Can employer make employees lend out company car?

AstroTurtle

Normally I would just say "Yes" and you'd have to deal with the problem.


but this is an interesting one as there is more too it, it does seem rather unreasonable to expect you to have a side car for commuting to provide someone else with a car for a few days per week. Because you may as well hand it back all together.

steampowered

Normally, a company car would be part of the benefits package you get under your employment contract.

So regardless of the company owning the car, the employee would normally be contractually entitled to use the car as he/she fees fit.

This sounds very odd to me.

The starting point is to read his employment contract. If he is being denied use of part of his benefits package the employer should pay him additional salary to compensate!

Manxman_in_exile

As TELLITO1 and getmore4less suggest, this seems wholly impractical to me.


The OP's partner lives an hour from work, so how does his colleague pick up the car? If he takes it to work and she collects it from there, how does he get home? And how does she return it to him? Presumably at work, and then she goes home in her own car which she's left at work while she's been away. (*)


The employer needs to tell her to sort out her insurance!


(*) Of course I'm assuming the two employees live quite some distance apart. I suppose it could work if for instance they live very close together. But if the OP's partner has an hour commute it would be abit of a coincidence.

TELLIT01

The only way I can see such an arrangement working is if the person borrowing the car picked it up from work and it was guaranteed that the car would be back before the OP's partner finished work. As it would be impossible to have such a guarantee there would need to be something in writing to cover late return.
Is it the responsibility of the borrower to return the car to the OP's home and then find their own way home? Will the company pay for the OP's partner's additional travel costs to get home? Who pays for the petrol used when the car is borrowed?.......
It could always be suggested that the person borrowing the car has the OP's partner added to her car insurance and him then use that car when she has his.
It really doesn't look as if management have given any thought to the practicalities.

k3lvc

This all reminds me of the 90's and the '18,000 mile' rule for taxaton on company car drivers - from Jan onwards there was always a pile of keys in reception so that those who'd done their 18,000 could borrow someone elses car for their meetings that day and boost the miles on it :rotfl:

ohreally

What was the outcome?

hcb42

i dont see how an employer can force an employee to lend out a company car which is part of their benefits package and taxable, (significantly - mine has a taxable benefit of £7700 PA) - this is not a pool car.

I would refuse to give my car to a colleague for their business use and leave me and my family without when i am paying 40% on the above sum PA. Would i pick them up in the course of their duties - of course. Sounds like this company doesn't have their benefits sorted out and doesnt understand the difference between cars purely for work and taxed company cars

..and if ii opted out i would be a lot better off!

System

I would be most put out if I had to give over a car for nearly half a week and were still paying 100% of the tax. If it continues, I would take the money and run your own car to stop them abusing it. At my partner's company, there's so many cheapo employees who take the company car money and run rather than taking a car, then get as many people to pick them up and take them to meetings or borrow the pool car so they don't have to use theirs. OP sounds like this person wants the money, but still wants the convenience of having a car at the drop of the hat that they don't have to pay for. If OP has a fuel card, they could be missing out on £150+ a month benefit that they are paying the tax man for.