The Best Car Finance Blog In The World

Manufacturers were going a bit crazy last week as they warned contract hire companies and brokers from selling on hugely discounted new cars. As though this was earth shatteringly new! It isn’t, how do you think the car supermarkets have been able to sell new cars more cheaply than main dealers can buy them for? The practice of daily rental companies selling on brand new cars to Read more »

Finally it would seem that fewer people are using private cars for business since the Government chose not to adjust the Approved Mileage Allowance Payment (AMAP) in line with increasing running costs especially the increase in fuel costs. The rates are still set at 40 pence per mile for the first 10,000 miles and 25 pence per mile thereafter, tax and NI free. This rate was set six years ago Read more »

A free website was launched earlier in the year aimed at reducing carbon emissions and increasing the efficient use of taxis. The website is www.emptycabs.com . The website is a free message board where anyone looking to book a taxi, to an airport for example, can be put in touch with Read more »

Insurance fraud is growing to epidemic proportions. In the latest scam police arrested a company director who has been allegedly raking in millions of pounds in a ‘crash for cash’ scam involving luxury cars. Detectives arrested a 23 year old man following a raid on his flat in Paddington after an 8 month investigation. The police have confirmed that they are still on the look out for a second person in connection with the crime. In a raid on a warehouse in Tottenham police seized 13 cars supposedly Read more »

As if to support my comments made over the last few weeks market analyst Datamoniter has recorded a growth in vehicle leasing in the fleet sector as more companies release cash tied up in their vehicles and reduce exposure to market conditions by selling off the cars they own and replace them with leased vehicles. New vehicle sales generally slumped further in August from the July drop of 7.3% to an unprecedented 15.6%. Consumers, unaware of the cash flow benefits of leasing new cars, have really Read more »

Now is the time to take great care with the funders, dealers and brokers, both online and offline, that you use to fund your next car. Things are getting tough and having lived through the last recession I know many of the tricks and scams that they all get up to in order to secure life saving orders. Cars are expensive items and great care should be taken over the selection of suppliers. I’ve been in this industry for over 25 years and I am Read more »

Fraud is on the increase as consumers and small businesses are driven to desperate lengths. Not only are applicants providing incorrect details and proofs, brokers are also falsifying documents in order to ensure that applications are accepted and they earn their commissions. There has also been an increase in premeditated motor finance crime with multiple applications being made in the expectation that Read more »

Companies have already started to cut back on their transport costs, as of course consumers have also, in preparation for the difficult times ahead. Sadly the problem here is not a need to downsize or purchase cheaper cars etc. it is really a need to understand the finance tools that are available. Various types of leasing could save businesses a fortune. Taking on a tax efficient purchase scheme when the company is making no profits against which they can write off depreciation and interest is pure lunacy. Losing the Read more »

OK now I’ve filled you with doom and gloom let me give you the good news. Whilst this new superleasing company (Lloyds/TSB Lex) will dominate the market, because of the scale of their operation they will have to concentrate more on the large fleets rather than the SME and consumer sectors, thereby increasing competition amongst the smaller players. As a result contract hire companies such as Leaseplan, Lombard, Masterlease etc will concentrate on model specific deals. Whilst the superlease company will arrange Read more »

Whilst the city shakes to the after effects of the Lloyds TSB/HBOS takeover no one has yet mentioned the effect on the car leasing industry as the new company will not only result in control of the mortgage industry but it will also give domination over the car leasing industry. In May 2006 HBOS took total control of Lex Vehicle Leasing (LVL) by buying out the 50% shareholding owned by Aviva. This gave HBOS Read more »