Leasing a car under Covid

The good news across the UK has been the phased re-opening of many shops, restaurants, pubs and bars; it seems the UK is ready to get back to a face-to-face economy once again.

On the broker/contract hire side, the distanced regulations has been somewhat mildly inconvenient but because much of our processes happen remotely, we have been fortunate enough not to encounter too many issues as a result of the recent challenges.

However, the automotive industry is incredibly reliant on so many other parties and businesses who cannot carry out their processes remotely – the dealerships providing the car details/ordering the vehicle, the PDI centre checking the vehicle to ensure it is safe and the delivery agents who take the vehicle from the compound to the customer.

We have already written about “safe deliveries” under Covid but the reality is that human beings must be involved within this process notwithstanding the attitudes to COVID risks.

Where the automotive industry has perhaps had difficulties are for those businesses who rely on footfall and customers personally visiting their premises.

For many new and used car dealerships and supermarkets there is an absolutely necessity for this to happen and they have been under tremendous pressure to find a solution which is both workable, safe but financially stable.

We are trying to balance the health needs of our country against the economic necessity to get back to a sense of normality. It’s not true that all of these businesses can simply “adapt” into a new way of doing things – only this week the enigma unicorn Cazoo completed a purchase of a large car-supermarket outfit called Imperial Cars.

If everything was so efficient and future-proofed online why would they purchase this? The reality is that cars can be procured without the touch/feel and understanding but this is not what the entire customer database wants. At some point, we need to get close to the product – would you buy a house just off a Rightmove advert? Would you make a big financial decision off some basic photos? The answer is quite clearly no.

What we stress is that although we are an online business we rely on many of this business and it in no way a pleasure to see the struggles they face. Indeed we are all working more closely together as a result of what has happened in order for customers to receive their vehicles without incurring inconvenience, increased costs or any danger.

The hope is that as the UK economy kickstarts and the general public begin to face the world outside their homes again, we can safely to resume to some form of normality and salvage many of the incredible car businesses which exist throughout the UK.

What we do need to also bring to our customers attention is that the credit-side of our business has altered somewhat. As we are authorised an regulated by the FCA, we have to recognise the financial impact of Coronavirus predicament.

This means that credit approvals are now in place for only 3 months meaning that you have 3 months from being accepted for credit to receive your vehicle. Should you go beyond the 3 months you will have to undergo a new credit search. In addition, each and every personal lease customer will also have to answer the below. Regardless of who you are, this is something you have to complete for all of our finance companies:

As part of your application, please can you confirm the below:

please confirm the proposal you have completed is correct and accurate – our guide to completing the proposal form is available upon request;
please can you confirm whether or not you are furloughed – if yes, we need to inform the finance company;
please confirm that you are able to pay for the vehicle regardless of any Coivd-19 restrictions which affect your current employment; and
please confirm whether or not you have not arranged a payment holiday / payment plan / moratorium of payment with your existing car/van finance provider

In terms of the car shown, the Jaguar E-PACE ESTATE 2.0 S 5door [Auto] [Petrol], this is based on the following configuration:

Corris Grey Metallic Paint
Grained leather – Ebony/ebony
Light oyster morzine headlining
18″ 9 spoke gloss sparkle silver alloy wheels – Style 9008

As standard the car includes front/rear parking aid, LED headlights with LED daytime lights, leather upholstery. 18” alloys wheels, emergency braking, 10” touch screen pro, cruise control, carpet mats, 10-way adjustable heated front seats, electrically folding/heated door mirrors, rear view camera.

Heated front/rear windscreen, heated washer jets, DSC, emergency brake assist, hill start assist, lane keep assist, traffic sign recognition, push button starter, touch navigation pro, auto dimming rear view mirror, Bluetooth.

DAB radio, climate control, connect pro pack, smartphone pack and intrusion sensor/alarm. In terms of additional options consider – privacy glass, 360 degree surround camera and the black exterior pack.

On the technical-side company car and business users can note the P11d at £38,570.00 and CO2 at 215g/km. The 1998CC 9 speed petrol auto engine delivers 34.9 combined MPG, 250ps and 0-62 times of 6.7 seconds