Lardboy is right, there is no rule about how much the monthly payments have to be, nor is there a rule about not giving the VAT back to employees:
Officially the company buys the bike, and then rents you the bike they bought at what ever rate they like (I'm aware of a local council who operate a combination of cycle to work and bike allowance which effectively means employees pay 1p a month for 24 months and then get given the option to buy the bike).
You are right they can not mention before the end of the scheme purchasing the bike, or it becomes hire purchase which is subject to income tax as normal.
The period can be as long as the company/scheme admin likes and then if the company offers the bike to the employee there are specific rules on it's value (relative to age and original cost).
But the schemes run by benefit's companies are more heavily regulated by the tax man, who gives large fines (big enough to cripple the smaller companies) if they think a company is taking the piss. Admin fees are charged by some schemes to employees, and sometimes to shops, but that's not important to the tax man and is not part of the rules of the scheme. A lot of companies that run their own schemes do not charge any admin fee.
A credit license is required if a company want to operate a scheme with a bike value of over £1000.
Lardboy is right, there is no rule about how much the monthly payments have to be, nor is there a rule about not giving the VAT back to employees:
Officially the company buys the bike, and then rents you the bike they bought at what ever rate they like (I'm aware of a local council who operate a combination of cycle to work and bike allowance which effectively means employees pay 1p a month for 24 months and then get given the option to buy the bike).
You are right they can not mention before the end of the scheme purchasing the bike, or it becomes hire purchase which is subject to income tax as normal.
The period can be as long as the company/scheme admin likes and then if the company offers the bike to the employee there are specific rules on it's value (relative to age and original cost).
But the schemes run by benefit's companies are more heavily regulated by the tax man, who gives large fines (big enough to cripple the smaller companies) if they think a company is taking the piss. Admin fees are charged by some schemes to employees, and sometimes to shops, but that's not important to the tax man and is not part of the rules of the scheme. A lot of companies that run their own schemes do not charge any admin fee.
A credit license is required if a company want to operate a scheme with a bike value of over £1000.