Do you bike on company business ?

I ask because my company has just banned staff from using bikes on company business. They can use their own cars and get a (generous) mileage allowance, and could previoulsy use a motorcycle, but now they are a no-no.

Reasons quoted were safety related, the usual '20 times more likely to have a serious injury, 40 times more likely to die' type stuff. I only used mine once for travelling on company business (cos 99% of the time I need to be suited up for meetings) but it was nice to have the option. A French colleague would ride his BMW all the way from Paris, and loved it. Guess he won't be doing that any more.

What's the score with other folks' policies on using bikes on company business? (not talking about couriers etc.) I'd be interested to hear.

Cheers Keith

Yes I often use the bike on company business but as I'm self-employed I make the rules

Having business cover cost me an extra £25 a year. All I usually use it for is hand delivering letters/documents to clients around the town, if I only do 2 a week then I've saved the extra spend. I've shocked quite a few clients. Not many expect their solicitor to turn up on a bike and in leathers

i use mine for work, probably do a long-ish trip once every four weeks on average. the powers that be know i use the bike, but i still can reclaim petrol at 50p a mile.

Originally Posted by will

i use mine for work, probably do a long-ish trip once every four weeks on average. the powers that be know i use the bike, but i still can reclaim petrol at 50p a mile.

Blimey that's generous - they did a reduced rate of 25p / mile for bikes at our place.

Originally Posted by Well Oiled

Blimey that's generous - they did a reduced rate of 25p / mile for bikes at our place.

That's cos you've only half the number of wheels.

Originally Posted by Well Oiled

Blimey that's generous - they did a reduced rate of 25p / mile for bikes at our place.

Be aware of the income tax implications! I seem to recall that 25p/mile is the max you can be paid free of income tax liability. Any excess is taxable. On the other hand, you can can claim tax relief on payments less than 25p/mile. Mileage allowance for cars is 40p/mile for the first 10K then 25p/mile. This is from memory, so may be wrong.

Originally Posted by chazzyb

Be aware of the income tax implications! I seem to recall that 25p/mile is the max you can be paid free of income tax liability. Any excess is taxable. On the other hand, you can can claim tax relief on payments less than 25p/mile. Mileage allowance for cars is 40p/mile for the first 10K then 25p/mile. This is from memory, so may be wrong.

Correct - and you get 5p / mile extra allowance for each passenger you carry in your car (not sure if that applies to pillions on your bike !.

But don't worry Will - I won't grass yer up to the IR (no SV riding tax inspectors around here are there?).

Originally Posted by Well Oiled

(no SV riding tax inspectors around here are there?).

Not one that does income tax, as far as I know.

I've used my SV quite alot for work. They'de prefer I didn't cos turning up at a clients site in leathers or soaking wet gear isn't very smart, apparently.
They also worry about me if I get lost in a city I've never been in before.

Next year I should be going back to work with them again, so I expect they'll be renting a car for me to take on days when I need to carry equipment or they want me to make a good impression with a new customer.

I get 25p per mile, btw.

Very rairly, but I have done. If I have to go to site and not take much kit then I try to. Dont care about how much I have to clame as long as i dont have to drive a car for 3 times as long to get from london to slough and back.

I haven't used a car for company business for almost 4 years now, I do an average of 25,000 a year on the bike. I have seen a bit of pressure recently to change to 4 wheels but I shut my boss up when we had to go for a meeting at the Ritz in London and he went by train and I took the bike, we both left the office in Slough at the same time. His journey took him almost an hour and a half and I was on my second £10:00 pot of tea by the time he arrived.