Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Using your own car for work?

109 replies

girlfriend44 · 16/08/2023 21:09

I don't mean driving to work, I mean using your own car as part of the job. Visiting People and Places etc as part of the Job.

Although you get paid mileage, that dosent really cover the true cost of using the car for example wear and tear?

You see alot of jobs say must drive but how many people are getting the true cost of using their car back.

Does it annoy you?

OP posts:
OleMioSole · 23/08/2023 17:19

Ifeelsuchflutterings · 17/08/2023 22:51

Not being able to drive due to a disability is a protected characteristic

Obviously as a visually impaired person I would never apply for a role that actually required driving as that would be daft

Nevertheless if a company told me that I had to be able to drive for a job that didn't require driving I would challenge that.

And in my experience people who regularly take public transport are often more punctual as they plan to get their early. Where as plenty of car drivers "get stuck in traffic" because they haven't planned to get to work 10-20 minutes earlier due to the bus timetable

Show quote history

PP's point is irrelevant anyway as you can't claim mileage for driving to your sole place of work.
It is discrimination to mandate having a car but some places have bad or no public transport.
My office is only served by a train or bus depending on which direction you're coming from (stations 30 min walk away from the office itself). Even pre-Covid it was unreliable and at least one day a week ended up getting cancelled resulting in a taxi being needed.
Now with various strikes there have been days where no train was available.

From October we are going to be mandated 2 days a week or face disciplinary action. We were mostly FT in the office before and were given plenty of notice so fine. But no excuses are going to be accepted for non-drivers not being able to make it in.

I can't mandate people having a car but am very clear with interview candidates as to how unreliable the transport is, although it looks 'ok' on paper. Most non-drivers end up leaving within a year.

VisionsOfSplendour · 23/08/2023 18:36

woodhill · 23/08/2023 16:51

Also it costs more to insure your car to use it for business rather than just commuting

I was surprised at how cheap it was when I added it to mine, I could cover it with a short journey

SuperiorM · 23/08/2023 18:40

The main objective is to get fewer cars out there. However that can be achieved

sadaboutmycat · 23/08/2023 18:44

supersonicginandtonic · 16/08/2023 21:25

I get 45p a mile. Doesn't cover my fuel really but I knew that when I accepted the job.

Goodness! I can do a round trip of 260 miles for a fuel cost of £30. I only get 25ppm, so my expenses claim is £65 for that trip. (Just done it today) I bank the other £35 for service, MOT etc. if I got 45ppm, I'd get £117 back and would be well into profit! What do you drive??

sadaboutmycat · 23/08/2023 18:46

@Peanutbutterandmarmalade64 do you mean you used to offset it against your profits rather than 'claim it back'?

lanthanum · 23/08/2023 18:58

If your employer pays less than the HMRC rate of 45p, you can claim the difference against tax. So if you've done 5000 miles but only been paid 35p a mile, then you can put the missing £500 on your tax return. You won't get the £500 back, but you will get back the tax you paid on it.

supersonicginandtonic · 23/08/2023 19:15

@sadaboutmycat if you read my other posts you'd see I explained that my journeys are in the city in stop start traffic. On the motorway I'd be laughing,

BIossomtoes · 23/08/2023 19:16

lanthanum · 23/08/2023 18:58

If your employer pays less than the HMRC rate of 45p, you can claim the difference against tax. So if you've done 5000 miles but only been paid 35p a mile, then you can put the missing £500 on your tax return. You won't get the £500 back, but you will get back the tax you paid on it.

That’s a little known fact, they keep that quiet, don’t they?

alldaysleeper · 23/08/2023 20:04

DH gets 56p a mile and generally gets between £180 and £200 per week back. We've worked it out and it generally covers all fuel, tax, service, MOT and insurance for the year. It was 45p a mile but when the cost of fuel went up it increased to 56p. Insurance does cost a little more than usual business insurance as he carries clients in the car.

New posts on this thread. Refresh page