Bike to Work scheme - the Megathread - Read post #1 before posting

pinkie086

Oh well thanks for coming back! Guess I will just have to start saving the pennies

Beasty

pinkie086 wrote: »

Oh well thanks for coming back! Guess I will just have to start saving the pennies

The employer does save PRSI, so it may be worth trying again to see if they would operate the scheme - it may help if you could find others at your workplace that would want to participate

Deedsie

Just sold my own bike so ready to upgrade now through the bike to work scheme. The problem is, my company only deals through biketowork.ie! They guy I wanted to buy from is not a member of this group. Has anyone any familiarity with the shops participating in www.biketowork.ie? Any of them particularly good value!

The only bike I was looking at so far is a giant defy 2 10 speed road bike!

Seaneh

Buckley's Cycles in Athlone and Tullamore are good to deal with.

yabadabado

Can anyone confirm if a public servant must stick to the registered list or is it possible to buy online from a supplier not on the list(Canyon).
I rang HR and the guy who usually deals with it is on leave so it will be a week before I hear anything back.
Has anyone bought a bike from a supplier not on the list?

spiderman1885

Is there a minimum amount of time you need to be in the job to avail of the scheme?

Beasty

spiderman1885 wrote: »

Is there a minimum amount of time you need to be in the job to avail of the scheme?

Only if your employer specifies one (which is unlikely)

spiderman1885

Beasty wrote: »

Only if your employer specifies one (which is unlikely)

Thanks!

ghogie91

Hello All,

I enquired about the bike to work.

I am entitled to it and the employer will pay there and then for me to get my bike.

But the employer wants to claim back what ever is owed to them within 4 weeks from my wages

is this correct?

nattyguest

How it works for most schemes is that you go to the bike shop, get a quote for your gear, we'll say the max of 1000 euro in this case. Your company gives you a cheque for 1k after you sign the paperwork (most companies run it through something like cycle4all and so forth) and you usually pay about 500 back the first month, then the rest in 100 euro increments. This is normal. The saving comes due to it being chalked down to a perk (much like if you get health insurance) and as such your tax payments are lower.

Throughout the year the savings will add up, but you don't see the immediate savings. For a higher level earner the savings can be huge.

nattyguest

"How much can I save" - click on the right here:

http://www.biketowork.ie/

i71jskz5xu42pb

As far as I am aware it's up to the employer whether they opt to offer to split the cost of the bike over a few months, only restriction being that they can't split it over more than 12 months.

Spiderman1975

ghogie91 wrote: »

Hello All,

I enquired about the bike to work.

I am entitled to it and the employer will pay there and then for me to get my bike.

But the employer wants to claim back what ever is owed to them within 4 weeks from my wages

is this correct?

All correct. The employer decides the repayment period and whether they want to opt in with the scheme. They can choose not to take part at all or offer the scheme to all employees. They can not make it available to only some of the staff

Doctor Bob

nattyguest wrote: »

"How much can I save" - click on the right here:

http://www.biketowork.ie/

biketowork.ie is a commercial operator of the scheme. Not all employers use such a third party service, so their rules may not apply to the OP.

This is the best non-affiliated site for info: http://www.bikescheme.ie/

OP: If you have trouble paying it off in 4 weeks, would you consider a short-term loan? You'd still make a considerable saving and could then spread your payments over a longer time period.

nattyguest

Doctor Bob wrote: »

biketowork.ie is a commercial operator of the scheme. Not all employers use such a third party service, so their rules may not apply to the OP.

This is the best non-affiliated site for info: http://www.bikescheme.ie/

OP: If you have trouble paying it off in 4 weeks, would you consider a short-term loan? You'd still make a considerable saving and could then spread your payments over a longer time period.

Cheers for this, I just grabbed the first calculator looking item I could find

ghogie91

Spiderman1975 wrote: »

All correct. The employer decides the repayment period and whether they want to opt in with the scheme. They can choose not to take part at all or offer the scheme to all employees. They can not make it available to only some of the staff

Thanks for the reply, kind of throws a spanner in the works

billyhead

Does anyone else think that this could be the last year for the BTW scheme and the Gov will pull the plug on it in the next budget.

cdaly_

ghogie91 wrote: »

Thanks for the reply, kind of throws a spanner in the works

Try to negotiate with them. You're talking about being down EUR125 per week for a month which is pretty tough. See can you persuade them to go to two months? Also find out how they manage the tax saver scheme for annual commuter tickets and ask for the same terms for the bike (it's essentially the same (type of) scheme).

Or as Doctor Bob said, consider a term loan.

cdaly_

billyhead wrote: »

Does anyone else think that this could be the last year for the BTW scheme and the Gov will pull the plug on it in the next budget.

Nope.

nattyguest

billyhead wrote: »

Does anyone else think that this could be the last year for the BTW scheme and the Gov will pull the plug on it in the next budget.

It's an easy win for any government even remotely concerned about their "green credentials" - it takes next to no extra admin, the actual up front cost of it is quite low and that's before you take into account any health potential health savings you might see for the HSE. I can't see it being removed, personally.

opti0nal

Noel Gibbons from Mayo County Council is on RTE radio 1 now, same line as previously reported.

He says his objective is to 'get people affiliated to a club' and encouraging cycle training.

No cheap shots taken.

RainyDay

opti0nal wrote: »

Noel Gibbons from Mayo County Council is on RTE radio 1 now, same line as previously reported.

He says his objective is to 'get people affiliated to a club' and encouraging cycle training.

No cheap shots taken.

No evidence presented either - no stats on accidents caused by cyclists.

DoubleJoe7

Looking to get my first bike since I was a kid - thinking ofgoing hybrid. Could anyone recommend me a bike?

Brian?

DoubleJoe7 wrote: »

Looking to get my first bike since I was a kid - thinking ofgoing hybrid. Could anyone recommend me a bike?

Don't go hybrid. You'll regret it.

RebelRed90

Guessing you cant avail of this if your doing a jobbridge internship?

CramCycle

RebelRed90 wrote: »

Guessing you cant avail of this if your doing a jobbridge internship?

Nope since the jobbridge is not paid by the employer, you wouldn't be paying tax for which to save. The only benefit to it would be that you could have spread the payments out, no money would be saved though.

RebelRed90

CramCycle wrote: »

Nope since the jobbridge is not paid by the employer, you wouldn't be paying tax for which to save. The only benefit to it would be that you could have spread the payments out, no money would be saved though.

Ya partly guessed, sound thou.

joeKel73

Hey,

I'm hoping to get a bike via the cycle to work scheme in the next week or two. I've found a few online calculators that are giving me different me different resulting bike costs...

Does anyone have a link to an accurate/up-to-date one?

Thanks

Gumbo

J o e wrote: »

Hey,

I'm hoping to get a bike via the cycle to work scheme in the next week or two. I've found a few online calculators that are giving me different me different resulting bike costs...

Does anyone have a link to an accurate/up-to-date one?

Thanks

Im currently looking into this.
What tax bracket are you in?

Cee-Jay-Cee

Don't have a calculator but I'm in the top tax band and it cost me €480 total over the 52 weeks so less than a rennet a week from your pay packet.