Cycle to Work Scheme

[antisupermum]

I have been asked by my boss to look into/prepare a process for offering staff to participate in the Cycle to Work Scheme. I've done the googling and reading the government documentation but still have many questions about how we would actually push ahead with this. Could anyone assist with the key issues I need to tackle?

Main confusions:

• Can we buy any bike from any place, and offer it for hire? Does the employee get a say in it? *The Hire Agreement examples on Gov website are showing for 2 years of salary sacrifice. Is that the SUGGESTED time period or the ACTUAL time period? If its merely suggested, how do we calculate what the actual hire agreement period should be, and how much per month? *Would we need to employ a solicitor to draw up the HA paperwork, or is there templates somewhere we can use?

TBH I'm rather baffled by the whole thing. It certainly seems like a good option from an employees perspective, assuming they cycle to work or need a new bike. But from the employers perspective, besides a slightly lower NIC bill each month, can't see how it justifies the initial outlay of equipment All advice/tips/hints welcome. Thankyou!

You don't need to buy the bikes, or do things with solicitors. Look at Cyclescheme and it explains how it all works and the benefits to the employer

I've done this (just picked up the bike this week).
I decided what bike I wanted and how much, it has to be a new bike from a participating retailer but there are loads including online.

I filled in the application through the Cyclescheme website where my employer are registered.

My employer was invoiced by Cyclescheme. I received a voucher by email which I took to the bike shop and exchange for my bike.

A 12/th of the voucher amount is taken off my pre-tax salary for 12 months.

At the end of 12 months ownership of the bike reverts to Cyclescheme and I could purchase it, or ride it on hire for 3 more years and buy it for a smaller fee.

So I'm riding a lovely £700 bike with a substantial discount and free instalments. Employer saves my NI but otherwise it's basically an incentive. Whilst the employer technically own the bike I haven't been asked anything about it. But I have insured it as recommended.