By Mohammed Rashad Hussain, Managing PartnerPublished 4 min read
What does an in-house car and driver really cost?
A leased car with an employed driver looks like one monthly payment. It is at least eight cost lines.
| Cost line | What to count |
|---|---|
| Lease | Monthly instalment, plus the down payment or deposit if the lessor asks |
| Salary | The driver’s basic pay and any allowances in the contract |
| Visa and permit | Employer-paid residence visa, work permit and Emirates ID costs |
| Health insurance | Employer’s cost. MoHRE says employers pay on issue or renewal of a permit |
| Gratuity | Accrued each year. 21 days of basic pay per year for the first five years, then 30 days |
| Car insurance and registration | Comprehensive cover, annual registration, fines |
| Fuel and tolls | Petrol, Salik gates in Dubai and Darb in Abu Dhabi |
| Parking | A bay at the office, plus event and mall parking |
Gratuity needs one note. Under Decree-Law 33 of 2021, a worker who completes at least one year earns 21 days of basic salary for each of the first five years and 30 days for each year after. It uses basic pay, not allowances, and totals no more than two years’ wage. Your HR team should accrue it monthly.
Add the driver’s housing if you provide it, uniforms, and a second person to cover leave. Then divide the yearly total by the hours the car actually moves. That is your real hourly cost.
What does a monthly chauffeur contract include?
A monthly contract with a chauffeur company buys a dedicated car and chauffeur for set days and hours. The operator carries the lease, driver employment, insurance, servicing and cover for leave. You see one invoice.
Ask what the contract states for:
- Hours and days. For example, 8 hours a day, Sunday to Thursday.
- Kilometre or area limits. Dubai only, or Dubai and Sharjah.
- Fuel and tolls. Included, or passed through at cost.
- Replacement. What happens when the chauffeur is on leave or the car is in the workshop.
- Overtime. How hours beyond the stated day are billed.
Our guide to monthly driver cost in Dubai goes deeper on those terms, and the private driver page describes the monthly service.
What do ad hoc chauffeur bookings cost you in admin and money?
Ad hoc bookings charge by the trip or the hour. You pay nothing for days the car is not used. That suits airport runs, visiting guests and board-day meetings.
The cost is admin, if each trip is booked and paid separately. A corporate account removes most of it: named bookers send trips on WhatsApp and finance receives one monthly invoice. The pricing models guide compares transfer, hourly, day and monthly rates.
For one-off personal use by a manager, a car with driver booking by the day is the simplest form. If a taxi or ride-hailing is the alternative, the chauffeur versus taxi guide covers it.
Break-even: how many hours a month tips the decision?
Use this one calculation. Take your total in-house monthly cost from the table above. Take the chauffeur company’s hourly rate for the same car class. Divide the first by the second.
Illustration only, not an Assure rate. If the in-house monthly cost were 15,000 units and the hourly rate 100 units, break-even would be 150 hours. A full-time executive car runs 8 hours a day over about 22 working days, so 176 hours. In-house wins narrowly. A car needed 5 hours a week uses about 22 hours a month. The chauffeur service wins by a wide margin.
Two honest corrections to the sum:
- Count idle hours. An in-house driver is paid while the car waits. So is a chauffeur on an hourly booking.
- Count the cost of an empty month. A quiet August leaves the lease and salary unchanged.
What are the hidden risks of the in-house option?
- Absence. Annual leave and sick days leave you without a driver.
- Accidents. Your company’s policy and your driver’s record both matter. A chauffeur company’s licensed operation and insurance sit on its side of the contract.
- Liability. An employee driving a company car puts the employer in the chain if something goes wrong.
- Hours. Private sector working time is 8 hours a day or 48 a week, and overtime is regulated. A long airport run at 2 am for a visiting director raises that question.
- Vehicle choice. One leased car is one car class. A chauffeur service lets you send an SUV for a family and a sedan for a single traveller.
On the environmental side, our electric and hybrid chauffeur cars guide covers vehicle options. If one person needs a driver full time, see how to hire a personal driver in Dubai.
Decision table by usage pattern
| Usage pattern | Usually lower cost |
|---|---|
| Car needed most working days, one or two executives | In-house, or a monthly chauffeur contract |
| Car needed 2 to 3 days a week | Monthly contract or day rate, compare both |
| Airport runs and visiting guests, a few a month | Per-transfer bookings on a corporate account |
| Irregular meetings across Dubai, Sharjah and Abu Dhabi | Hourly or day rate |
| Peak weeks such as exhibitions | Chauffeur service, for the extra cars |
Start from your own diary: count hours for three months. Then ask Assure for quotes on the same pattern through the corporate page. For the wider picture, read the corporate ground transport guide.
Photos in this guide
Rear view of a black GMC Yukon Denali SUV parked on a streetCalreyn88 / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Sheikh Zayed Road in Dubai at night, with lit towers and traffic streaming along the Metro viaductTribalninja / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0
A blue and silver Dubai Metro train, number 5070, entering Business Bay station on the raised lineTim Wu / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
