My new company benefits include a company car, but I don't need one. I have access to two private cars and the majority of my travel will be from the suburbs into the West End of London. My favoured option would be to use public transport. I have a home-working contract and I wouldn't be travelling into town every day. My company says my business needs a car, so there's no cash option. Do I have to take it? Can they refuse the cash option? Are there any mutually beneficial solutions?

answer

I'm afraid that you don't have any legal rights to force the company to give you a cash option. Basically, it's purely a matter of contract: if the company offers you the choice between a car or, effectively, nothing, there's nothing you can do about it since they're the ones offering the contract to you. It's up to you to take it or leave it.

If you can show that other people in the company have been allowed to take a cash alternative, you may be able to apply a bit of moral pressure, but I'm afraid that's really all. You might also try to do a deal with the company whereby they pay for petrol use for your own vehicles, or buy you an annual travel card. Ultimately, it will come down to whether the company believes these are viable arrangements. I suspect they're keen on the car idea because it's cheaper for them to lease a number of vehicles than it is to provide either a cash alternative or other benefits in kind.

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