How much is wear and tear?

[Brock]

I shall be working away for the next three years, all expenses paid by my employer.

 

I have the option of a single bedroomed flat for which they will pay £600 pm or they will, with some reluctance, pay for me in my van for £60pw plus electricity.

 

The van will depreciate quicker with me living in it full time although I doubt the mechanical side will suffer too much simply because it will be used and still do less mileage than its annual service limit.

 

How much should I charge my employer for wear and tear? Whatever it is, has to be quantifiable. I work for an organisation that believes in honest and transparent accounting. I do not want to make money on this or cheat.

 

 

[Big Momma]

I think for anyone to be able to provide you with any information they would first need a lot more information from you to be able to asess the situation. Just for starters :-

 

Are you going to remain located in this country ?

Are you Office based or will you be required to use your Motorhome to travel around ?

Do you intend to use this as your main accommodation for the whole 3 years ?

Where are you intending to site your Motorhome ?

 

There are lots of issues here, more than just wear and tear, but to be able to answer your question, just on wear and tear would still require some further information.

[Bazza454]

Brock - 2010-08-30 9:06 PM I shall be working away for the next three years, all expenses paid by my employer. I have the option of a single bedroomed flat for which they will pay £600 pm or they will, with some reluctance, pay for me in my van for £60pw plus electricity. The van will depreciate quicker with me living in it full time although I doubt the mechanical side will suffer too much simply because it will be used and still do less mileage than its annual service limit. How much should I charge my employer for wear and tear? Whatever it is, has to be quantifiable. I work for an organisation that believes in honest and transparent accounting. I do not want to make money on this or cheat.

I don't understand why they are reluctant to pay you £60pw plus electricity for living in the 'van which should cost them a total of no more than £300 per month instead of £600 per month for a flat, doesn't make sense.

My experience of employers is that if the employee wished to stay in a flat/'van/hotel or with relatives other than the hotel/flat that the company nominated then they would pay the employee the same per month that it would cost them for the original hotel/flat, on the strict understanding that it would not impact on the employees work in any way, in your case, they should offer you £600 per month and allow you to choose where you stay.   

[flicka]

Don't forget to check with your Insurance Company.

They may class this as "Commercial use/ use for work purposes.

Very possible such use will attract a higher Insurance premium.

[Big Momma]

Bazza454 - 2010-08-30 10:20 PM

I don't understand why they are reluctant to pay you £60pw plus electricity for living in the 'van which should cost them a total of no more than £300 per month instead of £600 per month for a flat, doesn't make sense.

My experience of employers is that if the employee wished to stay in a flat/'van/hotel or with relatives other than the hotel/flat that the company nominated then they would pay the employee the same per month that it would cost them for the original hotel/flat, on the strict understanding that it would not impact on the employees work in any way, in your case, they should offer you £600 per month and allow you to choose where you stay.   

If I decided to stay with relatives, freinds or indeed use my Motorhome instead of staying in a hotel that my work would pay for (including Bed, Breakfast & Evening meal) then they would only pay me £25 pn. However even that equates to £175 pw a little more generous than £60 pw.

[Big Momma]

flicka - 2010-08-30 10:35 PM

 

Don't forget to check with your Insurance Company.

They may class this as "Commercial use/ use for work purposes.

Very possible such use will attract a higher Insurance premium.

 

Also, lots of sites are not classed as Residential and therefore there are limitations on length of stay, this could mean constant moving on so added to that inconvenience would be mileage costs.

 

This is what I meant about more information required, there are lots of potential issues here other than just 'wear and tear'.

[colin]

It's been many years since I did this so things may have changed, but it was the case that rented or hotel where tax deductable but caravans where not, I still choose to use a caravan as I was sick to death of hotels.

[Brock]

Thanks for the comments so far. Will be staying in England, not using the van as an office, and will use camp sites - probably CLs or similar. One has already said they can accommodate me as they have several other people on site in similar situations. The Caravan Club have said they cannot do an extended stay as they are only licensed for leisure and tourism.

 

I will tell my insurer and will expect a price hike on premium or even have to change my insurer.

 

The issue with my employer is that I want to claim something for wear and tear and they do not want to pay for something they cannot easily quantify. However, if I can state a figure on it that makes sense, they will probably pay it. In the long run, and I agree with them on this, having something that is transparent and more expensive (a flat) is better than having something that is cheap but would cost a fortune to justify (in management time etc) if it was ever challenged - and in my experience, there are always a lot of barrack room lawyers ready to challenge. I have to live in the real world where common sense does not always apply but the organisation's rules do and these in turn reflect society.

 

Moving about wouldn't bother me that much. A bit of variety will do me good.

 

 

[enodreven]

Hi,

 

I think its also worth taking into account that most MH's are not made for full time living while some do use them as such, it will put a lot of strain on the equipment like furnishings, pumps, chargers etc.

[tonyg3nwl]

Hi, I wonder how your expenses are to be paid, if through the payroll then you are liable to tax surely, whereas if your employer picks up the hotel bill direct, isnt that tax deductable for him?

 

As far as wear and tear costs are concerned, you might have a problem with the taxman again, and would no doubt have to keep all receipts for all expenses incurred while living in the van. Taxman might have a differing view as to what is expense neccessarily incurred to upkeep the van as a result of work, as opposed to leisure use.

 

Personally I think the hotel path might be less hassle unless you can get tax office to agree a daily fixed allowance for being away from home , possibly agreed through a trade union agreement .

 

When I was at work, the union negotiated a "daily rate" for 24 hour abscences from normal place of work which was not taxable. I frequently used my van for overnight absences with no problems, whereas hotel bills had to be presented for reimbursment.

 

tonyg3nwl

 

[Guest Tracker]

Perhaps your employer might agree to you having the van valued for p/x now by a reputable dealer who - with luck - might still be around in years to come?

 

If you then have it revalued each year by the same dealer following which you can come to an agreement with your employer about how much is normal age related depreciation and how much is exces ive use wear and tear?

[Madmaggott]

Regarding the tax liability, your employer should be able to get the allowance (provided they show it to be justified) agreed as a tax free expense before the P11Ds are processed at the end of the tax year.  If they do this it means you will not have to save all your receipts etc and argue it out with the tax office after reporting is done.  Much the best path to take.