PERK drivers are reluctant to ditch their company cars although the take-up of cash alternatives has increased significantly in the past year, according to Monks Partnership's annual company car survey. The report, Company Car Policy UK 1998, shows that the percentage of companies where more than 10% of drivers had taken up the cash alternative has risen from about 25% last year to some 40% this year.

It notes that cash allowances are normally available only to status drivers, but points out that the proportion of status cars on fleets is growing. In the case of companies with turnover of £100 million or more, it found that about 50% of cars were likely to be status vehicles.

Almost half of the 174 companies - with a total of 123,644 company cars - who took part in the survey said they had changed their company car policy over the past year, with about a third expecting to make changes over the next year. Most of the changes made or planned concerned offering more choice, either in the form of a cash allowance or a trade up/trade down option.

The number of companies offering a cash allowance increased from 62% in 1997 to 66% in 1998. Three quarters of large companies offered such an option, while the number of medium sized companies following