Getting Started

Before you start you might want to read our driver's guide to getting a cash allowance, with tips on what to do, what to look for and how to manage the process of taking cash instead of a company car.

When you're ready, you can begin your calculations by providing us with some information about you, the cash allowance you will get and the type of car you want to drive.

About You

To begin you'll need to create a personal profile with information about your income tax and National Insurance rates and your annual business mileage.

We'll also need details about the cash allowance you will receive instead of a company car and any mileage payments you have been offered by your employer.

Don't worry if you don't yet know your cash allowance - we can work out how much you need.

If there's any information you're not sure about then just use the example data we provide - you can always go back and change the details later.

We won't keep any personal data you provide. Once you leave our site and close the browser window the data will be erased from our servers, but remember that your web browser may keep browsing data for a period of time and this is beyond our control.

If you leave your computer, tablet or phone for a while when using PaySwap^tm we'll wipe the data as well to help prevent someone else from seeing it (but please don't rely on that - just close your device's browser window and come back to us later).

Your Benchmark Car

Next we'll ask you about the sort of car you will get with your cash allowance.

If you already have a company car then you should select the current equivalent model or your standard entitlement in your company car policy.

This will become the benchmark against which we will compare car running costs so we can match your car to your budget.

If you are only being offered a cash allowance and not the option to take a car instead then you still need to choose a benchmark car (and also even if you haven't previously had a company car).

This is important because part of the budget you can spend on getting your own car through a cash allowance is the monthly tax that you will save by not taking a company car.

If you don't know how much company car benefit tax you're saving, it's hard to make the PaySwap^tm comparison accurate and identify which cars you can afford from your cash allowance.

Don't worry if you're not sure about the benchmark car to use. Once you've set the benchmark car you can always go back later and change it.

Finance

Once your benchmark car is selected we'll ask you about how often you intend to replace the car.

Select the replacement period (or 'term') for your car (you can select up to 5 years) and your annual/total mileage and we'll match the finance to your selections.

If your employer will administer or manage the arrangements for supplying the car or finance (or introduce you to the suppliers for either of them) then it's important to select a Personal Contract Purchase type of finance package for your car.

This is for complex tax reasons you can read about here and it's why we make Personal Contract Purchase the default setting for PaySwap^tm.

If you will simply get a cash allowance and will make all your own arrangements for the car and finance (so your employer is not involved in any way) then you may be able to use a Personal Contract Hire arrangement.

There is an option to select this type of lease finance when you choose your finance package.

You should always check this point with your employer and/or professional adviser first to make sure there are no adverse tax implications from your choice of finance.

You're Ready To Go!

Once you've completed your profile, car and finance selections we'll show you your net monthly budget, basically your monthly spending power for a car, and then you're ready to search for a car to match your monthly budget.

So let's get started on your PaySwap^tm analysis - just click on the link below:

Driver Profile