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Car benefit scheme
Your Car Benefit Scheme from Tusker is a new way for Cumberland Council employees to run a car.
Our new Car Benefit Scheme
Your Car Benefit Scheme from Tusker is a new way for Cumberland Council employees to run a car. A fixed monthly amount is taken directly from your gross salary and in return, you get the use of a brand new car.
This is a trial scheme in order to test the appetite of staff and if it proves successful, we intend to scope out a wider one over the coming months.
The reduction to your gross salary is made before income tax and National Insurance although, under the scheme you will need to pay Benefit in Kind as the car is being provided as a benefit by your employer.
There are additional savings available on pure electric vehicles as Benefit in Kind is just 2% until April 2025, then increasing by 1% each year until April 2028.
In addition to a brand new car, the scheme also includes:
- No deposit.
- Maintenance of the vehicle including all servicing, batteries, exhausts and tyres.
- Fully comprehensive motor insurance including all business travel for you and members of your household who drive the car.
- Annual road tax.
- Roadside assistance (homestart and recovery UK & European cover).
- Relief car for when your car is off the road (if selected).
Am I eligible for the scheme?
All permanent employees with over six months’ service (if new to the organisation) are eligible for the car scheme.
There are some salary thresholds put in place by the UK government to ensure an employee does not drop below National Minimum Wage and Living Wage.
Following a review of all other salary sacrifice commitments, if the monthly amount of the car causes an employee to drop below the National Minimum Wage and Living Wage, the application for the car will be rejected.
Benefit in Kind tax?
Benefit in Kind (BiK) is a tax on benefits or perks provided by your employer in addition to your salary, often referred to as company car tax. If you have a company car or salary sacrifice car then this is considered an employee benefit and so you will have to pay tax on the Benefit in Kind.
The Government is incentivising Ultra Low Emission Vehicles (ULEVs) and Electric Vehicles (EVs) which are cars registered with tailpipe carbon emissions of 75g/km CO2 or below and therefore the savings you’d make on Ultra Low Emission Vehicles will usually far outweigh the BiK due.
The amount of Benefit in Kind you will pay will depend on the P11d value of the car, the CO2 emissions and your personal tax bracket.
The Tusker online system will calculate and show the tax payable on the BiK in each quotation and the resulting net monthly cost. Plus, as an incentive for pure electric cars, Benefit in Kind is only 2% until April 2025.
Mileage claims
As lease cars are classed as a business vehicle, HMRC advisory mileage rates will be payable. This will differ to the mileage rates you receive as part of your sovereign council mileage policy. Any essential car user payments you receive as part of your sovereign council policy will continue to be paid in the same way. The only element that will change is the mileage rate.
From 1 March 2023 the HMRC advisory electricity rate for fully electric cars rose from 8 pence to 9 pence per mile.
Hybrid cars are treated as either petrol or diesel cars for advisory fuel rates of which rates vary from 10p to 23p depending on engine size.
Do I get to keep the car if I leave employment with Cumberland Council?
The car scheme is operated as a lease car scheme, therefore you will be entering into an agreement with Tusker for a specified period. The scheme does not operate in the same way to a high street PCP deal whereby you can pay a lump sum and keep the car at the end of the agreement. Effectively, the car is a hire vehicle, you simply make an all inclusive payment each month for the time you are employed and have the vehicle.
If you leave our employment, all you will need to do is make your final monthly payment and hand the car back to Tusker.
Parking fines and motoring offences
As part of your lease car agreement, you will be responsible for any parking fines and motoring offences. Any fines will be sent to Tusker as the registered keeper and Cumberland will seek to reclaim from you. We would ask all employees to follow their sovereign council fleet policy (if applicable) in respect of any offences as these may be reportable depending on the job role you are within.
Access the scheme
To get a quote and see the range of cars available simply visit tuskercars.com/welcome/cumberland-council/, using your company code CUMB and your Payroll Number (with prefix) to create an account and log in. Find the prefix for your payroll number below;
Allerdale Borough Council: ABC
Carlisle City Council: CAR
Copeland Borough Council: CBC
Cumbria County Council: CCC
New employees of Cumberland (from 1 April 2023) will fall under the prefix payroll code of CCC.
If you need a hand with the site, or you want to chat to Tusker about ordering a car, you can get in contact by phone: 0333 400 7431 or email EETeam@tuskerdirect.com
Further documentation can be found in the Car Benefit Scheme document library.