Graham Hill Issues More Warnings About Lease Scams
Monday, 7. February 2011
I have read several reports recently complaining about the motor insurance industry, it’s pretty much in turmoil with anomalies, inefficiencies over charging and deceit. I reported recently that some companies are now charging substantial arrangement and documentation fees in order to keep the monthly premiums low. We all know that there are a trillion terms in each policy making straight comparison very difficult so we tend to go for the cheapest and hope for the best. By that I mean try not to get involved in an accident. Unfortunately similar things are happening in the motor leasing industry which is generally less regulated than the insurance industry. Many of those considering leasing are only really looking at the monthly rate. And even then they don’t look at things that affect the total cost such as documentation fees that can be up to £500, the initial rentals paid in advance, some of which are quoted as 6 rentals in advance, 9 rentals in advance or a fixed sum of say £1,200 + VAT. All of these help to drop the headline monthly rate. Look again at the annual mileage, not all quote the standard 10,000 miles per annum, some are as low as 5,000 miles per annum, again misleading customers with lower monthly rates, assumed to cover 10,000 miles per annum. Then there are the number of payments following the initial rental. Some try to trick the naïve by stating say 3 + 36 rentals which when compared to a 3 + 35 profile is of course confusing. In order to hit a monthly rental some advertise rates on a 3 + 42 basis to maybe keep a rental below a £300 per month barrier. It’s all just smoke and mirrors but it leaves the more honest brokers fighting for business against the more successful crooks. Finally, there are some leasing companies that know they can’t compete on rate, they are buying far too few vehicles to command the maximum discounts and bonuses so they ‘buy’ business by subsidising the rates simply to make their profit out of the exorbitant end of lease charges that they know they can impose on unsuspecting clients. When the average lease makes a net profit of £625 and end of lease invoice for £2,000 ensures that the smaller or not so mainstream leasing company makes a huge profit. Unfortunately some of the manufacturers own leasing companies are the worst culprits. And if you arrange through a dealer how much support do you think you will receive when you want to complain about their own funder? Use a professional broker and don’t get conned by headline rates. Have you had a bad leasing experience. By Graham Hill
