The Electric Car Scheme launches Employee Life Event Support

The Electric Car Scheme adds Employee Life Event Support to its existing day-one employer protection, giving employees more peace of mind that they can change the car if their circumstances change, saving them  from tens of thousands of early termination fees.

Employees impacted by an unexpected life event, such as a household loss of income, divorce, or a partner’s death can now exit an electric car lease without penalty, under a new update from The Electric Car Scheme. The UK’s specialists EV salary sacrifice provider has introduced a best-in-market protection, which supports the employer and employee when life takes a turn.  

The changes are live today and included as standard on every new agreement at no additional cost to employers.

These changes take effect today

A new safety net covers employees when life changes outside work

Employee Life Event Support allows an employee to return their car without early termination fees when their personal circumstances change significantly: a partner's redundancy, family-friendly leave, long-term sickness or dismissal; an involuntary salary reduction of 20% or more; a divorce; or an intra-company transfer abroad. 

The UK redundancy rate climbed to 5.3 per 1,000 employees in late 2025 (ONS), with long-term sickness peaking at 2.82 million economically inactive adults in early 2024 (ONS). 102,678 divorces were granted in England and Wales in 2023 (ONS), and Legal & General research found almost half of divorcees see their income fall by 31%. When any of these events hits the driver - or their partner - the lease payment that was comfortable on one salary suddenly has to compete with mortgage, childcare and bills that two salaries used to share. Early termination fees of up to 50% of remaining rentals arrive at exactly the wrong moment.

The events covered happen often, and when they do, most people are stuck with a lease that they can’t afford to keep or return.That liability is now removed.

Employees on probation can now join from day one

Most EV salary sacrifice schemes require employees to have passed probation or completed six to twelve months tenure before joining. The Electric Car Scheme has removed that requirement. Employees can now join from day one of employment. The change opens EV salary sacrifice to around 5.5 million UK workers previously excluded during their first year with an employer.

Today's changes sit on top of Complete Employer Protection, included as standard on every Electric Car Scheme agreement since launch. Complete Employer Protection covers employers against the full cost of early termination if an employee leaves for any reason: redundancy, dismissal, resignation, long-term sickness, death, loss of licence, or family-friendly leave. It applies from day one, with no excesses and no usage caps. No other UK provider offers the same level of employer cover.

Abi Griffin, Head of Colleague Experience at Dreams, the UK bed and mattress retailer, said:

"When we assessed the EV salary sacrifice market, one thing stood out: no other provider offered comparable protection from day one for the unforeseeable circumstances that matter most to our colleagues. 

Combined with access to any electric car in the UK at the best price, and a package covering servicing, insurance and a home charge point, it's a scheme our colleagues can genuinely trust."

Thom Groot, Co-Founder and CEO at The Electric Car Scheme, said:

"Until today, an employee going through a divorce or losing a partner's income could find themselves locked into a car lease they could no longer afford. That was a problem with salary sacrifice as a benefit, not just with our scheme. We've fixed it for our customers.

We've also removed the probation barrier that was quietly locking 5.5 million UK workers out of the benefit. For an employer trying to offer EV salary sacrifice to the whole workforce, that's not a product tweak. It's a different scheme.

The direction is clear. Salary sacrifice has to work for employees across the full range of life circumstances, not just a tidy subset of them. That's what we're building towards, and today's changes are part of it."

The announcement comes days after The Electric Car Scheme was named Best Salary Sacrifice Broker 2026 at the Broker News Awards.