Company Vehicle Fleet Policy
When a company has only a few vehicles, writing a Company Vehicle Policy may not be the highest priority.
However as your fleet grows you may need to document your car or van scheme to avoid any confusion.
You also have a Duty of Care responsibility to ensure your Company vehicles are being operated in accordance with all Government legislative guidelines.
So where do you start to document a new scheme and what sorts of things should you consider in your new company vehicle policy document?
Have a look at the sample PDF Company Vehicle Policy Document below. The questions you need to consider have been documented for your ease and of course, our Contract Hire Leasing Partners will be happy to help you fill in the gaps.
Remember though, that structuring your policy with vehicles that have Co2 figures of less than 160g/km, or even less should provide your company and your employees, significant savings due to the recent 2009 tax changes.
Comparecontracthire.com has provided a useful guide to follow.
- The PDF document, through the link above can be used as a template to create your own scheme.
- It poses questions you will need to consider when structuring your own Company vehicle policy.
- You should also add CO2 g/km guidelines to your new policy in line with the Government strategy to reduce transport emissions.
- Whether you contract hire, finance or buy your vehicles outright, a business will have to account differently for vehicles with a CO2 figure greater than 160 g/km.
- If you own your vehicles the Capital Writing Down Allowances (WDA) you can claim are 20% per annum for less than 160 g/km and 10% for vehicles with an output greater than 160 g/km, with no balancing charge.
- If you contract hire your vehicles, the ECLD (Lease Rental restriction), is calculated at a 15% flat rate for cars over 160g/km and no restriction for cars under 160 g/km. This replaces the old £12,000 sliding scale disallowance formula.
- It is also more cost effective for your employees to have cars with low CO2 figures as they will pay less personal tax.
- Contract Hire rentals will increasingly become higher for cars with a CO2 over 160 g/km, as the leasing companies will have to account for their own WDA restrictions, when calculating their own monthly rental charges.
- In summary, structuring your contract hire vehicle policy on a rental banding basis, with a restriction on the CO2 level to 160 g/km or less, should provide your company and your employees, significant savings in the long term.
Areas covered include in the sample document include;
- Introductions, Definitions, Scope and Responsibilities.
- Provision of company vehicles.
- Fuel policy.
- Driver’s responsibilities.
- Insurance.
- Taxation.
- Disposal of Company Vehicles.
- Health and Safety/ Environmental Awareness.
- Termination of Employment and Withdrawal.
- Please note that not all the clauses will be relevant for every business so choose the ones that are right for you.
- Remember please this is only a guide and each company will have to tailor their policy to their own requirements.
- Our Contract Hire leasing partners will be able to help you fill in the gaps.
- If you choose to use this document as the basis for your own Company Vehicle Policy you accept that Compare Contract Hire Limited cannot be held responsible or liable in anyway for any inaccuracies contained within the document.