What is Non-Status Car Leasing?
Non-status car leasing is a great solution for those who don’t meet the requirements of an Underwriting when applying for a car lease. You may be classed as Non-status for many reasons, so lets take a look.
Non-status usually means that you do not meet the credit requirements of a finance company. There are a number of reasons why you might be classed as Non-status, this could be that you have adverse credit, you may be an Expat with little UK history, you could be a new-start business with no history, you could be a business with an overseas parent company.
Whatever, your situation. Non-status means that you may not be offered the advertised rate for a car lease or you may even be declined. However, there are a number of companies in the UK that offer non-status car leasing solutions.
What to do if you think you are non-status?
First thing you need to do is obtain your credit score and credit report from one of the credit reference agencies (CRA), the main ones are Experian, Equifax and Call Credit. Different finance companies use different CRA’s so its always best to get your report from all of them.
Don’t let them charge you, you may spot the adverts on Equifax and Experian giving you free trials, but at the time of writing (30th May 2019) you can obtain a statutory report for free, but you may not get it instantly.
Make sure you are on the Electoral Roll…
One of the many mistakes that people make is to exclude themselves off the electoral roll. It is a legal requirement to register to vote if you meet the conditions for registering. Usually this is if you are over 16 years old and you areBritish or a national of a Commonwealth country or the EU.
It’s really easy to register on the Electoral Roll, click the highlighted link to find out more.
What to do if you already know your credit score is low…
If you already know the reason why your credit score is low, then your only option is a non-status car lease whilst you set yourself a plan to build your credit. Make sure that you don’t get into the same mess twice and take a vehicle that you can afford.
If you are a new start business or have negative shareholder funds, many non-status car firms are willing to look at a Director with a good credit rating and will ask for a Personal Guarantee, this means that should the company fail, you will be personally liable for the debt.
Where can I get a non-status car lease from?
There are quite a few companies offering non-status car leases in the UK, just make sure you look out for the small print. The company I run charges a higher documentation fee. This is to cover the additional external underwriting thats carried out and even telematics.
Here is a list of companies offering Non-Status Car Leases:
Cocoon Vehicles Ltd — Non Status Car Lease
Short Term Car Lease Ltd — Non Status Short Term Car Lease
Flexigo Cars Ltd — Flexible Car Lease for Non-Status
NCCL — Bad Credit Car Lease Specialists
Do non-status car firms carry out credit checks?
Most reputable firms would carry out at least a soft credit search to determine who you are and where you live, if they didn’t I’d be seriously worried.
When it comes to non-status car leasing, most underwriters require you to show affordability and stability. If you use the majority of your income in a month and they cannot see where their car lease payment would sit, they may not accept you unless you can demonstrate that you have a company car allowance or that you are already paying for a vehicle.
Stability is important, the underwriters don’t want to see you at multiple addresses over a short period of time. They may also get worried if they see things such as debt collection searches on your credit report.
Some may even be put off if they see a high percentage of your disposable income going on gambling and betting websites.
What if you are an Expat/Overseas Worker?
Use a company such as Cocoon Vehicles, they will take a look at your situation and their underwriters are experienced to put terms in place. May be you are an Expat who only comes to the UK 6 months of the year, you could be a worker coming to work in the UK on secondment. It’s worth a try and much cheaper than daily rental.
Read my Article on: https://medium.com/@rhysadamsuk/5-ways-to-get-a-car-lease-as-an-expat-in-the-uk-8bfd65cfc92
About me and my business
I have been running Cocoon Group since 2007 and set it up to be different to a dealer. We accidentally fell into doing short term car leases and now have in excess of 300 vehicles on the road from little Fiat 500’s right up to BMW X5’s.
We’ve even got customers such as Rolls-Royce, Siemens and Samsung on our books, which is a massive achievement for us. I run the business with my wife and a couple of members of loyal staff.
What do you think of Non-Status Car Leasing?
Have you taken a non-status car lease? Did it work for you? Is there anything you would suggest that non-status firms offered that would help?