Posts Tagged ‘commercial vehicle leasing’

19 January

Trade Body Warns Costumers Of Sham Websites

Consumers should be extra vigilance when confronted with cheap vehicle deals on the internet or in the press warn the British Vehicle Rental and Leasing Association (BVRLA), the trade body for the UK vehicle rental industry.

 

The police and Trading standards are investigating a number of cases of companies who lured customers with low prices and offers to deliver the vehicles to their door. Many customers have been conned out of hundreds of pounds when their vehicle fails to arrive and the company does not really exist.

 

BVRLA Chief Executive John Lewis has advised customers to be extremely vigilant when looking for leasing a van on the internet, where it is easier for fraudsters to pass themselves off as a legitimate business.

 

He said: “Usually, if a deal looks too good to be true more often than not it probably is. These sham operators are damaging the reputation of car rental and many other industries. We are working with the authorities to help stamp them out.”

 

While fiat van leasing and Vauxhall van leasing had positive returns in 2010, internet rental and leasing deals may suffer due to the risk of fraud. In the mean time, the BVRLA is offering five simple tips for customers looking for safe and hassle-free car or van rental.

 

  1. Never hand over cash. Most vehicle rentals only accept payment by card.
  2. Only use a BVRLA member. An indication that a website is legitimate is that it possesses the BVRLA logo. The BVRLA have a conciliation service in the case of a dispute.
  3. Make sure the company actually has the cars that it’s offering. BVRLA members operate their own rental fleet.
  4. If the offer seems too good to be true then it probably is.
  5. Make sure the company is operating from genuine commercial premises, not a PO Box or virtual office, even if the location sounds prestigious.
16 February

The basics of van leasing explained

It can be quite a struggle for the ablest of minds to understand the various differences between leasing agreements. What are your best options? Would you be wiser enter into a straight rental agreement?

Hire purchase

When you take out a hire purchase agreement, you will be paying a deposit equivalent to 3 months of the overall rental in advance plus VAT. Payment periods can vary, but the usual period is between 36 and 60 months maximum. Your monthly payments will be exempt from VAT and your initial deposit charge can be reclaimed. One other point in its favour is the ability to offset any taxable profit – which is a good boost for any small business. At the end of the lease agreement, the van is legally yours and you are not required to make any more payments.

Finance Lease

When you take out a finance lease agreement, you will be paying a deposit of 1 to 3 months of the overall rental in advance plus VAT. Similar to the hire purchase agreement, your repayments are usually between 36 and 60 months in total. If you are able to claim back the VAT on the deposit, you will only be able to do this on a quarterly basis. One appealing freature is if the van is sold or part-exchanged at the end of the term – 96% of the van value is retained by the lesse.

Contract Hire

Many aspects of this type of arrangement are the same as the finance lease, with the added bonus of a maintenance package. There is also no hassle of having to sell the van at the end of the agreement. It is also known as an Operating lease within the business. Most of the criteria is the same as above including the cost of the deposit, and the recoverability of the VAT etc. However, providing you remain within the fixed mileage, you can retain more budgetary control by fixing your costs.

Lease Purchase

Most of the details are the same as the finance lease agreement. Where commercial vehicle leasing differs, is at the end – you sell the vehicle to a third party for a reasonable value and buy it back for £1. 5% of the sale value then has to be sent by the customer to the finance company. After writing down 100% of the cost of the deal, you are then able to keep the van.

mercedes van leasing Is just one of serveral other options that are out there to be chosen.

 

16 February

What is the point of renting a van when you can lease?

The most frequent question that I and my colleagues are asked year in and year out is how to make the choice between renting and leasing a van. What are the major benefits to taking out a lease, as opposed to a simple rental agreement?

It is quite simple really. When you lease a van you can choose which one to take from the extensive range of familiar models that are available. You can choose what colour it will be, what options you want and what size and specification you require. As a customer, you would be spreading your payments monthly over an agreed period which is going to be cheaper than renting. It is becuase the finance company knows exactly how much money it will be earning from the customer because of the customer’s committment to the deal.

Because we have such a high turnover of vans, we can get the best possible prices, and pass them straight to the customer. This culminates in lower start up cost, helping to improve cash flow for the customer. The customer has the option as well to own or sell the van at the end of the commercial vehicle leasing deal.

As an added bonus, you can sign write your company logo onto the van, and add extras like roof racking and interior racks.

As an alternative, with rental you can pay the monthly cost and have nothing to show at the end of the rental agreement. This for me is the least attractive of all the options on the table, and is less helpful for any business.

Find out more information by seeing how we can help you organisation with our great commercial vehicle leasing offers. Citroen van leasing and Fiat van leasing are just some of the options out there to choose from.

 

12 February

How does contract hire work for a van

There are several different ways to finance the cost of your vehicle including personal contract purchase, van leasing, van contract hire, lease purchase and loans for your van. Many people are confused by the differences in these financing options so I thought I would focus on ‘van contract hire’ and explain how this technique works.

Leasing a van basically takes vane of one of the biggest financial issues associated with acquiring a new vehicle which is depreciation. As soon as you’ve been handed the keys to your brand new motor its value falls through the floor.

When you take out a new van lease the residual value of your chosen van or van will be calculated by your supplier. This is the estimated value of the vehicle at the end of the agreed lease period based on the anticipated mileage during this time. The calculated residual value of your chosen vehicle is then deducted from either the current manufacturers retail price, or a value agreed with the leasing firm, and you will pay the remainder through your monthly lease payments. So the higher the residual value in comparison with the current value, the less you will be paying each month.

Contract hire is a popular vehicle financing technique that isparticularly beneficial for customers who are registered for VAT such as small businesses and self employed people. If your vehicle is used exclusively for business purposes you will be pleased to find that you can reclaim 100% of the VAT. Even if your van or van is used for some personal use you can still reclaim 50% of the VAT.

A contract hire agreement means that you have actually hired the selected van or van for an agreed period, usually between 1 and 5 years, during which time you will pay the agreed rental, based upon mileage. You will return the vehicle to your supplier at the end of your contract hire period, much the same as a van leasing contract. You will not encounter any painful surprise disposal or depreciation costs.

Van Contract hire will generally include full vehicle maintenance which can optionally include routine servicing and even replacement tyres. Up to 100% of the rental charges can be offset against taxable profits and minimal capital outlay is required.

It’s no surprise that contract hire is the favoured vehicle financing option for many businesses and self-employed people.

I am often asked whether these types of deals are extended to pick up truck leasing or small van leasing, as opposed to just van leasing. Yes, is the answer, with a host of competative pricing waiting to be discussed by Mark Williams.

For commercial van leasing I would recommend Mark Williams Vehicle contracts.