Lombard enters salary sacrifice market with new product

Lombard has launched a new salary sacrifice solution for fully electric and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles.  

Salary sacrifice schemes are becoming an increasingly popular option for businesses seeking to offer a great employee benefit while working to reduce the carbon emissions from their employees’ travel and commuting.

Approximately 80% of businesses, in a recent survey by the British Vehicle Rental and Leasing Association (BVRLA), said it was ‘likely or very likely’ that they would introduce a salary sacrifice car scheme.

Stuart Clark, head of climate transition at Lombard, said: “Electric vehicles (EVs) are transforming our roads. It’s easy to see why – they are cheaper to run and tailpipe emission-free. But if we are truly to benefit from the electric revolution, we need to make EVs more accessible.

“Like cycle to work but for cars, having the option to lease an EV is a hugely attractive benefit for employees, who could save hundreds of pounds every month through our salary sacrifice scheme.

“There are no set-up costs for businesses, making it easy for them to provide a great employee benefit, while also potentially helping to reduce their carbon emissions from their employees’ business travel and commuting.”

Lombard’s salary sacrifice offering has been developed in partnership with ALD Automotive LeasePlan.

Leon McMahon, head of retail partnerships at ALD Automotive Leaseplan UK, said: “The partnership between Lombard and ALD Automotive LeasePlan is key in aiding businesses navigate the challenging journey toward net zero.

“Leveraging Lombard's market presence and the technological backing of ALD Automotive LeasePlan, the partnership provides a complete range of fleet services, with market leading products such as contract hire, Flex and our award winning TCO-plus.

“Now a key innovation for this partnership is the Lombard EV Salary Sacrifice Scheme, a fully digital product, backed by the power and scale of the partnership, providing solutions for drivers to get into the driving seat of new electric or plug-in hybrid vehicle.”

Providing an all-in-one solution for businesses with more than 250 eligible employees, Lombard says its digital interface and customer support makes it easy for businesses and their employees to get started.

Businesses can use a free EV Planner tool which helps them to understand the EV readiness of their employee vehicles, signposts which cars can be transitioned, and what charging infrastructure is required.

Through Lombard’s digital interface, employees can browse the latest car models, choose their vehicle and select the payment terms and mileage to suit their needs, with a fixed monthly cost which covers maintenance, insurance, road tax, and more.

Drivers can choose to add a home charge point to their order, and also pay for this through salary sacrifice, spreading the cost over the term of the lease.