FAQs

Our Bike Scheme has been developed to be really simple to run. Your scheme can be set up on Salary Extras within a couple of days. We suggest you appoint one person in your HR responsible for checking the eligibility of employees against the eligibility criteria. (Eligibility criteria are set by the government, but you can also add some rules of your own if you wish). You will have access to your company and employee’s data 24/7, so the minimal administration time can be fitted to suit you. We’ll handle the agreements for you and they’ll be available online for your employees to sign or view at anytime through our Salary Extras platform. You will also be able to view the agreements on your company administration platform.

No. The Department for Transport have issued guidelines that state that employees cannot do this. We have made the bikes available in £10 increments, so that employees can round up to a value close to the value of the bike and safety accessories.

Yes, provided that both add up to no more than your chosen limit and that both bikes are used for journeys to or from work. For example, one bike could be from home to the train station and left there, and the second bike could be used for the journey from the destination train station to work and back. Alternatively, an employee may choose to have a summer bike and a winter bike!

The company will fund the upfront cost of the equipment. We can offer a choice of a self-funded scheme or a 3rd Party funded option. Depending on your choice of funding and the outcome of associated company credit checks, you can be setting up a scheme within a couple of days. You will be invited to review and sign your supplier agreements on your company administration platform, where you will also be able to view them at any time. Once these are in place the scheme can launch.

This depends on the choice of bike supplier, and also on the funding route. If an employee chooses Halfords or a Halfords affiliated store and your company is offered 30 day payment terms through Halfords, then employees can have their bikes within a matter of days. Alternatively, you can pay pro-forma on a weekly, fortnightly or monthly basis to suit. Once payment is cleared your order details are forwarded to Halfords or other suppliers accordingly. If you have chosen 3rd Party funding, then once the scheme has closed you will be provided a finance schedule for signature and details of the monthly invoicing. Once the signed documents are received by the finance company and payment has been received by us, our suppliers are notified, and LoCs are sent out within the following 4 working days.

When running a cycle to work scheme it is important that you do not discriminate on any grounds, and so for example, you cannot offer the scheme to directors only or on favourable terms to them. Employees who are on the National Living Wage or under 18 can also benefit from the scheme; they will automatically be advised to contact us directly so that we can talk them through it, as the process is different.

The equipment should be predominantly used for commuting purposes, which includes journeys made between the employee's home and the workplace, or part journeys (for example, to the station), or for between one workplace and another. Provided the equipment is used predominantly for commuting purposes, then it can also be used during leisure time too.

There are no set criteria for the employee to confirm they have satisfied the "mainly for work" requirement, such as frequency of use, miles travelled, or hours spent cycling. Employees are not expected to keep mileage logs but employers should make clear to them that if they do not use the cycle mainly for qualifying journeys, they may lose the benefit of the tax exemption. The Hire Agreement provided for participating staff through this scheme, which is signed by the employee, outlines this requirement, ensuring the employee is aware of their responsibilities.

All employers may reclaim VAT incurred on the initial purchase of the bikesand safety equipment.

All employers must account for VAT on bikes and safety equipment made available to their employees via salary sacrifice Cycle to Work arrangements.

The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) has issued a group licence which authorises all employers to run cycle to work schemes without each employer applying for an individual licence.

Yes, you need to write to your local HMRC office and inform them you are running a cycle to work scheme. You need to do this after you have set the scheme up. You do not need to seek their approval prior to setting up a scheme.

An employee can have more than one Hire Agreement for the Bike scheme with us at any one time and our Salary Extras platform will ensure they cannot apply for any amount over the limit you have set

Caboodle Technology owns the equipment. The legislation that governs cycle to work schemes quite specifically forbids the employee to own the equipment - and therefore there can be no automatic right for the employee to own the equipment at the end of the Agreement. If they do, they cannot claim the tax exemption.

After the Agreement period is over, Caboodle may offer to sell the equipment to the employee for it's then fair market value.

There can be no automatic right for the employee to own the equipment at the end of the hire term, otherwise the Agreement is deemed to be a Hire Purchase Agreement, which does not attract the same tax exemption. However, clearly it is in the interests of all concerned if Caboodle does sell the equipment to the employee at the end of the hire period. For End of scheme options, please click on the ‘End of Scheme’ page.

If an employee leaves before the end of the scheme, they must pay their employer any outstanding salary deductions from their final net salary, as compensation for non completion of the salary sacrifice. They may then have continued use of the equipment without further payment until the hire period expires, when they may be invited to purchase the equipment and become the owner.

It is important that the employee is not deemed to be given the automatic right to own the equipment otherwise they would not be able to benefit from the tax exemption. Employees must therefore not be offered the equipment to purchase until the end of the hire term. In the case of redundancy, the balance of payments due on the equipment can be deducted from the employee's redundancy settlement. The employer may of course choose to waive or reduce this amount.

All equipment obtained through the Bike scheme is the employee's responsibility and it is recommended that they take out adequate insurance to cover damage or theft, informing the insurance provider that Caboodle Technology as the owner, has an interest in the equipment for the duration of the hire term. (This may be covered under an employee's home contents insurance policy.)

Employees may benefit from 8 weeks free insurance with Cycle Plan when using selected retailers or for a great deal on Cycle Assist cover please click here>>

In order for us to be able to provide Bike scheme to you free of charge, we do not make company visits.

Many cycle to work scheme providers are not interested in dealing with small companies. Caboodle is different. Our technology takes a lot of the administration away making the scheme simple and easy to handle, so we’re able to offer the scheme to companies of all sizes.

We’ll support you every step of the way and we have dedicated lines available to support both you and your employees if you have any queries about the scheme.

Online marketing is also provided for you to download to promote the scheme to your employees and ensure maximum take up.

There are no charges for running the scheme and at caboodle we have a whole host of benefits available if you choose to expand your benefits offering.

Possibly, although in most cases the effect is likely to be small. However, employees need to be aware of the implications of paying less tax and NI contributions and accepting a reduced salary. Information on this is included in our Salary Extras website so your employees can see it before they apply.

They will no longer qualify for the tax relief on this benefit. In such circumstances your payroll department will arrange for the remaining salary reductions to be taken from the employee’s net pay i.e. after tax and National Insurance have been deducted. They will not be able to return the bike until the end of the hire agreement.

For further details on running a cycle to work scheme, please visit the Department of Transport Website http://www.dft.gov.uk/pgr/sustainable/cycling/cycletoworkguidance/

We are happy to discuss this in more detail, if you have any questions on VAT and the scheme please contact the Caboodle Team on 0330 053 6430