To think my work can’t do this! NO HR

[Butterwine]

So I work in an outreach position and travel across local communities, usually within a 100 mile radius so relatively far. I’ve always used my own car and expensed mileage but now at 45p a mile and petrol in my area at 1:90 as of yesterday I’m really struggling to make even, and find it doesn’t even cover wear and tear. The car is my own. I’ve worked for the company for 2 years.

Anyways, colleague doesn’t drive but does the same job, same pay, same position. She is learning but work pay for all her trains, taxi’s and public transport to visit placements. All paid ahead of time. I decided to ask for this as well, as using my car is just not economical anymore for me and was told a simple, no, you have a car and you must use it.

I was told if I didn’t use it then I’d be missing work and would probably end up with disciplinary etc.

for reference colleague is actually a good friend, no disabilities, no reason behind anything.

AIBU to think they can’t do for one and not the other?

£60 to fill means is more than likely at 40ltr tank.

Thats approx 9 gallons.

400÷9=44mpg

Not everyone has a newer car, especially in times such as outreach worker which are often not very well paid, so you can't make assumptions about mpg.
OP I'm assuming it takes your colleague longer to get to places by public transport than it does for you to drive and that also there will be some areas not accessible to her, does that mean she does less work than you do too? Eg sees fewer clients?

That's really inefficient then - you should look at selling it to buy something more economical. Even my 15 year old camper van does better than that!

35 litres actually.

I don't think in terms of MPG because it doesn't really tell anyone anything useful. Cost per mile much easier to work out and compare, especially in this context.

This is a newish car (3 YO) but it's exactly the same as my previous but one car, which will now be 8 years old and both do 400 miles out of a tank for mostly city driving in a city that's also hilly.

I still think 45 ppm covers the cost of work mileage for just about everyone in an average car, but unless the OP is contractually obliged to provide a vehicle, then she needs to ask her employer for a hire car, pool car, or to use public transport/taxis.

New cars with stop start/hybrid systems are ok on town/rural driving. Older cars less so. There's a good 10mpg between motorway driving and town driving for our cars (older is 17 years old, newer is 12 years old). We're looking to replace them but car prices were very high during the pandemic (chip crisis) and are only just starting to soften now - so it's quite likely that someone in a less well paid role has a far less efficient car!

i had the same question to my hr
on a what if basis
and the answer was sadly No, despite the job moving to somewhere that is not so easily accessible on public transport
so i vote yabu as i was

What's in your contract re the car? Does she have it in hers that trains are paid?

Mileage is a constant hot topic with us, also 45p and those with a company car get less. All our rates are as per HMRC website for mileage claims (I've checked!) so I'm guessing there are hundreds in this position
I know in the past it's been the other way and colleagues have made money when fuel was cheaper so I'm not sure this is an argument any of us will win but good luck

But not everyone has a newer car. Our main family car is currently a 13 year old diesel bought when having a diesel was considered the 'better' choice and when we did more long trips. These days it's mainly used for city driving and occasional days out- according to the trip computer our average mileage over the last few years has been about 32mpg.

I see lots of cars of a similar age around, so I'd imagine there are a lot of people driving cars with pretty poor fuel economy.

Yes, at current prices you are still covering your fuel, but extra miles mean higher insurance costs, more depreciation, more tyre replacement needed etc. Or if you have a newer car and lease/PCP you will have higher monthly payments for more mileage. Any more increases in the price of fuel and 45p/mile won't be enough to cover costs for a lot of people.

Insurance?
Road tax?
Depreciation?

The 45p rate was set by the Inland Revenue several years ago. It's massively out of date.

Do and say this:

You've changed your car insurance and it doesn't cover work journeys now? Or you are about it.

Many policies don't cover work related journeys.

45p a mile ?!?! We get 19p (increased from 17p last year). You must have been making a profit up until now.

Will your colleague be expected to but s car and drive it fir work when she passes her test? Is she the “exception” rather than you?

As I and others have said, this depends wholly on the OP’s contract, and she hasn’t come back to tell us what it says.

Business class 2 cost me £9 extra the first year I had it, and nothing since, so it’s not a great argument.

Give them three choices, either:

• They pay for additional fuel cost
• They pay for you to go on public transport, or
• You will hand in your notice

Good luck to them in recruiting a replacement on those terms!

There's probably an additional consideration for the company which is that while they only have one non-driver, they can probably allocate work so that her visits are to locations which are more accessible by public transport.
Check your contract; mine says we should use public transport where possible, but it is left to our choice what means of transport we use (and our mileage rate was well below 45p last time I looked - most of us have not had to travel since covid, and hopefully they are reviewing it before we restart in the autumn).

You would like to use public transport. You are thinking of the environment. Unfair and inconsistent.

Agree 45p should cover petrol and wear and tear unless a gas guzzler.

Our company, part of government also only just scrapped the 19p rate in the last few weeks.

I'd be wary of asking for the same as your friend - the company may be likely to remove her benefits rather than risk the massive expense of opening up taxis, etc to all staff.

I agree with PPs that 45p is an appropriate rate (it's the HMRC approved rate, but does drop to 20p per mile once you've gone over 10,000 business miles per year). After 10,000 miles the 20p covers fuel only as the extra 25p per mile before that is deemed to have covered all the wear and tear costs.

Unless your car is really unreliable or expensive to maintain, even with the increased fuel prices, this still should be sufficient to cover the costs.

£1.90 per litre is £8.64 per gallon. Assuming an MPG of around 35, that's 24.6p per mile. At 45mpg it's 19.2p per mile.

Being paid 45p per mile therefore contributes 20.4p per mile (or 25.8p at the higher mpg) to your additional running costs from using your car for business (i.e. it shouldn't pay for all your car costs - just the extra bits associated with using it for work).

@Butterwine how many business miles do you do a year?

If you're doing 10,000 miles a year that's a contribution of £2,040 towards the (business) insurance and extra wear and tear.

I get that it's less of a contribution than it has been in the past, but there is a good chance that if you're not making a "profit" on your mileage now, you have in the past. That's extra income you've had, tax free.

I do agree that both employees should, ideally, be given the same options though so just like you'd like the option to have public transport paid for, your colleague should be able to choose to use her car (if she had one). Contracts aren't always equal though as each employee will have negotiated their own personal terms when they start.

I'd re-visit your figures OP as I suspect you are covering your costs, but that you've just not got the "extra" income you've become used to.

Without knowing what the OP's contract says that may not be possible and anyway ime it's really cheap to add on business use, I think mine was about a tenner

Better to have a proper discussuion that make stuff up imo

Tell them you’ve had to sell the car to afford to eat.

45p per mile should still cover everything.

Taxis and public transport everywhere will be a real pain in the butt.

You're just making less profit than you used to. The mileage they pay you still more than covers what you spend on petrol.

I use higher octane petrol, drive a medium size car with a 2 Litre engine. I get 400 miles + from a tank costing £80 ish so around 20p per mile.

My mileage is less generous than yours but is still covered.

Employees don’t have to be treated exactly the same. The colleague can’t drive therefore it’s perfectly reasonable for the difference in treatment. 45p a mile still will comfortably cover your petrol and wear and tear.

I understand where you’re coming from OP.
As others have said, if it’s not a requirement within your contract, I’d tell them I’ve sold it, etc

I used to work in a tile where I did lots of driving and I don’t think 45p per mile covers the loss of value for the high mileage tbh.
I refused to upgrade my car until I left that role. Cars depreciate in value quickly but the number of mileage I did sped that up.