Office car V Own Vehicle

[luluj]

At present I own my own unreliable vehicle valued at £1500 maximum. I drive nearly 300 miles a week for work and 100 for personal - I receive a small monthly allowance from work for my travel to my "home" office 40 miles round trip but this covers the fuel not the wear and tear on my car.

I have an option of having an office car - I would pay out of my salary approx £100 a month - this would be for the car tax, insurance and service costs and would also include the tax mans bit. Anything went wrong with the car I would be able to have it repaired under the scheme therefore taking the worry of where to get the money for repairs from etc.

My IVA currently provides me a montly amount for my car maintenance of £80/month.

Question is do I sell my car and take up this option of a brand new 08 reg car or do I stick with my own 51 reg unreliable car?

[Adam Davies]

Hi
I would go for the new car,no question,your current allowance of £80 almost pays for it.
Keep your IP in the loop as your net pay will change,but confirm to them that it will not affect your IVA payments
Regards

[luluj]

My IP should not change my payments should they ? At the end of the day my net pay will go down by £100, but my current expenditure for my own vehicle of £80 will come back into the pot and therefore my ability to pay will not be affected - am I right????? I have a concern they will say that the £80 should now be paid into my IVA each month as well as a loss of net pay of £100????

[luluj]

If I sold my vehicle I suppose the money will have to be paid into the IVA ? No chance of retaining some of it for a rainy day fund???

[Adam Davies]

Hi
Your car proceeds will be yours to keep as it should be an excluded asset in your IVA.
Your IP will not ask for an increase as your net income will reduce,this will be counterbalanced by your expenditure reducing by £80
Nothing to worry about

[emma_t]

I have a company car as I drive approx 1200 miles per week and it is a godsend as i don't have any costs (apart from tax[:(])
It saves all hassle of having to service, tax and fill up with petrol and worry about anything going wrong.

I really don't know what I would do if I had to buy my own car as been in sales so long have always had company cars...

It sounds like it would suit you Luluj.

The only thing is I always check out the tax I will be paying as it depends on car value, emissions and any factory fitted extras. It is tempting to go right up to the budget we are allowed, but you do need to check as it varies from car to car.

[MelanieGiles]

Definately go with the car option, but make sure you are aware that your tax code will be affected and this will also reduce your salary further.

[emma_t]

If you find out details about the car you can go onto lots of sites to see what tax you will pay
I am sure there is one on the what car magazine website and it will tell you the tax implications - I wil try to find a link for you[:)]

[emma_t]

found it, just input car details,
http://www.whatcar.com/company-car-tax.aspx

I hope this is ok posting this link[:)]

[joh71262]

Make sure you get a P11D completed ASAP AND write to the tax office and send it recorded or registered so that you get a signature.

My local tax office lost my letters and it took them a year to sort things out which meant that I owed them money. I am now caught up but it was tough for the first couple of years.

I wouldn't be able to afford a car either and mine is a total godsend. Check whether your company offer a tradedown too. We have a list of cars per grade and if you trade down to the smallest car (Mini Cooper - who wouldn't have one ??!!), you get the difference between the value of the two cars paid into your salary ! Pays for the tax on the petrol in my case.

[luluj]

Thanks for the advice - I have emailed my IP for their approval so once got I will look into the full implications and costs further.