Who Can Apply for a Business Lease?

If you are one of the below then you can apply for a business lease.

  • Sole trader – see our full guide to applying for finance as a sole trader here.
  • Limited company
  • A partnership
  • A VAT registered business
  • A Limited Liability Partnership (LLP)
  • A PLC
  • A charity
  • A local authority
  • Central government
  • An embassy

If you're unsure whether you can lease as a business or not then please don't hesitate to get in touch, our team will be happy to advise you on the best leasing route for you. 

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Applying for Finance as a Business:

Applying for finance as a business is slightly different to the personal lease process as there are different requirements that need to be met and different information that funders require.

We’ve broken the process down below for you, so you can see exactly what we’ll need to get your finance approved. 

Please be aware that if your business is younger than 24 months or is a start up with little financial information then the funder may request some further information from you.

Our team are committed to making the application process as smooth as possible and will always let you know as soon as we are aware of any additional requests that the funder has.

The Application Process:

When you apply for finance we will ask you to complete a proposal form which will request all the information we need from you. This will be broken down into four sections for you.

Contact Details:

We will need the contact name, email address and phone number for the person at the business that we will be dealing with.

Company Details:

  • The full company name
  • The registered company address
  • The business type
  • The registered company number (if applicable)
  • The VAT number (if applicable)
  • Nature of the business
  • The number of directors (if applicable)

Bank Details:

  • Bank name
  • Branch address
  • Account number
  • Sort code
  • Length of time with bank

Director / Partner Details:

For each director or partner we will need the below information

  • Title
  • Full name
  • Email address
  • Date of birth
  • Marital status
  • Number of dependents
  • Address history for the last three years
  • Property status (owned, rented)

As well as your finance application the funder may consider:

  • How long the business has been trading for
  • The annual turnover of the business
  • If you file accounts and meet the deadlines for this
  • Public records including court judgements, bankruptcies and insolvency
  • Details of any previous credit searches
  • They could also consider the director’s personal finances, but this will usually be a soft search

Benefits of Business Leasing:

If you decide leasing is the right choice for your business then there can be a lot of benefits for you.

As the business will not own the vehicle you won’t need to worry about the value of it depreciating over time or selling it when you want to update the vehicle.

You can customise each lease for the driver selecting the vehicle and tailoring the mileage allowance and lease length.

Leasing offers you a vehicle to use at a fixed monthly cost, making it easier to budget and manage the business’ cashflow. This is especially true if you decide to add maintenance to the agreement, as then you should not get any unexpected servicing or maintenance bill.

As a business you may be able to claim up to 100 % of the VAT back on a lease vehicle, provided it is not used by the driver for personal use as well.

All of our leases are new vehicles so will have the manufacturer’s warranty, and if your lease is for less than three years you won’t need to worry about the MOT.

Another thing you won’t need to worry about is taxing a lease vehicle. This is done by your lease company.

Fixed Cost Leasing
tailored car leasing
claim vat back
maintained lease

Other Things to Consider:

Maintenance:

You will want to consider adding a maintenance package to your lease. This will spread the cost of servicing and maintenance across regular monthly payments and give you a one stop number for all maintenance queries. Take a look at our Maintained Lease Guide to get more information on maintenance packages.

Sign Writing:

A lot of businesses choose to have signage added to the side of their vehicles to help advertise the company.

You can still do this with a lease vehicle but the signage must be removed at the end of the lease and cannot cause any damage.

Fair Wear and Tear:

With a lease vehicle you will need to hand it back to the funder at the end of the contract. This means that you will need to hand it back in a good condition in line with your funder’s fair wear and tear guidelines. Most funders base their guidelines on the BVRLA’s and you can take a look at these here.

Company Car Tax:

If you decide to go for a business lease then the driver will have to pay company car tax if they use the vehicle for personal use. For more information take a look at our Guide to Company Car Tax.

Fleet Management

If you need a lot of vehicles for your company then you might also want to consider fleet management. Using a fleet management service can take all the stress out of owning or leasing a fleet for the business, as well as save you time. 

Once the Application is Approved:

After your application has been approved we will send you the order pack to sign and confirm you would like to place the order with us and then order the vehicle and get started on the finance contracts for you.

If you have any more questions about the leasing process or just want to talk to someone about your leasing options then please get in touch on 03302210000.

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Check out one of our helpful guides or our explaination of leasing to get all your questions answered.

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