Safety Communication Quality Integrity TeamSpirit Caring Trust Pride
CPR873 Company procedure and guidelines covering the use of Company vehicles and driving on Company business
Covering Company cars, commercial vehicles, private & hire cars
Purpose
This document details the rules and guidance relevant to employees who drive on Company business. The procedures, rules and guidance apply to those employees provided with a Company provided car, car allowance, Company van or casual users who from time to time may be required to drive on Company business.
For the avoidance of doubt, the contents of this document do not form part of any employee's contract of employment. As the contents are entirely non-contractual, the Company reserves the right, at its absolute discretion, to amend or discontinue any part of these requirements without notice.
1. Introduction
2. Drivers
3. Authorised Company car drivers
4. Ordering a new vehicle
5. Trade Down
6. Management of your vehicle
7. Business mileage reimbursement
8. Leaving employment
9. Cash allowance
10. Insurance cover
11. Focus on health & safety and general rules
12. Driver related complaints
1. Introduction
The Barhale Company car scheme offers eligible employees a choice of benefit offering:
· A fully expensed (excluding fuel) Company car
Or
· Cash allowance alternative for employees who are entitled to a Company car but choose to use their own vehicle within the criteria set out with these guidelines.
Eligibility is dependent upon notified entitlement in your contract of employment and an agreed business mileage profile where appropriate
Your Company car is a valuable asset and should be treated as such.
Within the guidelines outlined, you are responsible for selecting the vehicle you drive. You therefore have a responsibility to make sure that you take into account the ergonomics of the vehicle you select in respect to yourself and the vehicle, your driving position and your work activity.
We have taken great care in selecting a range of vehicles that will assist our employees to limit their tax costs and fuel consumption/ carbon emissions related to this benefit. Recent tax changes and
ever-increasing fuel costs need to be taken into consideration when you choose your vehicle.
2. Drivers
· Only persons who hold a full current driving licence are permitted to drive Company vehicles and must have completed a driver’s licence mandate
· The completion of a driver’s mandate permits partners and immediate family members above 21, subject to prior authorisation. Barhale will only permit a maximum of two extra nominated drivers per vehicle. Please note: At any point, under special circumstances, you require anyone else to drive your vehicle (i.e. holidays, trips away etc), you MUST declare this to the HR department so a licence check can be performed. This would be at the discretion of the HR department.
· A Car Benefit Requisition form CF873-54 must be completed and signed off by your Line Manager.
· Where a Company car is issued the employee is personally responsible for compliance with the requirements, procedures and rules laid down in this document along with any legal obligations.
· Your vehicle is your responsibility and you must ensure that it is properly used and maintained at all times
In the event of receiving points, suspension, or disqualification, employees must notify their line manager and HR immediately. Fines will always remain the responsibility of the individual and are not to be charged to the Company. Where the leasing supplier is obliged to pay for a fine in the first instance, this will be recharged to the driver via payroll, together with the admin fee. All consequences of fines are the employee's responsibility. The Company will not act in the name of the employee.
Drivers Mandate
You will be required to complete a Driver’s Mandate Form and provide the Company with a copy of your full driving licence, in the case of a two-part licence; both parts must be submitted. Upon receipt and a valid check, authorisation to drive a Company vehicle or to drive on Company business will follow.
You must (via HR) notify our leasing provider of any changes in licence circumstances (i.e.: motoring endorsements or any medical condition).
Your licence will be checked on a regular basis through the DVLA and by completing the driver mandate form you are consenting to these regular checks.
The BCS Works Manager is responsible for checking the BCS Delivery Driver’s licences at 6 monthly intervals.
Those employees not using or intending to drive a Company vehicle should submit to HR/payroll a completed “Non-Drivers declaration form” CF642-51
3. Authorised Company car drivers
The following people are authorised to drive Company cars, subject to them holding a full valid driving licence, having completed a driver’s mandate. The person to whom the car is allocated
· A Company employee delegated by the person to whom the Company car is allocated, providing licence checks have been carried out.
· Spouse and dependants above 21 years of age up to a maximum of 2 nominated drivers, providing licence checks have been carried out and authorisation has been given by the HR department.
· Any person authorised by the Company.
People who are not employees of the Company and who are eligible to be considered to be allowed to drive a Company car should:
· be no younger than 21 years of age; and
· have been driving and in possession of a full driving licence for at least one year; and
· have no major convictions.
Once an additional driver has been accepted he or she will remain insured to drive until you notify your line manager and HR otherwise. Any changes to their licence details should be immediately reported to our provider and a copy licence submitted for approval
4. Ordering a new vehicle (Company car drivers only)
Please access our leasing provider’s website with your Barhale email address for the most up-to-date vehicle list.
Your personal login details and password for the quotes and orders area of the website will be sent to you electronically when you are able to order.
When ordering a vehicle, please bear in mind that delivery can take up-to a number of months (depending on manufacturers lead times) from date of order. Please discuss this with our leasing provider when ordering, as they may be able to make a recommendation of vehicles available at shorter notice.
You will only have access to order the following additional options to the vehicles and colour restrictions may apply:
· Metallic Paint
· Automatic, if an automatic option is available within the grade or trade down(see below)
· Bluetooth
· Sat nav, as long as cost remains inside the Whole Life Cost (WLC) of the vehicle
· Leather seats, as long as cost remains inside the Whole Life Cost (WLC) of the vehicle
Employees will pay Benefit in Kind (BIK) taxation on Company cars, at rates applicable for each tax year.
Company van drivers
Company vans are provided for business use only (including travel from home to office/site) and must not be used for personal reasons (social domestic etc).
Employees allocated with a Company van MUST ensure they complete an “Issue of Company Van” tax declaration form CF873-51, failure to do so will result in BIK taxation being applied. Further details relating to the use of a Company van can be found in the operative.
Your Company van is a valuable asset and should be treated as such.
The Company have set CO2 limits for each car grade as below:
Grade / Max Co2 Limit / Minimum MPG Level1 / 125 / 60
2 / 120 / 60
3 / 115 / 65
4 / 115 / 65
5 / 110 / 65
Upon joining the Company, you will be allocated a temporary vehicle. Once your probationary period has been completed, eligible employees will be allocated a permanent vehicle, which may be a re-allocated vehicle suitable to their grade
5. Trade down
Drivers can trade down a whole grade and will receive the difference between their car allowance entitlement and the amount of the trade down grade.
Any trading down allowance will be paid in monthly installments with salary and will be subject to PAYE and national insurance deductions but will not qualify for pension, life assurance, bonus, or any other salary related benefit.
6. Management of your vehicle
Our leasing provider undertakes complete management of your vehicle and you should telephone them to arrange servicing, replacement tyres, exhausts etc.
However, it is your responsibility to make sure at all times:
· The car is serviced and maintained in line with the manufacturer's recommendations
· Only Authorised dealers authorised by our leasing provider should carry out both servicing and repairs
· Perform daily/weekly routine checks
· The vehicle is kept mechanically sound
· The vehicle is kept in a clean and roadworthy condition
· The vehicle complies with all legal requirements as stipulated by the highway code
· A Barhale sticker is displayed in the rear window of your vehicle at all times
If the car is not serviced and maintained in accordance with the manufacturer's recommendations, the Company reserves the right to charge you for any additional costs of repairs incurred or withdraw your Company car.
Whilst Barhale provides both the vehicle and maintenance/insurance cover, please remember that it is a criminal offence to drive a car with any of the following defects:
· Worn, defective or incorrectly inflated tyres (tyre pressures can be found in the manufacturer's handbook or service book for the car)
· Faulty lights - it is a legal requirement that ALL lights are fully operational at ALL times, including daylight hours
· Faulty steering
· Faulty brakes
· Faulty windscreen wipers, or empty windscreen washer bottle
If you discover any of the above defects they must be rectified immediately and you should contact our leasing provider and notify them of the fault/arrange for repair.
You should also be aware that driving with the knowledge of defects might invalidate the Company’s motor insurance cover from the time the offence was committed, you could also face prosecution for driving whilst uninsured.
The Company takes Driver Safety very seriously and should you be culpable for the above you may face disciplinary action.
If an accident should occur because of any vehicle defects, and the Company's insurers refuse to deal with claims which arise, the Company reserves the right to recover from the employee all costs incurred including any settlements made to third parties.
Barhale further reserves the right to charge the value of the insurance excess, currently £250, to employees who are involved in an at fault accident. Fault will be determined by our insurers and any waiver of this charge must be approved by a director through appeal.
To encourage prompt reporting any unreported accident damage or damage arising from an accident taking longer than five days to report will give rise to a charge of £400.
In addition, the Company reserves the right to charge employees who are involved in more than one at fault accident over a four year rolling period the lower of the £250 excess or the total cost of the repair, for the second and each subsequent claim to cover the insurance excess and/or damage to the vehicle when returned. This will be charged the lower of £250 or the total cost of repair, for the second and each subsequent claim to cover the insurance excess and or damage to the vehicle when returned.
Please note that should you misplace the key(s) to your vehicle, this will be classed as an accident and therefore the excesses described above will be payable.
Use of pool cars
There is a small number of pool vehicles available within the Company, which may be used in the event of an urgent requirement for a vehicle. Usage can be authorised only by the Head of HR and Training, and is subject to a driver mandate check. Any driver who is provided with the use of one of these vehicles must follow the below guidelines:
· No smoking in pool vehicles
· No other person is to drive the vehicle without prior authorisation from HR
· Any safety defects will be reported to HR
· Any damage sustained will be reported to HR
· Pool vehicle to be returned in the same condition as collected and with at least the same amount of fuel
If a pool vehicle is returned in poor condition, any charges incurred will be allocated against the driver’s cost centre. If there is damage to the vehicle which is proven to be the fault of the driver, excess charges may apply (see section on excess charging above).
Courtesy and demonstration vehicles
Our leasing provider are able to arrange demonstration vehicles. Should a demonstrator be required, drivers should contact our leasing provider who will arrange this.
Requests are limited to two demonstration vehicles during the period of renewal, up to 6 months prior to expiry of your current vehicle.
Upon confirmation of demonstrator vehicle being provided, our leasing provider will e-mail the driver, copying in Barhale Insurance of the registration number, make/model/cc/ period of hire.
All demonstration vehicles are covered through Barhale insurance.
Please note: Availability may be restricted prior to March, September and the New Year, as dealers reduce their demonstration stocks during these periods.
7. Business mileage reimbursement
All business miles must be recorded, submitted and authorised using the mileage management system provided by our leasing provider.
Company car drivers
All Company car drivers will be issued with a fuel card.
To ensure that you are not taxed for personal use on this fuel card
· All fuel spend will be deducted monthly from your net salary following the month of purchase
· You will then be reimbursed for all business mileage based on your authorised mileage submission, at current HMRC approved rates
The following process will apply:
· You will use our leasing provider’s mileage management system (on-line) to record your business mileage