As we head into the second national lockdown you might be concerned about how this could affect your leasing options. We’ve spoken to our funders and dealers to look at how this could impact your new or current lease.

Deliveries:

We work with a number of different dealerships across the UK to supply our vehicles and are in the process of speaking to each of them to confirm whether they will be continuing to deliver vehicles during the lockdown period.

At the minute most are still advising that deliveries will be going ahead. However, some of our dealers have advised they are currently waiting for confirmation from their head offices before scheduling new deliveries during the lockdown period. We will keep you updated as we get further information.

If you are already in the process of arranging a lease through us and have delivery booked we will let you know as soon as we know whether there will be any change to this for you.

Should you have any questions about delivery of your new vehicle then our Support Team are available on 0330 221 0000.

Collections:

If you are coming towards the end of your lease and need to return your current lease vehicle then you should still be able to.

We’ve spoken to each of our funders and all of our main funders; Arval, Alphabet, ALD, Hitachi, Leaseplan, Lex and Leasys have confirmed their collections will still be taking place. Collection agents will be doing everything possible to minimize contact and follow social distancing guidelines.

We will keep you updated on any change to this and update this post as other funders confirm whether they are still collecting during the four-week lockdown.

Contract Amendments:

The pandemic has meant that we’ve all done a lot less driving than we were expecting to this year and if you’re leasing a vehicle then you might be thinking about changing your contract.

There are three main changes you can make; amending your mileage, extending your lease or ending your lease early.

We have an entire post that covers amending your mileage but if you’ve not done as many miles as you expected to, then you will be able to amend your lease’s contracted mileage. Each funder sets their own minimum mileage allowance but this is generally around 5,000 and if you are already at their minimum mileage allowance they will not lower this any further. Amending your mileage may change your monthly rental payments however this is not guaranteed.

If the pandemic and lockdowns have delayed you getting a new vehicle then you might be wanting to extend your current lease.

There are two types of extension; formal and informal. Formal extensions are usually for an additional six or 12 months and involve signing a contract agreeing to a period of time and additional mileage allowance for the extension.

Informal extensions are not always available and don’t involve signing a contract. If you are able to have an informal extension you will continue to make payments until the vehicle is returned.  Please note that if you are in an informal extension then your funder can ask for the vehicle to be returned at any point as there is no agreed extension period.

It’s important to be aware that if you are extending your lease then the monthly payments may not be the same as those you are currently making. This is because extension payments no longer take into account the initial rental payment you made at the start of your original lease agreement.

The third option you might be considering if you are not using your vehicle is ending your lease early. This will require an early termination quote, which we can get from your funder for you. In order to request an early termination quote the funder will need your current mileage.

You will need to sign and return the quote in order for the funder to accept it and arrange collection. Please be aware that these quotes are only valid for a set number of days and need to be returned before the date advised.

If you are experiencing any financial difficulty and are concerned about making lease payments then we recommend getting in touch with your lease funder to discuss your options. Our funders understand that these are difficult and uncertain times and have a number of different options that they can look at to ensure you are given the correct one.

We recently wrote about the FCA updating their guidance to lenders and consumers however this was before the latest lockdown was announced. The FCA have since confirmed further guidance will be published shortly, in light of this. 

If you’re unsure on the best number to reach your funder on or want to discuss your options, then you can call our Support Team on 0330 221 0000.

Servicing and MOTs:

The Government has confirmed to the BVRLA that MOT centres and garages can remain open during the lockdown and so there is unlikely to be a second MOT extension. 

Many garages are also remaining open, and so regular servicing and maintenance work can still take place. We would advise confirming with your garage if you have any appointments booked.

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