Daily rental guidance
Vehicle selection
Employees should hire the smallest appropriate car to perform the duty required.
They should choose Category C or smaller for passenger journeys. Category C is a compact 4-door vehicle (for example, a Citroen C4, Ford Focus or equivalent).
The hirer’s line manager must approve all exceptions supported by a business need. For example, the provision of an automatic transmission or MPV for carrying more than three passengers.
Lynx hand controls for lower-limb disability are available from the supplier upon request.
Use of vehicle
Vehicle hire is considered official vehicle use for business purposes only. Any use of hire vehicles for private purposes is not allowed. This applies:
- before the start of the hire (for example, using a vehicle when it is dropped off the evening before the hire date)
- after the end of the hire
Insurance cover is only in place for the duration of the actual hire. Employees cannot use hire vehicles to pursue private interests or activities. Insurance cover is not valid for these purposes.
Payment
We make payments for vehicle hire centrally. We use a corporate payment card for vehicle hire made with our contracted provider. This allows us to consolidate them in a single account.
At the point of booking, the hirer must provide their cost centre and employee number. This allows internal reconciliation of the payment to the correct budget.
The journey from home to work
We do not allow the use of hire cars for normal travel from home to work and vice versa. This would constitute private use of an official vehicle.
We allow hire cars to be driven home or returned to work if the start or end of the business journey is:
- early in the morning
- or, late in the evening
Length of hire
We allow car hire for the minimum possible period required. This helps us to minimise costs. Line managers should consider a short-term lease for any hire requirement for over three months.
One-way hire
One-way hires can minimise the length and cost of the hire, where appropriate. For example, a week-long training course could require only two one-day hires; One day to travel to the course, and a second booking for one day to return from the course. In this instance, the total hire charges will be for two days rather than five.
Authorisation requests
Employees need approval for each new booking. They should make their line manager aware before making a booking, except in urgent circumstances. In these cases, retrospective notification to line managers is acceptable.
Drivers should have their copy of the rental agreement signed by their line manager. The agreement is provided when the car is delivered. The line manager must also sign the agreement following the hire and keep it for 12 months after the rental. We may check these signed agreements.
Bookings for vehicles of category D and larger must have pre-journey consent from the line manager. This will take the form of an email automatically generated by the supplier’s booking system.
The manager will receive the option to decline the hire. If they do not decline it by the time of the booking, it will be authorised. This is to avoid instances of vehicle non-delivery.
Record of journey
It may be necessary for the employee to provide details of the business journey to HMRC. They must demonstrate that there has been no private use of the vehicle.
We advise employees to keep a record of each journey. This must include the reason for and details of the journey, plus the mileage travelled. This is the same as the information recorded on a travel expenses form. A travel expenses form is for when an employee uses their own vehicle on business.
If an employee cannot evidence the journey was for business use, HMRC may assess there was a taxable car benefit. The employee should keep this information for three years.
Insurance
Insurance is in place to cover vehicle hire by our staff. A hire car for business purposes cannot be covered by personal insurance. Non-council staff are not insured to drive hire vehicles.
Pick-up and return service
The hire company offers a free pick-up and return service. They will pick up the driver and take them to the depot to collect the hire car, and then drop them back off after the hire. This will avoid collection and delivery charges and should be used when convenient for the driver.
Fuel
The car hire company will deliver vehicles with a full tank of fuel. This is under the contract service level agreement.
To avoid additional charges, drivers should refill the tank before returning the vehicle. Additional charges for the hire company to refill the tank are significant. These charges are 30 pence per litre on top of the pump price for the fuel.
Drivers can reclaim the total costs of refuelling the vehicle through:
- the online expenses system
- the paper-based expenses system
Drivers should keep fuel receipts for this purpose.
Out-of-hours delivery charges
The vehicle hire company office hours are 8am to 6pm, Monday to Friday, and 9am to Noon on Saturdays.
Requests for vehicles outside of these hours will incur an additional charge of £10. Drivers can avoid this by:
- arranging to collect a vehicle
- or, having a vehicle delivered at the end of the previous working period. For example, if a journey is to start at 6am, collect the car at 5.30pm the previous evening.
Review of charges
The central business support purchasing and facilities team will reconcile:
- payment card transactions
- consolidated invoice data
The transactions are transferred into Business World against the cost centre provided at the point of booking.
The team will raise any discrepancies identified during this process with:
- the supplier (for example, charged days and agreement days do not match)
- or, the vehicle user (for example, invalid cost centre provided).
Budget holders will also have visibility of these transactions. They have a responsibility to check transaction activity in their area is appropriate.
Sustainability
We are committed to reducing CO2 levels. This policy promotes activities to achieve any of our targets.
Duty of care
Managers and drivers should be aware of their responsibilities in the use of daily rental vehicles. This is set out in this policy. They must also ensure that they actively comply with:
- the provision and checking of driving licences
- the process for authorisation of bookings
- the refuelling of vehicles prior to return
- the use of vehicles for business purposes only
In addition, drivers should ensure that they:
- familiarise themselves with the vehicle before beginning the journey. This includes location or position switches for lights, windscreen wipers and washers, handbrake and fuel filler cap.
- keep within speed limits and obey road signs
- plan journeys, allowing extra time for breaks and unforeseen delays
- do not drive for too long without a break or whilst fatigued