Salary sacrifice car schemes have become increasingly popular in recent years, allowing employees to trade a portion of their monthly pay for a brand new car.
Selecting one of these schemes can be a little confusing – especially with so many providers to choose from. It’s important that you take the time to compare tax savings, term options and other extras – as well as making sure that you can actually apply this scheme to a vehicle of your liking. To make the process easier, we’ve rounded up 10 of the most popular and highly rated salary sacrifice car schemes in the UK.
Photo Credit: Pexels Atlantic Ambience
#1) Pink Salary Exchange (the best overall)
Pink Salary Exchange is a top choice when it comes to fully managed salary sacrifice car schemes. When it comes to tax savings, they offer some of the biggest savings of any provider as a result of partnering with some of the UK’s leading vehicle tax specialists.
They offer flexible contracts of 6 to 48 months and are able to set up an arrangement in less than 8 hours. Their rates are also very attractive due to working with a select panel of funders.
On top of this, they have an impressive range of EVs and hybrids to select from. This gives you and your employees more choice, helping you to find a car that is the right mix of personal and practical needs.
#2) Tusker (the most established)
As one of the longest running salary sacrifice car providers in the UK, Tusker is a very popular choice and gets very good ratings from customers.
They bundle a lot into their salary sacrifice car schemes. Alongside the cost of the vehicle, monthly payments cover delivery, collection, insurance, tax, maintenance, servicing and even MOTs. They also throw in Lifestyle Protection after 3 months – which covers redundancy, illness and parental leave.
Tusker excels at making the whole process straightforward. There aren’t even any credit checks or deposits involved, making them very accessible.
#3) Octopus EV (all-in-one car, charger and energy)
Octopus is one of the UK’s most popular energy suppliers. Many people don’t realise that they are also an electric vehicle lender and that they also provide installation of EV charging stations.
They offer the option to bundle all of this together: when you take out their EV salary sacrifice lease, you can get a home charging station (or public charging station for workplaces) installed for free, plus you can get discounts on your energy bills.
Their leases include fully comprehensive insurance, servicing, maintenance, tyres, breakdown cover, road tax and delivery/collection of the vehicle. The company sets their own rates and tax savings are quite high.
#4) Loveelectric (best risk guarantee)
A specialist in EV salary sacrifice schemes, Loveelectric provides a vast range of new and used electric cars to lease. They use a broker model to connect customers with a range of funders for the lowest rates.
A notable perk that they offer is their Zero Risk Guarantee, which protects employers if an employee leaves the company due to resignation, redundancy or long-term sickness. Other providers offer this guarantee, but it only often comes into effect after several months, whereas loveelectric protects companies from day 1.
You also get all the usual extras included in monthly payments including insurance, maintenance, breakdown cover and tax. On top of this, they also issue a charge card for discounts on charging points across the country.
#5) Zenith (best choice for fleet management integration)
Zenith is a fleet-focused company that has been providing commercial vehicle leases since 1989. They don’t just provide salary sacrifice car schemes but also provide fleet management tools to monitor and maintain each vehicle more efficiently.
Like other providers, Zenith bundles all the expenses into one monthly payment: car lease, insurance, servicing, road tax and delivery/collection. Their schemes tend to be more bespoke than other providers and they offer a very wide range of vehicles to choose from.
Because the company operates at such a scale, they’re also often able to provide competitive pricing. Many customers also report significant tax savings when using their car scheme.
#6) The Electric Car Scheme (best charging perks)
Set up specifically for EV salary sacrifice schemes, The Electric Car Scheme stands out for its additional perks related to EV charging. Firstly, like Octopus EV, they offer home charge point installation. However, on top of this, they also provide The Charge Scheme, which allows a whopping 20 to 50% on public EV charging fees.
When choosing The Electric Car Scheme, you can expect the following expenses to be included in the monthly payment: the car lease, insurance, servicing, breakdown cover, tax and delivery/collection. They also offer their own employer protection.
The Electric Car Scheme are highly trusted and have become one of the most popular salary sacrifice car scheme providers in the country. Take a browse through their range of EVs and see what offers are available.
#7) DreamLease (best general leasing provider)
DreamLease provides salary sacrifice cars alongside more traditional leasing products, giving employers more freedom as to how they fund their vehicles.
Their salary sacrifice scheme typically includes the lease itself, servicing, maintenance, tyres and breakdown cover and insurance. For employers, they also offer extra services like onboarding support, policy guidance and payroll integration.
Something that sets them apart is their extensive range of vehicles – which includes EVs and non-EVs (although they try to nudge drivers towards green options). They also allow you to explore other leasing options if you’d like to finance vehicles in different ways. All in all, they offer some of the best product diversity.
Which Salary Sacrifice Car Scheme Should You Choose?
Work out what your priorities are when choosing a salary sacrifice car scheme and then choose one of the providers above accordingly. There’s no harm in comparing each of them to see if they offer a specific vehicle you’re looking for or to check how prices compare. Make sure to also look at tax savings and other perks that could save you money.
Please note this is a contributed post.
