Your employer buys a voucher which entitles you to the hire of a bike of your choice directly from us. Because we’re authorised by the FCA there is no £1,000 limit.

The cost of the voucher is the same as the bike so for a £1,500 bike the voucher is £1,500.

You repay the cost of the voucher by sacrificing a part of your gross (before tax & NI) salary. This means you save the tax and NI that you would pay if you bought the bike from your net (after tax) pay. Your employer also saves 13.8% employer’s NI. So it’s worth them doing it.

At the end of the hire period we can’t give you the bike because you would incur a tax liability. So, we make you a free of charge loan of the bike for a further five years and nine months. After 6 years, under a separate agreement, we can transfer to ownership title to you for a £1 processing fee.  The £1 acts as a marker to protect you from any future claim that HMRC may make.

We manage all the end of scheme arrangements so there is nothing for your employer to do and best of all no end of scheme sting as there is on old fashioned Cycle to Work schemes.

Cycle to work schemes allows employers to offer their employees the use of a bike for commuting in exchange for a salary sacrifice.  The salary sacrifice enables the employees to use their gross pay to reimburse the employer for the cost of the bike.  The gross pay is before tax, so the employee saves the tax and national insurance which would have been due on the amount sacrificed (32%, 42% or 47%).  It also allows employees to spread the cost over monthly pay packets, making the acquisition more affordable.

Yes.  You can see the confirmation in the third paragraph on the Employment Income Manual page of their website.
“The exemption also covers the provision of a voucher for hiring bicycles and equipment.”

One of the big four accountancy firms said:
“Our review of the GCI documentation has confirmed that the scheme arrangements are
robust and comply with the relevant legislative exemption in respect of cycles and cyclist’s
safety equipment.”

Please ask us if you would like to see a copy of their report.

There are two separate agreements:

The salary sacrifice agreement is between the employer and employee and covers the repayment of the voucher cost.  This can be for any period longer than twelve months that both parties are happy with.  Common terms are 12, 18, 24 months but it could be for as long as 60 months.

The hire agreement is between the employee and GCI Ltd.  This is unaffected by the length of the salary sacrifice.

Finance taken out with a third party is between the employer and the finance company and as such, the employer will repay the loan.  The employer recoups the money from reduced salary payments, minus the commission on the loan.  The cost of the loan is more than covered by the employer’s reduced National Insurance payments.  The employer still saves money.

Akira can time their payments so they are due after the salary payment date.

When an employee leaves before the end of the agreement, any outstanding amount on the loan must be repaid within 14 days of leaving the employment.  However, the final salary payment must not take them below the minimum wage.  If the outstanding amount owed is not fully covered by the final salary payment, the employee must pay it through their own means.  This will mean that they lose the tax free benefit on any amount not paid via their salary.

The bike shop may wish to charge a deposit in order to secure the deal, however they should refund this back to you in the event your organisation decides to not take part in the scheme.  If you do proceed, the deposit will be refunded back to you when you collect your bike.  However, if the bike shop has had to place a special order for you, they may decide to withhold the deposit in the event the deal does not go through.  You should ensure both you and the shop are clear on this point.

Your organisation does not need to be signed up for you to use Instant GCI.  Instant GCI works on an individual basis, so as long as your employer agrees to your request, you can go ahead.  If they have already allowed other individuals to take part in the scheme, it is likely that the scheme will be advertised internally on either staff noticeboards or the intranet.

For Corporate GCI, your organisation will have an GCI code which allows you to access the dedicated portal.  Your HR department or intranet will provide this.

Where a salary sacrifice arrangement is used, your gross pay is affected, which in turn impacts upon your tax and National Insurance Contributions (NICs).  As entitlement to some benefits is based on the amount of NICs that are paid and others on earnings, entering into a salary sacrifice arrangement may affect your current or future entitlement to a range of benefits.