To think 45p isn’t enough even to cover fuel

[Carryoultheway]

Never mind the extra costs of taking clients places

My company (a very, very large, multi-billion pound company) pay 16p a mile.

The point some people are missing is insurance is likely to be more expensive as you need to tick business mileage rather than commuting if you travel to multiple locations as part of your job.

Have you ever opted to pay more for a used car with bigger mileage because it “might actually be better for them”? Usually lower mileage cars sell for more (plus go further between services, which have an associated cost).

I get a car allowance with work so my mileage is only paid at something like 15 or 17p a mile as a pure ‘fuel’ cost as they’re already theoretically paying for my car, so it so the c 30p that’s accepted as wear and tear cost and has always seemed fair to me.

Normally the rate is different depending on whether you are doing business miles in your own personal car (typically 45p a mile) or in a company vehicle or when you receive a car allowance on top of your salary when the mileage rate will be lower.
When I had a monthly car allowance payment my fuel per mile was 11p.

But if you were to have another graph detailing other expenses of running a car, particularly insurance the picture would be quite different. Insurance costs have gone through the roof in this time

Well I get 55p a mile but after my deductions, there's not much left. Obviously 45p without deductions would be a better deal!

Yoh should only be taxed on the excess (ie 10p per mile) element.

@NewLifter that's a bit bizarre. The first 45p should be tax free, I would raise this with your payroll/HR colleagues

According to an online calculator my 3 litre Land Rover costs 21p a mile in fuel.

It depends a lot on where you drive. Motorways, cruising along at 70, fine. Around a town stuck in traffic jams with lots of stopping and starting, not so good.

Its enough to cover fuel but not the extra wear and tear on the car and deprecation on value of car due to higher mileage.
The HMRC / Govt recommended 45p mileage rate hasn't gone up.in years and needs increasing- but it will adversely impact local government so doubt there's any imperative from government to increase it. Of course employers could pay a higher rate but they wont

You asked AIBU to say that 45p doesn't cover fuel?

YABU, it very obviously does cover fuel with lots to spare unless you're driving between your appointments in a Lamborghini.

My company (a very, very large, multi-billion pound company) pay 16p a mile.

That sounds right for a company car, the 16p will just cover the fuel as the company pay for everything else.

What do you drive that costs more than 45p per mile in fuel alone?

Presumably if you’re doing that kind of job it makes sense to buy an economical car, my thirstiest car costs about £1.15/mile around town, it would be stupid to use for work 🤣

Have you ever opted to pay more for a used car with bigger mileage because it “might actually be better for them”? Usually lower mileage cars sell for more

But a carer isn’t going to be racking up a significant mileage.

I don't have a company car! That's what I get for using my own car to travel for work purposes (events/conferences etc)

@Haydenn yes, but I look towards the mileage amount to reimburse me for the additional costs of using the car for work - the depreciation doesn't increase because I use my car for occasional work trips, and the insurance isn't a great deal more.

YABU

Fuel (obviously depending on your car) is only 15 - 17p a mile so every mile you drive gives you 28 - 30p to put towards other increased wear and tear.

(Obviously I mean 'only' in regards to the OP's question. I think that is extortionate, but in the context of this discussion, it is only costing 1/3 of what the claimant receives).

Adding business mileage to my insurance quote makes a minimal difference.

Costs me 16p a mile, business cover costs me £5 extra per year, I'd have a car anyway as live semi rural. I get 45p a mile which makes me a decent return covering car servicing, mot and insurance over the year

I did some work on this last year when petrol prices were a little higher, for our Travel and Expenses policy. We sampled 3 different cars and worked out running costs like insurance, servicing, tax etc. then we worked what the average fixed cost per mile was. If you do 8-10,000 miles (in total, not necessarily business miles) in an average family sized car then you still ‘make’ money on the 45p, albeit to much. If you drive a gas guzzling large engine luxury car then no, you won’t. But that is a lifestyle choice and anyone doing a reasonable amount of miles for work would choose their car accordingly.

45p doesn't anywhere near cover it.

This - and a shitload of other thresholds including income tax - need raising

Get the bloody tories out.

It's the same as my last job paid for mileage. I was always quids in when I had to drive anywhere for work. A long car journey felt like I had been paid overtime.

Business insurance isn't more expensive. They only care about the mileage. So if you need to increase the annual mileage due to doing a lot of business miles, it will be more. If it's just a few local trips it will not make much difference. Lots of people insure themselves for more miles than they actually do anyway .

It's true that low mileage cars are cheaper but actually it's not ideal for cars to do lots of short trips. Longer journeys are better. I always go for high mileage but with regular servicing. It's lack of servicing that is really bad for cars, more than mileage.

What would be classed as ‘significant’ though? I’m just thinking about a rurally-based family member who does care work, and to my London eyes she drives loads. Its can be 20 odd miles between homes she’s visiting as a carer, in for the 15 minutes the council allocate per visit, and off to the next one, covering thousands of
miles a month. It’s a lot more time driving than caring, that’s for sure (which she hates)