UP TO 70% OF DRIVERS WILL BE BETTER OFF IN JULY 2002 CLAIMS LEX

Up to 70% of drivers will be financially better off, or no worse off three months after the introduction of the new CO2 based Benefit-in-Kind according to company car specialists Lex Vehicle Leasing.

Analysing the Lex business-to-business fleet, which excludes vans, as of July 2002, the company has generated what it believes to be the most accurate estimation to date on how the tax changes will really affect driver Benefit-in-Kind tax liability.

The findings are more positive than some industry pundits have previously predicted, as almost 70% of motorists driving Lex cars will be better off than they are currently.

Looking at the total company car parc, this could mean 2.1 million out of a total of all 3.0 million company car drivers, will be better or no worse off under the new Benefit-in-Kind system.

To quote a specific example, a 40% taxpayer who drives a £20,000 diesel car with an 18% tax band, will benefit. Based on this calculation, a driver’s pay packet would increase by £1360 per annum.

The findings are based on Lex drivers covering an annual mileage of 25,000 miles, 10,000 of which Lex has assumed are private miles based on its industry knowledge.

‘Rather than listen to industry rhetoric, we decided to find out for ourselves what the effects of the benefit in kind changes are likely to be for real motorists driving real cars,’ explained Jon Walden, Managing Director of Lex Vehicle Leasing.

‘We know what kind of cars our drivers will be driving and their CO2 ratings, and we know roughly how many miles they are covering annually. Using all these statistics we have generated these findings.

‘We are also providing interactive tools to help our customers make informed decisions about the future. Our website bears witness to this. Our environment programme has delivered and made a genuine contribution to customer awareness. We have also recently launched an interactive software programme known as Lex ViewPoint which provides vital information to fleet managers in this whole area. Most important, face to face consultation has given us the opportunity to share what we know.

‘We will continue to monitor these figures and make the appropriate recommendations to our customers, but the facts are that there will be many fewer drivers worse off under the new tax changes than is being predicted by commentators,’ said Walden.