Conference terri::cars_uk

    Simon, my thinking is opposite to you as I am looking into coming out 
    of the car scheme because of the amount of tax I have pay (<2500 business
    miles) and the limited choice of car there is near the car allowance
    for my grade.
    
    I don't fancy a personal lease too much as you still have to organise
    your own insurance and replacement transport if the car if off the road
    because of an accident and you are paying all the money out on a lease
    with no asset at the end of it.
    
    What sort of private/business mileage do you do ? You say you _need_
    to rejoin the scheme. Why not trade in for a low mileage car.
    
    There are various schemes out there such as deferred payment etc.
    
    Royston

    Currently I'm doing about 25000miles/year so I should hit the 18000
    threshold without too much trouble.
    
    I could get a low mileage car but it wouldn't stay that way for long
    :-)
    
    Simon.

    With that sort of business mileage I can't see how you could win
    outside the car scheme.
    
    Royston

There are several notes in here by a certain Devon Dumpling
which go into great detail about benefits of opting out

Try something like 

DIR/AUTHOR=THOMASH (include replies but I don't know how to
do this from the command line).

>DIR/AUTHOR=THOMASH (include replies but I don't know how to
>do this from the command line).

dir/auth=*::thomash *.* should do the trick (dunno if there's a quicker
way of doing this, though...)

Chris.

    I've just ordered an Omega 2.5 GLS Estate with a couple of extra
    goodies. Prior to sending in the form, I spent some time 'what-if"-ing
    with a spreadsheet and concluded that I would be >�5K worse off over
    the three year lease if I bought the car myself. My annual business
    mileage is more than 2500 but less than 18000.
    
    The most optimistic pricing was used for the 'buy-it-myself' option to
    make as attractive a picture as possible (and I left out AA membership
    costs etc. too).
    
    Certainly for a more expensive vehicle, the current scheme looks hard
    to beat.
    
    (Signed) 'Cautious' of Welwyn Garden City.
    

    Remember that Heather (Thomas) used to only rarely do 2,500 business 
    miles - and never 18,000.

    I'm just about to order an Omega Estate and have been talking to the
    garages. I'm level 8 and over 2,500 but under 18,000.
    My _very_ rough sums would suggest that the company scheme is better by
    a small margin - but I didn't factor in loss of interest on money I
    would need to pay so I'd agree with .8
    
    The real points that sway me are sheer convenience and lack of worry,
    and if Digital decides they don't need me I can walk away from my omega
    and buy something more appropriate to whatever life I find myself in!
    
    Andrew

    It seems to be a marginal decision either way on leaseing or not but
    has anyone looked at personal leases?
    
    Simon
    

    Simon,
    
    Have a look at 2274..might be of use...(.6) looks worrying! ;-{
    
    Cheers
    

I am thinking of coming out of the lease scheme after many years
and have two main questions

1. How much of the 3560 level 8/9 supplement will be 
   added to my *gross* salary. 

2. How easy is it to get insurance at a reasonable cost:

      - does the letter from Digital Insurance (which should show 
        3 years of no claiming - touch wood) cut any ice with 
        any insurers ?, most insurers ? hardly any insurers ?
        or is it not worth the paper it's written on ?

      - any recommendations for brokers/insurers that do 
        take heed of the Digital letter ?

      - would the discount be year for year what the letter says
        or would it get some sort of "introductory" discount ? 

If anyone has any fairly recent experience of leaving the scheme,
I'd be grateful for any information they have.

Thanks,
Phil.

    The whole of the supplement gets added to your gross salary.
    
    For a good list of insurance brokers see 1871.123
    
    Royston

       When I bought my own car, the no claims letter was readily accepted,
       and gave a 40% discount. Unfortunately as I'd had a no-fault accident
       2yrs previous, an additional 20% introductionary discount was not
       given. (don't you just love insurance companies!)
    
       Brian

Hi Royston.

Are you sure about that? I remember discussion on a reduced amount if you 
took the cash, due to VAT element when leasing the car. 

Yes, I know I should ask HR/Car Fleet/whoever, but......

Rgds
Mike

    >Are you sure about that?
    
    Hello Mike. I'm in the scheme myself but checked with a couple of
    colleagues who take the money instead and they confirmed that the
    whole amount is added to gross salary.
                                                        
    Royston

THanks Royston,

That just *might* be the final decider to come out of the scheme. Now where 
can I find details of becoming a biker again?!

Rgds
Mike

Thanks for the information guys, I went to the AA on Saturday and got the 
following quote

     1024.66 gross, 20% introductory discount making it 819.73 net. 

That's fully comp, with a 350 pound excess on all but the windscreen cover,
which is 50 pounds. 500 pounds of stereo cover. Only me to drive (35 year old,
single, male,  software engineer). AA membership would further reduce the price
by 50 pounds.

Car is a Renault Clio 16v (1.8i) 30000 miles, value 8.5 K, parked on the street
in Reading (RG1). Annual mileage 12000.

Although I did not have the "letter" from Digital, I did explain I could get one
and that it would show 3 years  no-claims. They said their quote program took
note of company car usage, but I'm not very convinced.

Only claim in last 5 years was a theft attempt in 1993 which left a somewhat
damaged car.

It's looking a lot like the lease scheme will win again  over private ownership.

Phil.

    I left the scheme 2 years ago and I can definitely say its cost me more
    overall. This is mainly down to a) finding the initial outlay for the
    car and b) having to start an insurance policy from scratch. 
    
    At least both these costs diminish away over time. I'm looking forward
    to when the car is paid off and I am up to my full no claims discount -
    then I should be better off.
    
    cheers, 
    
    Tony I