Reasonable offer of costs for commuting lift

C

Caveat

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Not sure if this should be in travel or cars...

Anyway, I was wondering what would be reasonable to offer for a 5 day approx. 60 mile lift? i.e. around 300 miles in total.

Assuming that the driver will not have to go out of their way at all.

Never been in this situation before and really no idea.
 
A return train ticket from Galway to Dublin, which is almost 300 miles, costs nearly €60 (scandalous, by the way) but that should be some indicator. If I was giving a lift to someone five days a week and wasn't going out of my way, then I'd be happy enough with fifty or sixty quid.
 
If you count that as near enough a tank of petrol and you contribute half the cost of a fill it sounds fair enough to me. That'd be about 30 squid.
 
j26 said:
If you count that as near enough a tank of petrol and you contribute half the cost of a fill it sounds fair enough to me. That'd be about 30 squid.
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It amounts to a bit more than this IMO. Ye have to factor in, if you had to use your own car to do the trip, how much would it cost you? It's not just about petrol. There's tax, insurance, service costs, nct, wear and tear. There's also the nuisance factor (not directed at you caveat) The driver may fancy going into work an hour late, or leaving work an hour early, but feels they cant because their letting someone down
 
And the nuisance factor if the passenger is drunk going home, reeks of garlic in the mornings, a stench of BO. spends the journeys on the mobile phone etc.etc. Plus check your Insurance because by giving people a lift daily for a fee, might effect your Insurance.
 
+1 what Mercman has said.

I'm sure one of the exclusions on a standard policy is "use for hire or reward" and that sounds like use a taxi or hackney.

ONQ.
 
It is acceptable in any insurance policy to provide a "commuter lift" where the person availaing of the lift makes a contribution to the fuel costs. This "commuter lift" is not regarded as "use for hire or reward" and is specifically excluded from the "use for hire or reward" definition in any motor policy I have seen, but read yours to be certain.

You may not recover other "wear and tear / maintenance" type costs under the "commuter lift" scenario AFAIK.
 
seantheman said:
There's also the nuisance factor (not directed at you caveat) The driver may fancy going into work an hour late, or leaving work an hour early, but feels they cant because their letting someone down
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Yes, but I'm working on the assumption that the driver isn't going out of their way at all. Going in early/leaving early should be something that is forsaken by accepting the offer of money for a lift IMO - unless it can be agreed in advance with a bit of notice.

I don't really think the costs if you were making the trip yourself are that relevant TBH - the driver is making the trip anyway albeit with a bit of extra weight in the car maybe.
 
I think some people are reading too much into this.

If you and driving to work anyway and not going massivley out of the way then a few quid towards fuel seems fair.

In fairnes it can be good to have a bit of company on the daily commute.
 
€30 is not enough IMO for the hassle it could possibly cause. What seantheman says is true...the passenger needs to be flexible aswell that they cannot depend on the driver all the time...sick/holidays/late/early starts.
 
Caveat said:
Going in early/leaving early should be something that is forsaken by accepting the offer of money for a lift IMO - unless it can be agreed in advance with a bit of notice.
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This is something that i personally wouldn't agree with, Having/driving my own car, and someone else calling the shots
 
€30 is just right in my opinion. The driver will be glad of this as it should more than half his weekly fuel cost.
 
gebbel said:
€30 is just right in my opinion. The driver will be glad of this as it should more than half his weekly fuel cost.
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I would have said closer to 50 as you will be saving on alternate forms of transport and to simply offer half the fuel costs is a bit mean as the other person is having to do the driving and think a bit more should be offered to show appreciation.

The driver may not accept more than half the fuel bill but i think it is the fair thing to do.
 
Another option is to take it in turns - one week you drive, the following week they drive. Then no money needs to change hands.
 
seantheman said:
This is something that i personally wouldn't agree with, Having/driving my own car, and someone else calling the shots
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But that's my point - if you don't think it's going to be convenient then you simply don't provide the lift in the first place. You can't take money off someone who is relying on a lift and then decide to do as you please - unless this can be done by mutual agreement. That's the way I would look at it anyway.
 
I think a lot depends on whether the person with the car offered you a lift or you asked them for a lift. If it's the former then you're probably right that offering petrol money suffices. If it's the latter, dont presume you're doing them a favour by paying half their costs. I travel 20 mile round trip(100 a week) to work but even though i'm pretty easy going and get along with most people, i would consider it an inconvience to be shackled by having to be at a certain place at a certain time. Obviously nothing personal here, but just another angle to consider
 
I'd say between €30 and €40 would be a fair amount, splitting of course any tolls etc - €30 if person is going in exactly that direction, €40 if they go even a little bit out of their way.
 
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