another way to drop DD making the journey a bit longer, even though we are close by. I also said that she could just go back to her house and DD would walk home from there, but again, she said she didn't mind.

She did it for 3 years and each time I mentioned payment, she said she had no reason to accept anything since it didn't cost her anything. However, we became good friends in the process and I returned the favour every chance I got, picking them up/taking them to activity, looking after her DD when she needed to, and I got them each year quite expensive Christmas presents.

It sounds like this issue is likely to end up in the fall out of your friendship when he doesn't need your lift any longer. Friends are precious. Sometimes you do them a favour that is an inconvenience, but then they are there when you need them to do you a favour. That's what friends are for.