The Miles Consultancy

All taxed-up and nowhere to go. What HMRC’s new report says about the future of company cars.

The UK taxman’s latest report on benefit-in-kind tax does not look good for the future of company cars. Or for government revenues. It reveals that the £2.5 billion the government gets each year from car, van and fuel benefits is now in danger of drying up. The reasons are a mix of short-sighted increases in BIK rates, ‘dieselgate’ and new emissions tests. These are sending company car drivers up a cul-de-sac where they can no longer

Do diesel drivers subsidise the price of petrol?

You probably won't remember a time when diesel was cheaper than petrol in the UK. It was 1990 when the tables turned. Over the last 15 years, diesel has averaged 4.3 pence per litre more than unleaded petrol. At the peak of the price gap - in 2008, garages charged a whopping 15 pence per litre more for diesel! So why the difference when both diesel and petrol are made from the same feedstock, via the same process, by the same industry?

Russia, Saudi Arabia, Tehran and Tesco – why it’s wise to budget for ongoing high fuel prices

Petrol and diesel prices finally broke out of their strong rising trend last week, with the government’s official tracker showing a drop of nearly 1p per litre across the UK. But are we seeing the start of a return to cheaper fuel or are prices merely taking a breather on their way to a new high? The short answer is that UK pump prices are set to stay at elevated levels for the foreseeable future. Here’s why: Steady outlook for oil p

How Lyreco’s fleet manager HALVED his cars’ pence per mile fuel costs using S.T.Y.L.E. and S.M.A.R.T.ness

As expensive fuel looks set to stay, with some motorway stations now charging over £1.49 per litre, we talk to TMC customer David Cadwallader, UK & Ireland Car Fleet Manager for global workplace products distributor Lyreco, about his successful strategies for keeping a lid on costs. He tells us: “In 2017, our fuel cost per car user was at its lowest, as was the pence per mile, despite pump prices being at their highest for two years.”

Imagine diesel costing between £1 and £4 a litre depending on where you filled up. Welcome to the world of EV charging stations.

One of the many differences between electric vehicles (EVs) and internal combustion engines (ICEs) that fleets will have adjust to is the way their fuels are priced. We’re accustomed to a highly-standardised supply system for petrol and diesel: two types of fuel, in standard and premium grades; pump nozzles that come in just two sizes, and prices that typically only vary by 2-4 pence per litre (away from motorways at least). On the other

Fleets face fuel cost double whammy from high oil price and de-dieselisation, warns TMC

As average UK diesel prices surpassed £1.30 per litre yesterday (22 May 2018), mobility data analysis company TMC has warned of a ‘fuel cost double whammy’ for fleets. “The trend away from diesel in favour of thirstier petrol cars could not be happening at a worse time,” said Paul Hollick, managing director of TMC. “Analysis of ‘real-world’ fuel costs from TMC’s fuel and mileage capture recently showed that the real cost gap b

Diesel is not the danger to health some say it is.

Diesel is not the danger to health some say it is. One of the biggest challenges for fleet decision makers today is to reconcile the realities of operating vehicles with the mixed signals being sent out by different stakeholders. Commercial reality for most operators and job-need drivers still emphatically says ‘diesel’ but this knowledge runs contrary to strong signals sent out by last month’s BIK increases <https://themilesconsul

TMC Scoop Motor Finance Award for Digital Innovation of the Year

We were absolutely delighted to be awarded the Motor Finance Award for Digital Innovation of the Year. The Judges has this to say about Mobility+: "This year’s winner took a real industry problem and came up with an effective solution. This solution was quite out there, first to market and a good example of joined up thinking. Judges were also impressed with how this innovation is applicable across borders." Mob

Revealed. The UK Treasury’s short-sighted £1 billion tax raid on company car drivers

UK government tax policy hits company car drivers unfairly. And whatever the government tries to suggest, it’s got very little to do with protecting the environment. That is TMC’s conclusion from our review of changes affecting company car drivers in the last four Budgets. Thanks to which, company car users will pay around £550 million more tax this year than they would have expected four years ago. Most of the extra burden will com

This week’s company car tax changes are no April Fool’s joke.

With steep increases in UK company car taxes just around the corner, there is only one question the fleet industry should ask about the government’s BIK strategy. How did it go so disastrously wrong? Back in 2002 when the government launched the CO2-based BIK system, it called it “a fundamental, revenue neutral, reform of the taxation of company cars, to help protect the environment.” It was designed to offer company car drivers a

TMC win Van Fleet World Award for Best Technology

We are delighted to have won the Van Fleet World Award for Best Technology at today's event in Twickenham. Here's what the Judges had to say: “Harnessing data from multiple fleet service providers to assess fuel use can be a real headache for a fleet manager,” said Dan Gilkes, editor of Van Fleet World. “TMC has created Fuel+, using fuel, telematics and journey data to reduce fuel costs, provide visibility over fuel usage and to i

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