The Best Car Finance Blog In The World

One of the side affects of the current recession and the drop in value of used cars are  the poor settlement figures being offered by insurance companies as a result of total write offs compared to the settlement figure required by the finance provider. Another involves the early settlement figures being asked for by lenders when drivers wish to early terminate a finance agreement, this could be as a result of Read more »

 If you use your own car for company business or you allow employees to drive their own cars for business use Active Risk Management feel they have a solution to checking if employees are totally road legal in their own cars by providing an ongoing audit service. Employees will be issued with an online permit which will confirm whether they are eligible to drive on company business. The record will show whether the Read more »

Fraud and forgery crime increased by 16% in the 3^rd quarter of last year blamed on the credit crunch. Attention has been drawn towards brokers that arrange mortgages and finance as some of the main culprits helped along by the increasing acceptance of the Internet. As I recently reported things are getting tough for most of us involved in the finance industry and as happened in the last recession desperation Read more »

My advice when applying for finance is make sure you check your credit file and sort out any errors. If you went through a difficult patch, divorce, redundancy, death in the family etc. and things are fine now make sure that you put that information on your credit file (as explained in my book ‘An Insider Guide To Car Finance’) by entering a Notice of Correction, this also applies if you think that an error has Read more »

Underwriting is becoming a bit of a nightmare with lenders seemingly running out of money. It’s all very frustrating as I have loads of enquiries and proposals but far too many are being declined for credit, a situation that will only get worse. Applicants need to take more care over their credit and avoid any adverse or suffer the very severe consequences. Also consider the amount you are prepared to pay up front Read more »

So what do we think of the Mandelson bailout? Frankly not a lot although time will tell. The problem with all these packages seems to be that they get to the point of understanding the problems and seeking a solution but they don’t seem to then tell those to whom they are giving the money how they want it used. They gave money to the banks and told them to start lending again but they didn’t tell them when, how much Read more »

In my opinion leasing is by far the most cost effective way of funding a car provided you can be flexible and look for the best deals around at the time you take your new car. However, there is one major drawback to leasing and one that I write about regularly in my newsletter, trade press and national press. It is the one area that I receive most complaints about from buyers of my book. It is the end of contract charges. I Read more »

The Dutch government have taken the lead by guaranteeing a 1.5 billion Euro package for car leasing company Lease Plan. This is part of a 200 billion Euro rescue fund set up by the Dutch. Lease Plan is the first company to take advantage of the rescue fund which, according to Finance Director, David Stickland will provide additional funding for Lease Plan UK. Read more »

Unless you work in the finance industry you may not fully understand the term ‘credit crunch’. It is simply the running out of money to lend, hence the reason why the Government is having to step in to inject more money into the economy and provide money for the banks to lend – in theory. Of course all they are doing is using the money to bolster their balance sheet making the ‘cash in bank’ look a little healthier. The problem for you and me is the ability to borrow money, Read more »

It has been predicted that insurance premiums are set to rise by around 10% next year with further rises expected over the following 2 years. You really need to look carefully at your requirements and ways to protect your no-claims bonus. With all the hype surrounding the comparison sites don’t write off your local broker, I saved £70 per annum by switching to a local broker who provided Read more »