Thank you to our local business contract hire customer, a farming partnership from Knutsford (Cheshire), for adding another vehicle to their fleet – the Mercedes GLA SUV. Having found us on Google Places, they visited the team at our premises to discuss their leasing requirements further. There is a presumption that everyone wants to transact online; review the car, receive prices and even order/arrange delivery from the comfort of an APP and some emails. The reality is that most customers, young or old, do use the online resources to help reach a decision which meets their needs and requirements.
However, some customers still want to work with a local business for comfort, safety and experience. Having procured different quotations, the customer arrived with the team to discuss what they wanted having been pre-armed with a rough costing for the vehicle. In many ways this does help the team, as we can often work to most budgets and time constraints. If you are based in the Leigh/Wigan/Warrington/St Helens area, just get in touch with the CarLease team to discuss further.
Can I lease a car via my partnership? This was one of the questions raised to us by the customer here. A small, but long-standing, family partnership, they were not sure if it was possible to lease a car via their business and, if so, what information would be required. This is a sensible start for those new to leasing and you should always raise this with the team – often we hear “is it better to lease a car via the business or personally?”
Business contract hire and personal contact hire are fundamentally the same. The products work in exactly the same way and there is often no direct cost-saving from doing one method or the other. While there are some “business-only” deals, these are actually incredibly rare and infrequent. Personal leasing has grown incredibly popular over the last 5 years, so many finance companies and manufacturers have made the necessary adjustments to work with either quite comfortably.
Where you are a small partnership while this is a business arrangement, this is still regulated by the Consumer Credit Act. This means you are afforded some basic protections under UK law, for example a 14-day cooling-off period. That being said, unlike a limited company you are not absolved from any personal responsibility as there is no “veil of incorporation” protecting you. When you agree to a leasing arrangement each partner is jointly and severally liable to the contract. This is important to note as some customers believe that a business arrangement removes responsibility from the partners. Unless you are an “LLP” this won’t protect you.
For this very reason we ask for the details for each individual partner, up to a maximum of four. The reason for this is that at the underwriting stage the finance company will review each partner. If any of these do have poor credit, the transaction will be unlikely to continue. Before applying for a new car lease, check each partner has positive credit.
Is there anything else a partnership should consider as part of leasing a car? In addition to the information on the proposal form, a number of finance companies also require the following business financial information set out below:
| INFORMATION REQUIRED | AMOUNT (£) |
| Annual turnover for the last trading year | |
| Annual cost of sales | |
| Annual expenses |
When you complete our proposal forms you will provide details on the business, its bank details and the personal details of each partner (address, DOB, employment history). However, to ensure the partnership is a genuine business and to prove the finance company has carried out the relevant KYC checks, the actual finance and accounting details are required. You should be preparing annual accounting information as part of your tax process anyway, so just ask your accountant for these details before speaking to a leasing broker.
Should your application for credit be approved with the relevant finance company, please note that we will also require the following information below. While there is no requirement to send this to us with your proposal form, we do suggest that you prepare this in anticipation of progressing your transaction. For a partnership, we require the below for each individual partner:
- Driving licence – if you possess a new style driving licence, you must send a clear copy of the photocard. If you hold an old style driving licence you will need to send the complete document. In order to generate documents we need to input both the driving licence number and the issue / expiry date of your driving licence;
- Passport – you must send a clear copy of your passport. In order to generate documents we need to input your passport number which is located at the bottom of the passport and the issue / expiry date of your passport; and
- In some cases, we will require an electricity supply number. This is can be found on either: a) your electricity bill; or b) your electricity meter. If you cannot supply a passport, the electricity supply number will be required.
In terms of the car shown, the Mercedes-Benz GLA CLASS HATCHBACK GLA 180 Urban Edition Plus 5dr Auto (Petrol), this is based on the following configuration:
- Mountain Grey Metallic Paint
- Artico man-made leather/Maringa fabric – Black with white seams
- Sail pattern dash trim
- 18′ 5 twin spoke light alloy wheels painted in black with a high sheen finish
As standard the car includes body coloured door mirrors with LED indictors, cruise control, 19” alloys, AMG body styling, heat insulated dark tinted privacy glass, heated glass, rain sensor windscreen wipers, active brake assist, AMG floor mats, off-road comfort suspension, 180 degree reversing camera with parking guidelines, attention assist, parking pilot with front/rear parking sensor, easy-pack tailgate (powered opening/closing automatically), smartphone integration with Apple CarPlay, 8” media display Garmin Map Pilot, panoramic glass sunroof, adaptive brake lights, fog lights, LED tail lamps, 3 spoke flattened bottom steering wheel with multifunction controls, stainless steel peals, artico upholstery, gearshift paddles, 12 colour ambient lighting, comfort seat pack, keyless go comfort pack, mirror pack, 1/3 to 2/3 slit folding rear seats, electrically adjustable memory seats with four-way lumbar support, heated front seats and remote central locking. In terms of additional options consider adding – DAB radio and the night pack.
On the technical-side company car and business users can note P11d at £31,325.00 and CO2 at 146g/km. The 1595CC 7 speed auto petrol engine delivers 44.1 combined MPG (EC), 36.7 (WLTP), 122ps and 0-62 times of 8.7 seconds. Service intervals on a petrol Merc GLA are every 12 months or 15,500 miles.
So would the GLA be your select leasing option? Or does the Audi Q2/3 and BMW X1/2 dominate this class?
More Information https://www.carlease.uk.com/deals/mercedes-benz/gla-class
