You smile, reach for your phone, and with the click of a button you defrost your windscreens and pre-heat your car*, all over a cup of tea and from the comfort of your own home. As you leave for work you feel a sense of pride when you realise that you released no CO2 emissions whilst preparing your car for the day ahead.
Sounds like a huge luxury and expensive… Not when it’s through a salary sacrifice (sal/sac) scheme provided by your company. In fact, it usually costs a lot less to lease an electric vehicle on a sal/sac scheme than if you’d leased or purchased a conventional petrol or diesel car personally.
What is Salary Sacrifice?
Like cycle-to-work, salary sacrifice for EVs is where an employee gives-up part of their pre-tax salary in exchange for an Ultra-low emission vehicle (electric or plug-in hybrid vehicle).
The scheme was set up by the Government to encourage more people to drive in ultra-low emission vehicles in preparation to be Net-zero by 2030.
What are the Benefits of Salary Sacrifice?
A huge benefit of the scheme is that one monthly payment covers everything:
- The monthly lease rental
- Fully comprehensive insurance
- Full maintenance package including servicing, brakes, tyres & MOT*
- Full breakdown cover and roadside assistance
- Road tax*
- Accident management
*where applicable
It doesn’t stop there... A salary sacrifice scheme provides employees with many other benefits such as:
- It’s cost effective and tax efficient – even though you are sacrificing some of your salary, you are paying lower National Insurance and Benefit in kind contributions, so it works out more efficient
- It gives you access to a range of the latest electric and hybrid vehicles- To make it even more affordable, we can also give you a choice of new and used vehicles
- No deposit or credit checks- putting your mind at ease that you don’t have to go through a long and tedious process to be eligible for an electric vehicle through your workplace
- Lowers your carbon footprint- Driving around in an Ultra-low emission vehicle means you are contributing to a cleaner environment. It also means you don’t have to pay to go into clean air zones which are now being introduced in most UK cities
There are also tonnes of benefits of driving an electric vehicle such as lower fuel and maintenance costs.
How do I let my employer know about the scheme?
According to some HR professionals in a survey, less than 1 in 5 UK firms offer salary sacrifice for electric vehicles. This means you’re probably in a position where your employer has not even thought about this fantastic employee benefit yet.
With that said, recent research from YouGov suggests that only half of employees in a survey felt comfortable to ask their boss for additional benefits.
And that’s why we’re here. We’re here to educate, advise and support both employees and employers on this transition to electric vehicles.
All you have to is contact us.
t: 01925 824901
*only electric vehicles equipped with heat pumps
Sources:
Three-quarters of employees want salary sacrifice EV car benefit | Fleet industry (fleetnews.co.uk)