Key information
We have put together this key information summarising the main points of the Personal Contract Hire Agreement together with some additional helpful information.
Please note that it is still important that you read your Personal Contract Hire Agreement as it is a legally binding document and you should be aware of everything in it before you sign it.
Please contact us if you have any questions as we are always happy to help. You may also find our frequently asked questions helpful.
What is PCH?
PCH (Personal Contract Hire) is where you only pay the agreed rental amount, without ever owning the car – you give it back at the end of your PCH agreement. This is the type of finance that we offer because it is usually cheaper than other types of car finance and gives you less hassle.
The finance we offer is not personal contract purchase (PCP) where you have the option to purchase the car if you make a balloon payment at the end of the contract, or hire purchase (HP) where you pay monthly payments and will own the car at the end.
Car
- The car always remains our property.
- There is no option for you to buy the car.
- We will provide the road fund licence (road tax) for the car.
- We provide AA breakdown cover with the car.
- We do not provide a replacement car if yours is unavailable for use (e.g. due to an accident, servicing or theft).
- There is no smoking allowed in the car.
Insurance
- You must tell your insurer that you do not own the car and that it is leased.
- You need to have in place a fully comprehensive insurance policy for the car and you will need to provide us with a copy of your policy schedule before delivery.
- You must make sure that all drivers have full driving licences (not provisional) and are insured to drive the car.
Maintenance
You can either choose for us to maintain the car (by paying a monthly service payment) or choose to maintain the car yourself.
If you choose the ‘With Maintenance’ option, we will cover:
- Servicing,
- Replacement tyres due to fair wear and tear (but excluding stolen or vandalised tyres),
- Exhaust and battery (up to 12 volts) due to fair wear and tear; and
- MOTs. (New cars will only need MOTs on a three- or four-year lease. If your car is due back within the four weeks leading up to your MOT due date, you’ll need to MOT the car before it’s returned.)
Non-Maintenance
If you choose the ‘non-maintained’ option, we will only provide the following:
- Breakdown cover to include home-start, roadside assistance and recovery (both at home and abroad); and
- Road fund licence.
If you don't go for our maintenance package, then you'll need to take care of the car's maintenance yourself.
This includes servicing the car in line with manufacturers schedules and keeping a record of the service history, otherwise you may be charged at the end of your lease.
No matter which option you choose, you must keep the car in good condition. If you don’t, when the car comes back to us, we may charge you for any reduction in value of the car resulting from any mechanical, body or electrical damage which is not considered to be fair wear and tear. We use the fair wear and tear guide produced by the British Vehicle Rental and Leasing Association to decide what is chargeable.
You will also need to ensure that when you return your car, you return it with all the items it was delivered with such as spare keys, charging cables etc. or we may charge you for those.
Excess mileage
You will have to pay per mile if you go over the mileage amount in your agreement. We can’t tell you exactly what the price per mile is, as it varies depending on the car and contract. However, when you come to placing your order and signing the agreement, you’ll be able to view the excess mileage charge for your lease on the agreement doc. For now, we can give you some examples of how the excess mileage process works.
If your allowance is 30,000 miles over a 3 year period and you went over it by 100 miles then you would have to pay a price per mile for each of those 100 miles.
If you decide to hand back the car earlier than the agreed hire period, your agreed mileage allowance will be prorated. Using the example above, at the end of year 2 you are allowed to have done 20,000 miles. If the car comes back having done 21,000 after 2 years, you will have to pay a price per mile for each of those 1000 miles.
If you are leasing a used car from us, from the day the car is delivered, you will have 7 days to check you are happy with it. During this 7 day period, your annual mileage allowance will be prorated over the 7 days. For example, if your annual mileage is 10,000 miles, your daily allowance would be 28 miles per day, which over the 7 day period would equate to 196 miles. If you gave the car back for example on day 7 and had done 200 miles, you will have to pay a price per mile for each of those 4 miles. Don’t worry, you won’t have to work these out as a daily rate will be included in your PCH Agreement.
How to change your mileage
Given the excess mileage charges, it’s best to regularly check your mileage. If you’re close to your allowance, increasing your mileage will mean you don’t have to pay any excess charges at the end of your lease.
You can also decrease it if you find you’re not using as many miles as you selected on your lease agreement. Plus, this could make your monthly lease payments cheaper!
So, how does a mileage change work?
You can change your mileage any time after the first 6 months and before the last 6 months of your lease.
To make a request to change your mileage, you can either ring the Support Squad on 0113 468 5377 (option 3) or email [email protected]. They’ll email you a quote for your new mileage. You’ll then be asked to confirm whether you’d like to go ahead or not. If you do, your lease agreement will be updated, emailed to you and you’ll then be asked to sign the new agreement (digitally, of course!).
What’s not included in my lease package
Fines, Parking Charges etc.
- You must pay all fines, penalty charge notices, parking charge notices, tolls, licence fees, registration fees, insurance, insurance fines and other charges in connection with using the car.
- It is your duty to know who is driving the car at all times. It is an offence to provide false information about who was driving the car at the time of a traffic offence.
The fines process
Non-police issued fines
- We’ll pay the fine as soon as we get it. We charge a £15 admin fee for processing the fine.
- You’ll then get an email from [email protected] confirming the fine details, and costs, along with what you need to do if you want to appeal it. You’ll also get a 3rd party authority letter to confirm that the issuing authority can talk directly to you if you choose to appeal (you need this since we’re the registered keeper of your car).
- The cost of the fine, plus the admin fee, will then be taken by direct debit 4 weeks after we first notify you (this will be separate to your monthly rental payment).
- If you choose to appeal and it’s successful, forward the confirmation from the issuing authority to [email protected] and we’ll refund the cost of the fine (plus the admin fee) back to you.
- If the issuing authority won’t hear the appeal, email [email protected]– we’ll judge your appeal instead and issue a refund if your case is approved.
Police issued fines
- For any police issued fines you may incur (such as speeding tickets or other traffic offences) we’ll transfer liability of the fine straight to you. We charge a £15 admin fee to do this.
- You’ll then receive an email from [email protected] with details of the fine.
- The £15 admin fee will then be taken by direct debit 4 weeks after we first notify you (this will be separate to your monthly rental payment).
- It’s your responsibility to pay the total of the fine to the issuing authority once we notify you.
Fuel and Insurance
You will also be responsible for paying for your own fuel and fully comprehensive insurance (a copy of the policy schedule will need to be provided to us before we can deliver your car).
Accessories and Connected Services
If you want to add any additional accessories to the car or make modifications to the car, you must get our permission first and these will be added at your own expense after delivery.
If Connected Services are available in your car (i.e. driver aids, apps, telematics, performance upgrades, navigation or other infotainment features) and you choose to activate these, you are responsible for all aspects of those Connected Services including costs, and you use them entirely at your own risk.
If your car is delivered with a complimentary subscription to use a Connected Service for a limited time, if you want to continue to use that service once it has expired, you will need to pay the renewal costs.
Cherished/personalised number plates
If you would like to add a cherished or personalised number plate onto the car, please let us know as soon as possible in the order process. There is an admin fee of £20 to do this. There may also be DVLA fees for you to pay in addition but we will let you know if this is the case. If we are unable to add the cherished or personalised number plate to the car before delivery, you will need to pay the costs of making up new number plates once we confirm that these can be changed.
If you are leasing a used car from us, a cherished or personalised number plate cannot be added until the end of the 7-day return period. If you do add a cherished or personalised number plate during this period and then decide to return the car to us, you will be responsible for all costs associated with this.
When the car is returned to us, it is up to you to ensure that you to take off the cherished or personalised number plate and tell the DVLA. If you don’t, we would have to sell the car with your number plate on it.
Going abroad
You must tell us if you want to take the car abroad so that we can provide you with our written permission before you travel. Without this, there is a risk that the car could be impounded and you could be fined by the authorities as you would not be able to provide them with a copy of the V5 document or equivalent if they ask to see it. There will be an admin fee of £10 for providing you with the required travel documents.
To get your travel docs, just ring the team on 0113 468 5377 (option 3) or email [email protected].
It’s really important that you’re aware of the processes, procedures and any laws or regulations you need to follow when taking a car out of the UK. It’s your responsibility to check the legal requirements of each country you will be visiting or driving through, and to make sure you comply.
When you go abroad, the car must not remain abroad for more than 90 days at any one time and you must ensure before you go that no service is due and there are no maintenance issues with the car that have not been addressed.
Other costs
In addition to the costs and fees set out on this page, there may be additional costs and fees:
- When you place an order, you will need to pay us a non-refundable processing fee as follows:
- New Cars – £99
- Used Cars – £199
- This will only be payable once you have passed the finance check and it will be taken securely over the phone.
- If you want to amend your order after you have placed it, we may have to charge you an order amendment fee of £50.
- If you are ordering a new car and wish to cancel your order after the car has been ordered and the dealer charges us a cancellation fee, this will need to be paid by you. Depending on when the cancellation takes place, the cancellation fee may be quite substantial, possibly 10% of the cost of the car or the total cost of any additional factory options which have been selected, whichever is the greater amount. Generally, the closer the car is to delivery, the higher the cancellation fee is likely to be.
- There is no charge for cancelling a used car order.
Other Important Information
Initial Payments
We’ll need to take your initial payment before we can deliver your car. If you’re leasing a new car, we’ll take this by direct debit from the same account as your monthly payments – you’ll have 10 working days’ notice before we take it. Just let us know if you want to pay another way. If the direct debit fails for any reason, we’ll get in touch with you to take it from a debit card.
If you’re leasing a Tesla or one our used cars, we’ll be in touch to collect payment by debit card once your car is ready for delivery.
Finance check
As part of the application process, you will need to agree to let us carry out a finance check which will be made up of credit, affordability, ID and fraud checks. Without agreeing to this, you will not be able to apply for a car with us.
If you do not pass the finance check, unfortunately we will not be able to let you have a car.
Delivery
- You can only lease and we will only deliver the car to your home address anywhere in Mainland GB*.
- You will need to check the car carefully when it is delivered to you and let us know if there is any damage or something isn’t quite right.
- Only you (no-one else) can sign for delivery of the car.
- On delivery, you will need to show photo ID, e.g. driving licence or passport.
- Delivery will normally take place Monday to Friday between 9am and 5pm and you will be offered either an am or pm delivery window.
Termination rights and costs
- If you are leasing a new car from us and decide to end the lease early, you may need to pay us 40% of the remaining monthly finance rentals.
- If you are leasing a used car from us and decide to end the lease early, you may need to pay us 40% of the remaining monthly finance rentals, unless you are in the last 3 months of your agreement, then you will need to pay us 100% of the remaining monthly finance rentals.
- If we decide to end the lease early because you have broken the terms of the agreement, you may need to pay us all of the remaining monthly finance rentals and monthly service payments (if you have taken maintenance).
- If we have to chase you for payments, we may charge you extra costs for this.
- If your lease payments do not exceed £1500 in total in every year of your PCH Agreement (total payments include monthly finance rentals, service payments, initial payment and VAT) then you may terminate the PCH Agreement without incurring any extra rentals by giving at least one month's notice. In order to do this the PCH Agreement must have been allowed to run for at least 18 months (including the period of notice.)
Changing length of hire or agreed mileage
If you want to change the length of your hire or the agreed mileage, please contact us to see how we can help.
Change of contact details
It is important that you keep us updated with your current contact details, including home address, email and phone numbers so that we can contact you about your agreement with us at all times.
Recall Notices
If we receive a recall notice from the manufacturer that there is something wrong with the car, we will pass this on to you. Once you have received it, it is your responsibility to get in touch with our team to rectify any issues.
If you do not, you may be subject to costs.
Extensions
In some circumstances it may be possible for you to extend your lease beyond the original end date. If you’d like to apply for an extension, then be sure to contact us well in advance of your lease ending. You can reach our New Car Consultants by ringing 0113 468 5377 (option 1) or just drop them an email [email protected].
It’s worth noting that if we’re able to extend your lease, your monthly rental payments may increase. If you want to get an idea of how your payments could change, here’s how:
- Multiply your monthly finance rental by the total number of payments in your PCH Agreement (i.e. £100 per month x 23 payments = £2300).
- Add the total payments to your initial payment (i.e. £2300 + £1000 initial payment = £3300)
- Divide this total amount by the number of months in your PCH Agreement and you have your new extended rentals (i.e. £3300 / 24 months = £137.50 per month).
But don’t worry, we’ll be in touch to remind you about your end of lease options well before your contract ends, so you’ll have plenty of time to decide your next steps!
* Mainland GB includes England, Wales and Scotland but excludes Northern Ireland, the Scottish Highlands, the Scottish Islands, the Channel Islands, the Isle of Man, the Isle of Wight, and the Isles of Scilly.