Fleet management specialist Fleet Logistics International has launched a new salary sacrifice car scheme in the UK, which it is calculating to be 10 percent cheaper than conventional schemes. The reason, according to the company, is because multi-bidding is applied to every new car via a panel of funders to find the most attractive rate for the driver.

The new scheme, called FleetBENEFIT, is open to any sized organization, although Fleet Logistics’ research suggests that the optimal size is a minimum of 500 employees.

The FleetBENEFIT scheme makes brand new, low emission cars available to all designated staff members, and provides fully comprehensive business insurance, road fund license, breakdown cover and full servicing and maintenance provision as part of the standard package.

Employees can research, identify, source and order their new vehicle online through Fleet Logistics’ acclaimed Fleet. Wizard car configurator, and benefit from highly attractive rates supplied by a panel of funders.

Using Fleet Logistics’ multi-bidding solution, which has been shown to reduce acquisition costs by 8-10 percent, according to the company, the most attractive price is selected for the employee from the prices supplied by the panel. Any savings generated in this way, can then be allocated to a fund to cover any future contingencies, such as resignation, redundancy, or maternity leave.

The salary sacrifice scheme produces savings for employees in both income tax and National Insurance Contributions (NICs) on the amount of salary surrendered, although staff are liable for a benefit-in-kind tax charge on the vehicle provided.

The FleetBENEFIT scheme therefore naturally promotes and provides greener, less polluting cars as they have lower benefit-in-kind rates than models with higher CO2 emissions, helping reduce the organization’s carbon footprint at the same time.

The new scheme also tackles problems associated with the grey fleet – those employee-owned vehicles which are used on company business. The scheme ensures that, instead of possibly poorly maintained and irregularly serviced vehicles of varying ages, employees can now select reliable, well-maintained, comprehensively insured and efficient new vehicles, according to Fleet Logistics.

This not only helps the business maintain its corporate image, but also helps meet duty of care obligations, as the organization has a duty of care to ensure that any cars used for business reasons are fit for purpose, have a valid MOT, are insured for business use and that employees are eligible to drive them, according to Fleet Logistics.