Cycle to work scheme

I've used cycle solutions with my employer (uni) to get a cargo bike, final payment next month I think.

Thanks.
and, have you been able to choose something else from what they advertise on their (always down) website?

Yep, purchased from a shop in London and went down on the train to pick it up, it was very easy.

The website lets you generate a voucher I think

Ok, thanks!
I will investigate with them so.

We use them at our place.
The website always seems a bit ropey though. They seems to have a couple of sites, one for employers and one for employees, and it sometimes sends me to the wrong one when I try to log in.

Apart from the website, they’ve been good enough though.

I remember the process being a lot less onerous than the Ribble I bought through cyclescheme about 9 years ago

Is it possible to buy a bike thats discounted in January sales on Cycle to work?

Yes, but assuming it is limited stock you will need to be sure that your company is able to generate the certificate for you quickly. Either that or the shop will have to be willing to hold the item for your while the certificate is generated.

When I’ve looked into this a couple of times over the years, two different bike shops said we’ll have to charge you full RRP if buying through a cycle to work scheme. Said you can’t have it both ways and get two discounts.
I was told the same thing again recently, but then the owner’s son chirped up that the fee the shop has to pay to Cyclescheme is capped at £250, so they agreed to just add £250 to the discounted price.
I was so lucky he happened to be there, or I would have just accepted what I’d been told previously.

The shop is charged 10-15% fee depending on scheme provider. Can't blame shops for wanting to recoup it. Tis the same for 0% finance, the commission amount varies though.

If a shop says it has to be full retail, say that you understand the issue and offer to cover the commission amount as a cash deposit.

I've not worked in a shop for about 8 months, but when I did, thr halfords scheme charged the most commission. Green commute initiative , the least.

How did you get on with vivup? I'm looking at using it but there's a disposal fee added on after the agreement, which is 10% of initial cost plus VAT at 20% of that fee. I'm trying to ring around different shops to see what fee they charge to use the scheme. But if the reduction is increased by 12% from disposal fees and there's another 6-12% added on from the shops I'm not sure if it's worth it rather than getting a good deal from an online shop, all the 0% finance stuff makes it easier to spread the cost in a similar fashion as well.

I contacted the Chief Financial Officer at my Trust, as everyone else was a dead end. She said that they signed a commercial agreement with Vivup which doesn't allow staff to use any other scheme. It's a money making scheme basically.

All C2W follow the same HMRC terms, Vivup just make their money by limiting the extended hire term to 3 years maximum, shorter than any other scheme I could find. That allows them to charge 12% as listed in the HMRC Guidance (Page 23 here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/cycle-to-work-scheme-implementation-guidance).

They also charge the disposal fee after 12 months regardless which seems to be against the HMRC rules? Cyclescheme and Bike2Work also charge disposal fees upfront but in the form of a deposit.

As for retailer fees, I've only got the few shops I spoke to go on, but they said Vivup is the most expensive and all they do is sign a form.

You're right it's not worth it at all. All I could do was go back to the bike shop who kindly offered to give a 6% discount to reflect the fees they would be charged were it under C2W.

Ha. This morning I sent a whingy complaining email to HR about the added costs involved in the vivup scheme. My trust used to have the option for GCI which looks to be the best but have been taken over and now have to use vivup as that's our new overlords position.

I have spoken to about 5 shops now who all said they charge an admin fee but spoke to Sigma this morning that said they don't charge, even on sale items. So am going to go down to the shop tomorrow and probably blast a load of non-disposable income.

Sigma this morning that said they don't charge

this definitely didnt used to be the case... good to know!

Shops make most of this stuff up as they along. Dependent upon mood and who is in charge that day.

I'll let you know for sure tomorrow as was advised on phone to go into the shop to spec up my quote. Only down the road. The fella on the phone did say that vivup don't allow the admin fee, so I'm not sure if it changes scheme to scheme.

Thread resurrection but....

Just got a brompton through CS. Filled the web form on wednesday and received the bike the following tuesday my employer (TFL) are great for C2W but thought it was really quick.

Anyone who has used Cycle Solutions, is my "Letter of Collection" effectively my "voucher"?

@n3il ?

Yes, same with most of the schemes.

Aye yeah, I forwarded mine to Paradise Cycles and it meant they went ahead with the build.

cheers both!

Right, I’m considering a cycle to work salary sacrifice thing via Cycle Solutions - I’m after (I think) an Aethos Comp with Rival AXS (yes I know I could buy the spec’d wheels and part group off here in the classifieds for under £400 but…) I’ve found one in the sale for £3300 that they are willing to price match, then upgrade slowly etc… I’ve never really considered this route before, I’ve always bought second hand and built stuff myself but I’ve no time and no usable bike and my wife is frustrated with ‘projects’…

My understanding is I can ‘hire’ the bike for 12 months (for something like £120 a month) then agree to borrow it for free for an additional 5 years when the market value drops to £0 and they let me keep it…

This seems like a good solution, what am I missing? 🤷‍♂️

why buy aethos if/when you can buy crux?