Maxxia UK has launched a car salary sacrifice scheme under which the agreement is held with the employee and not the employer.
The company said under most schemes, the employer is responsible for any settlement due in the event of a lease being terminated ahead of term, but its Lifestyle Lease product removes this liability by establishing the lease agreement directly with the employee.
This also means that if a participating employee leaves the company, they are able to continue their agreement either through their new employer or privately.
Gordon Calder-Jones, business development director for Maxxia, said: “Salary sacrifice car schemes have been growing in popularity in recent years.
"Provided as part of a benefits or rewards package, they offer non-essential car users an attractive and tax efficient benefit, contributing towards staff retention and attraction targets.
“But for many employers, the liability attached to potential early terminations has been, and continues to be, an area of concern.
"While they appreciate the many benefits in the context of a corporate environment are unable to rationalise this downside."
Maxxia UK's Lifestyle Lease "elminiates this downside", according to Calder-Jones, as the lease agreement is established with the employee and the employer’s involvement is therefore limited to collecting payment through gross salary deductions and authorising employees for the scheme.
He added: "There is no set up cost or administrative fee and in the event of the employee leaving, they take their car with them and can then choose to either engage their new employer and continue to enjoy the salary sacrifice savings permitted by surrendering a proportion of their gross salary each month, continue the agreement but not on a net basis, or terminate the agreement, usually for a negligible sum assuming mileage and usage conditions have been adhered to."
Phil Arnold - 18/04/2016 10:18
Then presumably there are no tax or NI Savings for employees and no Employer NI savings. So in essence this isn't a salary sacrifice product at all just a leading scheme via payroll deduction from net pay ?