Money Moral Dilemma: Should I take out a new train season ticket loan and invest it?

Roddieee

I would be very careful on this one, There will be terms and conditions on the loan which will state that you must use it to buy a travel ticket. I got caught out with this years ago working for a high street betting shop. Read your staff handbook or contract and this will almost certainly put you off. They could term it misuse of company funds and you will end up with a P45 to go with the loan.

_theinsider

Surely the obvious thing to do is not take a new loan but invest/save the extra money you have available each month from not making the loan repayments? It means you don't have a lump sum up front but also means you won't run into any problems with your employer.

Udai

antonic said:

I am a Civil Servant and I can apply for a season ticket loan (which I do every year).
Once bought I then have a month to show that I have bought the ticket, if I don`t its Gross Misconduct as I have breached the rules of the scheme , and the penalty for such a breach is dismissal.
You need to check your T&C`s in your staff handbook as the only thing you may win is the dismissal lottery.

Exactly what antonic said. But this does not affect tax and is not part of the BIK scheme. A benefit in kind is not paid back to the employer but a 0% travel card loan is paid back monthly. 

SteveGPS

You will not just get in trouble with your employer - it's a tax break at the same time, so if it isn't used for the intended purpose you can be chased for tax on the amount as well, as it will be classed as income and not a loan

annieshb

Strikes me that your employer will know that you aren’t commuting and if you take loan on false pretext it could sour your relationship and affect your employment prospects in the longer term. Personally I wouldn’t promote someone I knew to be devious.
thereis also the issue of supporting your employer as they have supported you by enabling you to work from home on full pay rather than 80% furloughed.
interest rates are so low at present too.

Comes down to whether you feel potentially souring your relationship with your employer is worth it.

meknowalot-51

How much? for starters and have you really thought this through?If it was that easy and you could borrow 50k plus then maybe,but something tells me your looking at a few hundred.Small print would be the place to start and take note of what others have said,you will get caught out,then what?For all the potential hastle doing something like this will cause i would say bin the idea and keep your distance.

REJP

You would be stealing.  Your employer would know this because you would be getting the loan but not coming to work.  I agree with comments that it is probably against the terms of the loan, which is clearly for travel purposes to get you to work.  If I was your employer I would sack you for misuse of the loan.

hairywalrus

Jeremy535897 said:

I assume this is a benefit in kind, 

That's not likely. Employee loans under £10k are exempt.

squirrel59

You'd be lying to your employer and for what? The few quid you might make? If you're used to a certain sum coming out of your salary, use that to buy Premium Bonds (or whatever you'd like to do) every month. It'll be a much happier, much more sensible thing to do.

Jeremy535897

hairywalrus said:

Jeremy535897 said:

I assume this is a benefit in kind, 

That's not likely. Employee loans under £10k are exempt.

In aggregate, yes. Good point.