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Years ago when I first started providing contract hire we would provide terms that would include 3 rentals in advance followed by 21 payments, if a 2 year deal, or 33 payments if a 3 year deal. This meant that there were no payments in the last 2 months. As a result many customers would set aside the money that they would normally pay per month in preparation for the initial rental on the next contract. However, some brokers and lenders realised that if they spread all the payments over the 24 months or 36 months they could Read more »

Internet searches for contract hire cars has show that German cars are the most popular amongst contract hire users with German cars accounting for 43% of all car searches since the start of 2009. I would say that great deals on Mercedes and Audi have helped this. By Graham Hill

Considering the latest announcements relating to electric car production and the government emphasising its efforts to support electric cars by increasing incentives it was a bit of a surprise to hear Bosch announce that petrol and diesel cars will be by far the most dominant vehicles for the next 20 years. They went on to explain that this would be due to planned improvements that are due to take place in the internal combustion engine and as a result of an insufficient understanding of technology which has led to unrealistic forecasts about electric vehicles. Dr Bernd Bohr, chairman of Bosch Automotive group, predicted that Read more »

Over the years I have put forward many reasons why you should opt for Dealer HP over a personal loan (contrary to all advice given in the media). Your legal rights are so much greater when you take HP. If you have read my book An Insider Guide To Car Finance, or been a regular reader of my newsletter, you would know the reasons that I put forward. However, I have just uncovered a new one that you may find useful if you, or a friend/relation ever find yourself in this situation. If you are a consumer (can also be a sole trader) and you purchase a vehicle outright you are deemed to have accepted the goods if you have had a reasonable time to inspect the goods and not rejected them. After this time your remedy for defects is restricted to Read more »

In the current climate there is lots of talk about guarantees and indemnities. Let’s be clear, before a lender considers a guarantor he must be fairly certain that the borrower can repay his debts. You may be someone who has never had credit before or you have had a credit card that has hardly been used, so you have very little credit history on which to form an opinion. But everything about you looks good, home, job, bank etc and you certainly have no adverse information stored on your credit file but for that extra bit of comfort the lender may be happy to Read more »

Last week I attended Motor Finance Europe 2009, one of the most important events of the year with regard to identifying how the European motor industry and the finance sector in particular is coping with the downturn. So I packed a couple of bottles of Paracetamol in the briefcase along with a couple of razor blades as I was totally convinced that by lunchtime I would be feeling more than a little suicidal and Read more »

They say ‘it’ sends you blind – whatever ‘it’ is. But whatever ‘it’ is it seems to affect middle aged drivers as one in five drive their cars knowing that their eyesight is impaired according to the College of Optometrists. The study also revealed that 28% of these blind old duffers put off having a sight test for up to 6 months after noticing their eyesight had deteriorated and a startling 21% put it off for up to 5 years, probably because they can’t find their local Specsavers. ‘This attitude is extremely worrying’ said Dr Susan Blakeney, optometric adviser to the College of Optometrists. I agree. By Graham Hill

Trying to get more drivers off the roads and onto public transport won’t work if we continue to be charged ridiculous fares on the trains. A recent study revealed that UK rail travellers pay more than anywhere else in Europe. I bought a return ticket to London today and it cost just under £40 to take a round trip of about 70 miles, it’s ridiculous. By Graham Hill

Calls for a total mobile phone ban have come from safety experts following a landmark case. Lynne-Marie Howden, a director and head of sales at business consultancy Insights was found not guilty of causing death by dangerous driving. But she was found guilty of the lesser charge of careless driving which resulted in a 12 month ban and a fine of £2,000. Ms Howden was talking on her hands free phone to a works Read more »

If you are a business you need to be aware of the tax changes coming into force in April. I have been through this before but as we are now nearly there let me refresh your memory: 

• Cars with CO2 emissions of more than 160g/km will be written down at 10% on a reducing balance basis. Read more »