Business use class 1 for young rovergirl (nhs doc) is actually free with LV currently and was free with Privilege 2 years ago before we moved to LV.

I cannot remember having paid any extra for a long time for the "required" cover.

I did state separately that it would be limited to "occasional" (emergency) use and was only required a a condition of employment because "She might possibly carry a colleague in the car with her" In principle this never happens because she 1. has me driving (saves parking) or 2. uses Hospital Transport.

In effect a legal minefield for the unwary...

Business insurance is required due to the nature of their work

Whilst it varies according to occupation, I never found that insurance without business use was any cheaper than with it, when I was working.

Well I hope the company hires them some nice kia picantos!

Edited by brum on 24/11/2015 at 23:13

From the mid 80's to the mid 90's I used my own car for business use and was paid the usual allowance. By the time I left the figure was 43 pence a miles which was the HM tax office upper limit at the time for a car 1400 up to 2 litre. I did about 4000 miles a year. In addition we were paid subsidised transport from home to the office at a rate of approx 15 pence a mile but this was taxed. Did about 10000 miles a year.

So all told I received £1720 for business mileage and about £1100 for subsidised after tax, total £2820.

With petrol costing about £2.50 a gallon my fuel cost for the 14000 miles at about 40mpg was about £875 leaving me with £1945 surplus. That was more than enough to pay additional maintenance costs and depreciation costs so I was pretty happy at the time. Should add that we also got cheap loans at a rate way below what money invested in a Building Society attracted, no one paid with their own money.

The clever people were using Sierra 2.3 diesels at £0.56 pence a mile.

look at the fleet news website.

very few cars can be run for 45ppm

The problem is (as it often is the private sector) that often the blame lies with the middle to higher-ranking managers who make the 'working' decisions regarding budgets (the top civil servants and politicians just dictate the 'general direction' in which to go and leave it to them to resolve), who either aren't any good at doing so (and don't listen to people like you or me at the sharp end) or who themselves cannot or will not bring issues to the attention of their bosses.

Saving money in one area in a very blunt way often does cost more in others, resulting in higher costs and/or poorer outcomes in the work undertaken. Quite often things like 'employee goodwill' is taken for granted and is severely reduced by petty cutting of relatively cheap services, such as free buscuits in the office k****** or the odd lunch out with the boss on the company's card to keep the troops happy.

As per an earlier comment, one my previous employers wouldn't pay the current mileage rates (even the AA ones) and so I refused to use my car for work purposes and 'worked to rule'. As a result of this and other similar petty things they did to 'save money', they lost 90% of the M&E engineering staff (they had other departments as well) over 2 years (during the recession I might add), making the company lose money until the Directors were forced to sell to a rival (for their order book) at a knock-down price and accept lower-ranking positions in their new firm.

Despite some people (normally management consultants or those working for the IoM) thinking British management is better than 50 years ago, I'm not so sure - I think they just manage people differently, not better. There are still too many big egos, people promoted due to nepotism or cheating/lies, or just plain experience in their old job (rarely a good guide to being a manager)/years on the job, rather than ability to fulfill a management role successfully.

Quite often bosses either don't like what they hear when they get feedback (as was the case at my last firm - it essentially showed them up for doing a below-par job, and thus fudged the issue) or ignore any staff-borne solutions to problems because the bosses themselves didn't think of them (ego).

A good boss will know they need to improve, but won't need to that much (because they're already 'good'); a bad one either doesn't realise (incompetent) or is, as above, unwilling to change as it shows them up as bad and with no (credible) ideas as to how to improve things. I do feel sorry for financial staff, who, especially in larger organisations, get the blame because they are often tasked with making cuts, but don't have the complete knowledge of operational problems (bad general management - see below) that normally cause the issues in the first place, so they are 'directed towards the 'solutions' that are easy to show, such as staff numbers, expenses and/or perks (outgoings).

What I find amazing is that even after sensible people prove ('by the numbers') their case (such as with mileage rates or other legitimate expenses), management still refuses to budge. Often a sign of deeper problems in terms of their general management of the business/organisation, e.g. bringing in the wrong type of clients/work/mis-management so that they then 'can't afford' to pay the normal expenses claims. That's normally my cue for the exit.

Also, bare in mind who becomes liable for any damage to the hire car when it is involved in business use....the discussions can get quite lively...

My employer pays the HMRC max rates and I do a long journey (400 miles return) every 4 - 6 weeks in my own car (in my own time, I'm so dedicated...). So I qualify for the 45p/mile. I use a 5yr old Jag XF, 3L petrol, so am doing about 30mpg for the journey (more in summer, less in winter)

I have business insurance and it costs me £0 (LV) and part of that is because my travel is to "another workplace involved with the insureds business". All I do is drive 200 miles in an evening, leave the car at my employers' other site, then drive 200 miles back a few days later.

As the Jags' depreciation curve is flattening out, the extra 3000 (or so) miles is insignificant. I only do 10000 miles/yr all in, so Mr Average.

So for me, using my car is a no-brainer and it's hassle-free. I don't need to worry about hiring a car. My employer doesn't demand me to do the journey and I could do it on the train, but its' faff, I would have to leave half-a-day to get there. Currently I can still have tea with the family, read the kids a bedtime story, then do my journey on into the night in comfort in my Gentlemens' Carriage.

Employer (private, IT/electronics) is well-regarded and has good T&Cs. Their travel budget is huge anyway with 30+ sites worldwide so me bumbling down the A1 is increasingly an insignificant cost.

And I replaced the brakes myself in the summer. Thus saving me money.....NNnneerrrr do I squeak when I walk ? Yes I do....

now to do my expenses to last weeks' journey and book the Jag in for a pre-xmas spark plug change...uh oh wear and tear, if only I hadn't been doing 3000 miles/yr for the past 3 years I could have left the plug change for another year...

Just google HMRC mileage rate

What is the rate for this tax year 2019-20? Has it increased with inflation?

You wish!!! NO

The rate has remained unchanged at 45p per mile irrespective of petrol at £1.45 or 99p per litre. What has changed is that cars are getting more fuel efficient so the need for a change in the tax free ceiling does not exist.