Company wanting to take my fuel card

Devizes2008

Hi

I'm not sure in which forum I should have started this thread. Please move it to the most appropriate place - Thank you.

I have had a company car for over 10 years with a matching fuel card.

A couple of years ago I decided to accept the car allowance instead, but keep the fuel card.
The company now wants to abolish all fuel cards by giving me a deal that I don't see as attractive. I could start losing money.
Where do I stand? Can I refuse their offer and force them to continue offering the fuel card? In the end this is something that I have in my initial contract.

Could someone please help me with this subject?

caprikid1

Could it be argued that you have already accepted a change in terms by going for the allowance ? It seems strange to get an allowance and then expect a fuel card.


I guess it comes down to how much you want to annoy the company.

AdrianC

What does your employment contract ACTUALLY say? Exact wording, together with any subsequent exact wordings over your allowance.

But, no, it's VERY unlikely you can force them to continue offering any specific benefit-in-kind, especially individually where a company-wide scheme is being withdrawn.

DoaM

Look at your contract very carefully - you'll probably find that the company can withdraw or amend the fuel allowance unilaterally.

My company did this a couple of years or so ago. I have a company car but was never eligible for the fuel allowance. A colleague got his car long before me and his contract mentions a fully-funded vehicle (including fuel) ... the company withdrew the fuel element and substituted it with a form of allowance based on number of business versus personal miles, an annualised average of fuel prices, and an MPG figure based on a percentage of the manufacturer's published data ... even the percentage is never achieved in real world use. The company imposed this change and there was nothing the employees could do about it.

Sounds similar to what you're being offered.

Strider590

My mates father had a company car and fuel card, he used to take a number of us to various race tracks every weekend to watch various events, all on his company expense.
I imagine he would have been unhappy to lose his fuel card too.

AdrianC

Strider590 wrote: »

My mates father had a company car and fuel card, he used to take a number of us to various race tracks every weekend to watch various events, all on his company expense.
I imagine he would have been unhappy to lose his fuel card too.

Which is exactly why it's been all but taxed out of existence now.

For a 40% tax payer with a new diesel Focus, it costs about £2,000/year in additional tax - and that's only going to go up.

jimmy_cricket

My worry would be whether I could run a car for the convenience of my employer without it costing me. I'm expected to run a car for work and get a mileage allowance. It has not gone up for years. If they decided to cut it, or petrol prices increased much more, then I would not be able to,afford to provide a car

dingends

how high is the millage allowance? how many miles a year are you doing?
HMRC states the following: Rate per business mile 2016 to 2017
For tax purposes: 45 pence for the first 10,000 business miles in a tax year, then 25 pence for each subsequent mile For NI purposes: 45 pence for all business miles

rtho782

jimmy_cricket wrote: »

My worry would be whether I could run a car for the convenience of my employer without it costing me. I'm expected to run a car for work and get a mileage allowance. It has not gone up for years. If they decided to cut it, or petrol prices increased much more, then I would not be able to,afford to provide a car

Depending on your mileage you might be able to switch to a cheaper car.

I charge my employer 45p a mile for mileage in my electric car.... it's almost pure profit for me.