A car policy describes what applies to the company's cars, before anything happens. Here are the twelve points it should cover, and a template you can fill in.
If the rules only exist in the owner's head, it works until something happens. The technician takes the car to the mountains, an employee leaves and wants to keep the winter tyres, or someone fills up for 2,000 kronor on a Sunday.
Then there is nothing in writing to refer to.
A document that describes what applies to the company's cars: who gets a car, what the car may be used for, who pays for what and what happens when something breaks.
It does not need to be long, but it must be in writing, known to the drivers and up to date.
There are three reasons.
Tax. If the employee may use the car privately on more than 10 occasions or more than 1,000 km per year, it is a taxable car benefit. If the driver does not know the limits, they are hard to keep.
Costs. Without rules for what the fuel card may be used for, every purchase becomes a decision of its own.
Disputes. Who pays the insurance excess? That question should be answered before the damage happens, not afterwards.
Which cars the policy applies to, who makes decisions, who approves and who the driver should contact.
Which roles are entitled to a car, and what applies during the probationary period.
Permitted makes, models and fuels. What the car must have, for example a tow bar, winter tyres or a van fit-out, and who approves the order.
Also set a limit for what the car may cost. There are two ways, choose the one that fits how you calculate:
If you already track the total cost per car, that is the limit that should be in the policy. If you do not, a maximum price is a good start, and you can switch when you have the figures.
Number of months or kilometres, and which of them applies first.
The most important point. May the car be used privately, and if so how much?
If the car is not to be a benefit, private use may be at most 10 occasions and at most 1,000 km per year. If you go over either limit, it is a taxable car benefit. Trips between home and the place of work count as private.
This is also where it should say whether the car may be taken home, whether family members may drive it and whether it may be driven abroad.
Whether a mileage log is required and how it should be kept, within how many days the driver should classify the trips and when the month is locked. Read more in the guide to what the Swedish Tax Agency requires of a mileage log.
What the fuel card may be used for and what is blocked, amount limits per purchase and per month, and whether and how charging at home is reimbursed.
Which amounts need the employer's approval, what must be approved in advance and how quickly receipts must be handed in.
Who books, which workshops should be used and above which amount you want a quote before work starts.
How quickly damage must be reported, who pays the insurance excess and what counts as abnormal wear.
Who pays fines, parking and congestion tax. If the company pays congestion tax for private trips in a benefit car, it is a taxable benefit for the employee.
What must be returned, for example cards, keys, charging cable and winter tyres, and whether the car may be used during the notice period.
If you collect location data, the drivers must, when the data is collected, be told among other things why the data is collected, on what legal basis, how long it is kept and what rights the drivers have. This follows from Article 13 of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). Write it into the policy.
One way to reduce the intrusion is that the employer does not see the location for private trips, only the distance. If it is in the policy, you avoid having the same discussion with every driver.
If the company is bound by a collective agreement, under section 11 of the Swedish Co-determination Act you must negotiate with the trade union you have a collective agreement with before deciding on a significant change. Introducing location tracking can be such a change.
A policy that no one has read is as good as no policy at all.
Write for the driver. “You may drive privately on at most 10 occasions and at most 1,000 km per year” is easy to understand. A table full of rules is not.
Let the drivers sign off. With a date and signature for each person. Then you can show that every driver has received the rules.
Decide when the policy will be reviewed. Without a date it is rarely updated. We recommend once a year.
The template covers the twelve points and more, and is written for companies that look after their own cars. Fill in the orange text, delete what does not apply to you and let the drivers sign. The template is in Swedish.
Download it as Word or PDF. We have also emailed you a copy, and we will get in touch once to ask whether it was useful.
So that tax, costs and responsibility are decided in advance. Without written rules, every question becomes a decision of its own when it comes up.
Short enough to be read. Our template is ten pages with two appendices, and you delete what does not apply to you. Focus on private driving, the mileage log, costs and damage.
A driver agreement with a date and signature shows that the driver has received the rules. Have every driver sign every new version. The template has a driver agreement as appendix 1.
We recommend once a year, and always when the tax rules or the cars change.
That private use may be at most 10 occasions and at most 1,000 km per year, and that trips between home and the place of work count as private.
In Qubint the car policy governs how the system works: how trips are classified and when the month is locked, how much private driving is allowed and when you get a warning, which expenses need approval and what the card may be used for. The drivers sign off the policy directly in the app.
Read about Pro ›What the mileage log must contain, how much a work vehicle may be used privately and what happens if the records are missing.
Read the guide ›If the employee drives at least 30,000 km for work in the company car during a calendar year, you may reduce the benefit value to 75 per cent.
Read the guide ›In 30 minutes we go through how you look after your cars today, and show what Qubint can take care of for you.
We go through your cars and show you Qubint.
Fetching available times…
No time that suits you?