Increasing my Monthly salary sacrifice payments due to the delay in Car delivery

DazFleming5

Hi, 

I am looking to get a bit of advice for my girlfriend who was looking forward to getting a new car through her company salary sacrifice scheme. The company she works for use Tuskers and her order was placed in May 2022 for an MG ZS EV. The original delivery date was September 2022 yet this has been pushed back and back again without any certainty of when the car will eventually arrive (now stating end of April).

Today she received a call from Tuskers advising if the car doesn't arrive in the next 6months then they will have to re-evaluate the monthly costs as the Government incentive would no longer discount the car and that she would have to pay the extra. If she was to cancel the order then there would also be a cancellation fee.

My question is this, with the order being placed by her in May 2022 have Tuskers got the right to pass the additional costs across to her or should Tuskers be footing the bill? 

I look forward to any replies as I am unsure how the delays in car deliveries are affecting everything.

Thanks,

Darren

tightauldgit

You'd really have to look at the terms of the agreement between your GF and Tuskers and what it does and doesn't allow them to do. I would suspect that yes they would have terms that would say things like government incentives are not the responsibility of Tuskers to honour and that the costs will be based on the actual costs of the vehicle at the time of delivery etc. 

Being reasonable I'd like to think that if the car is becoming seriously delayed and there's a danger of the cost increasing significantly then Tuskers might at least allow you to cancel and select something else that is available but that doesn't mean that you are legally entitled to that. 

sheramber

They wonlt be able to apply frp the incentive until the car is delivered. if it is delivered after the incentive is no longer available then there is no incentive to had.

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

DazFleming5 said:

If she was to cancel the order then there would also be a cancellation fee.

I don't know anything about these agreements, a question for someone with more knowledge, is there any reason this doesn't fall under delivery of goods?

Give another deadline for delivery and then treat the contract at an end?

https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2015/15/section/28/enacted

(7)In any other circumstances, the consumer may specify a period that is appropriate in the circumstances and require the trader to deliver the goods before the end of that period.

(8)If the consumer specifies a period under subsection (7) but the goods are not delivered within that period, then the consumer may treat the contract as at an end.

(9)If the consumer treats the contract as at an end under subsection (6) or (8), the trader must without undue delay reimburse all payments made under the contract.

Alderbank

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head said:

DazFleming5 said:

If she was to cancel the order then there would also be a cancellation fee.

I don't know anything about these agreements, a question for someone with more knowledge, is there any reason this doesn't fall under delivery of goods?

One reason would be because this is not a contract between a trader and a consumer for purchase of goods.
It's a lease contract for services. For the duration of the lease the employee pays a monthly fee by salary sacrifice for a service which includes use of car, fully comprehensive insurance, annual road fund licence (road tax), replacement tyres, routine servicing and maintenance, etc. At the end of the lease the car is returned to its owner but the employee might be given the option to purchase. That purchase might be subject to CRA2015.

Tusker's T&Cs say:

Who is the vehicle agreement between?
The Salary Sacrifice Scheme is between the Employer and the Employee and the vehicle contract is between the Employer and the leasing company.

So the employee isn't even a party to the vehicle contract. Essentially it is a company car supplied by his employer (but the employee gives up some of his salary to pay towards it).

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

Alderbank said:

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head said:

DazFleming5 said:

If she was to cancel the order then there would also be a cancellation fee.

I don't know anything about these agreements, a question for someone with more knowledge, is there any reason this doesn't fall under delivery of goods?

One reason would be because this is not a contract between a trader and a consumer for purchase of goods.
It's a lease contract for services. For the duration of the lease the employee pays a monthly fee by salary sacrifice for a service which includes use of car, fully comprehensive insurance, annual road fund licence (road tax), replacement tyres, routine servicing and maintenance, etc. At the end of the lease the car is returned to its owner but the employee might be given the option to purchase. That purchase might be subject to CRA2015.

Tusker's T&Cs say:

Who is the vehicle agreement between?
The Salary Sacrifice Scheme is between the Employer and the Employee and the vehicle contract is between the Employer and the leasing company.

So the employee isn't even a party to the vehicle contract. Essentially it is a company car supplied by his employer (but the employee gives up some of his salary to pay towards it).

Thanks for explaining @Alderbank  

So if it's a service the CRA says terms are binding and where not met the consumer is entitled to a price reduction. 

Does this apply given they've not met the starting date for the service? 

Or is OP not a consumer because it's a company car so relating to their profession? 

Alderbank

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head said:

Or is OP not a consumer because it's a company car so relating to their profession? 

OP is not a consumer here, he is an employee. The deal is between employer and employee so is subject to employment law.
For example, salary sacrifice is not allowed if it would take the remaining salary below minimum wage. No such concept applies in consumer law.
Tuskers point out that since the car is classed as a company vehicle that smoking in it is illegal. No such restriction in a car bought by a consumer.

ETA: The OP might be better asking this question in Work, Benefits & Business.
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/categories/work-benefits-business

Jenni_D

Tuskers will be making that statement because the Gov put a(n extended) time limit on the grant due to delivery delays from COVID/chip shortages, and that time limit will soon expire. (The Plug-in Car Grant - PiCG - expired in June 2022, but the Gov extended the eligibility time frame for existing orders to 18 months from date of order. So she should still have until Nov 2023 for the car to be delivered to still qualify for the grant ... unless there's also a hard cut-off date that I'm not aware of).

unholyangel

Alderbank said:

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head said:

Or is OP not a consumer because it's a company car so relating to their profession? 

OP is not a consumer here, he is an employee. The deal is between employer and employee so is subject to employment law.
For example, salary sacrifice is not allowed if it would take the remaining salary below minimum wage. No such concept applies in consumer law.
Tuskers point out that since the car is classed as a company vehicle that smoking in it is illegal. No such restriction in a car bought by a consumer.

ETA: The OP might be better asking this question in Work, Benefits & Business.
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/categories/work-benefits-business

But if the contract for the vehicle is with tuskers and the employer only, under what legal right can tuskers enforce against the OP? It would seem to me any term they have allowing them to vary price or charge cancellation etc would be enforceable on the employer. The employer would then separately need to see if they could enforce that on OP and whether employment law allows them to do so. The OP (as employee) is an agent for the employer but there is no agency (unless they've signed something to that effect) which would allow the employer to enter the employee into a legally binding agreement and if there was, the contract would be between OP and tuskers, since the employer would be their agent. 

Also the smoking thing is due to health legislation and only applies where it's can be used by more than 1 person. Nothing to do with employment law or consumer law. That health legislation also applies if you own the car or lease it in your own name btw, if it's used primarily for work (although the terms of a personal lease could prohibit business travel that isn't ordinary commuting). 

And, respectfully, if it was a contract between tuskers and the OP then it would be a contract for the supply of goods. Something tangible is being supplied.
https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2015/15/section/6

sheramber

https://tuskercars.com/help-and-support/

• Who is the vehicle agreement between?
  The Salary Sacrifice Scheme is between the Employer and the Employee and the vehicle contract is between the Employer and the leasing company.

silvercar

We have cars through Tusker using the salary sacrifice scheme. When our first car was delayed we kept that order on the system and ordered a second car. That too was delayed so we cancelled the second car and ordered a third, the third one arrived, so we cancelled the first. Tusker were fine with this.