Are staff cars legal for work trips?
When staff drive their own cars for work, the law on driving for work still applies to you. Check the four things that matter, and the tax on the mileage you pay.
Your answer
Enter the driver's business miles and what you pay a mile to see the checklist and the tax.
About this calculator
For employers whose staff use their own cars for work trips (sometimes called the grey fleet). It checks one driver and their car against the main legal checks, and works out the tax on the mileage you pay them.
It's a rough guide to the checks, not a full driving-for-work risk assessment. It covers cars in Great Britain: Northern Ireland has its own MOT rules. It doesn't cover company cars, vans you provide or the self-employed.
What happens to your answers
We don’t keep them. Your answers go to our server to do the sums and aren’t stored or logged. If you copy a link to your answers, they’re in the link itself, so only share it with people you trust.
How it’s worked out
Health and safety law covers driving for work in staff's own cars as well as company cars. The car needs insurance that covers business use, an MOT once it's 3 years old, and vehicle tax, and the driver needs a valid licence. Any answer of no or not sure is a gap. We suggest checking licences every 12 months: that's common practice, not a legal rule.
You can pay the approved rate tax-free: 55p a mile for the first 10,000 business miles in the tax year, then 25p. Pay more and the extra is taxed as their pay. Pay less and the driver can claim tax relief on the gap. For National Insurance it's 55p for every mile, with no 25p step.
Commuting between home and their normal workplace isn't business travel. Trips to a temporary workplace are, until they've spent 40% or more of their working time there over more than 24 months.
Worked example
This driver has 2 gaps to fix before their next work trip.
2026/27 tax year · one driver, one car · 6,000 business miles · 45p a mile paid · Great Britain
| Not sure the insurance covers driving for work | Gap |
|---|---|
| MOT is current | Fine |
| Vehicle tax is current | Fine |
| Licence not checked in the last 12 months | Gap |
| Gaps to fix | 2 |
| 6,000 business miles at 55p: the tax-free amount | £3,300 |
| Less what you pay (6,000 miles at 45p) | − £2,700 |
| Below the tax-free amount: the driver can claim tax relief on | £600 |
Worked out using HMRC's published rates for the 2026/27 tax year (6 April 2026 to 5 April 2027), on a yearly basis.
Questions people ask
Isn't the insurance the driver's problem?
It's theirs and yours. The law says no one may use a car, or cause or permit someone else to use it, without insurance that covers that use. Ask to see the certificate and check it says business use.
How do we check a driving licence?
Ask the driver for a check code from GOV.UK's view or share your driving licence service (it lasts 21 days) and the last 8 characters of their licence number. Then use GOV.UK's check someone's driving licence service to see the cars they can drive and any penalty points.
We pay 45p a mile. Is that a problem?
No. From April 2026 the tax-free rate is 55p for the first 10,000 miles, so paying 45p is tax-free. The driver can claim tax relief on the 10p a mile gap.
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