From One Car Plus to 100 cars, if you have more than one car, you have a fleet. In business fleet cars can prove a difficult area to manage but can be extremely lucrative and beneficial to a business with the ability for sales staff to meet customers or for goods to be delivered. Today’s guide we’re going to delve into the world of fleet and how we can assist.
What are fleet cars?
If you operate more than one vehicle for your business, this is classed as a fleet. The fleet of csrs could have multiple purposes, may be they are multiple company cars for the sales team to canvas new business, it could be a fleet of vans to deliver goods to customers in the UK or it could be a mixture of vehicles for executive staff members or Directors.
What is a Fleet Lease?
If you have employees that need a vehicle for their job role, one of the most cost effective ways of adding cars to your fleet is by taking out a business car lease.
Depending on your set-up, if you lease multiple vehicles from the same funder it can offer financial benefits and it is quite easy to administer as you will receive one invoice for multiple vehicles and one place to call for maintnenance assistance or billing.
We deal with a wide range of funders that can offer leasing options for fleet operators in the UK and our team can assist you going forwards from your first car to your 50th.
What is a Fleet Car Subscription?
By utilising car subscriptions for your fleet it gives you the option for a more flexible and modern range of cars and commercial vehicles. Cars can easily be added to your fleet and with ourselves we require just 5 working days notice to arrange the return.
Vehicle subscriptions gives you the ability to increase or decrease your fleet with just a call or an email. As new members of staff start with yourselves, cars can be ordered which can cover probation periods.
If you run more than 10 cars, we can offer a consiolidated invoice where all your rentals will be invoiced and taken on one direct debit. Makes administration very easy.
Are there any other options?
You’ve got quite a few financing options when it comes to operating a vehicle fleet, here are the main ones:
Business Contract Hire
Business Contract Hire is a great choice for businesses in the UK, it is effectively the hiring of a car or van over a set period of time. It doesn’t sit on your balance sheet and requires lower upfront payments when compared to traditional leasing.
Pros of contract hire can be found on the highlighted link above.
Business Finance Lease
Finance leases tend to be for commercial vehicles but can be applied to cars also.
With finance lease vehicles, they are still owned by the leasing company but the vehicles will sit as an asset on your balance sheet.
The finance agreement is flexible and will have a final balloon payment at the end, this amount will differe depending on your monthly payments.
There are quite a few advantages to these finance leases including that there are no mileage limitations on the agreement, although this could have an affect on the end balloon payment.
They also offer flexible payments that can work quite nicely if you have a strict budget you need to keep to. It is also great for companies who like to keep their vehicles longer and you can even re-finance your balloon payment at the end of the term.
Business Vehicle Subscriptions
Otherwise known as Long-Term Rental and is available on both cars and commercial vehicles. Vehicles are taken on a flexible open ended basis and can be extremely beneficial to many businesses who need to change their vehicles to fit short-term projects or seasonal peaks.
It is effectively a long-term car hire arrangement with the benefit of maintenance, servicing, warranty, breakdown assistance and road tax is included.
When you have finished with the vehicle, you give notice to return or swap into a different vehicle.
Outright Purchase
Outright purchase is ideal for VAT registered companies that want to own the vehicle with no financial commitments.
The vehicle would use up an amount of cash that could be earmarked for other purposes and the vehicle would sit on your balance sheet as an asset.
Outright Purchase Lease
Anther good option for VAT-registered companies who want to own their vehicles but do not want to takeaway important cash reserves is an outright purchase lease.
At the end of the lease term and outright purchase lease allows you to take the vehicle into your ownership.
A final optional balloon payment is payable at the end, this amount will be determined by the mileage, condition and other factors. By paying the balloon payment ownership transfers into the company name.
Short-Term Leasing
Short-Term Leasing is ideal for those companies who do not want to commit to a 2/3 year contract and have low initial payments and mileage allowances that tend to be higher than defauly 2/3 year leases.
Both cars and vans are available on short-term leases and maintenance can be added to the vehicles for true fixed cost motoring.
You will never own the vehicle and it may not be possible to purchase the vehicle at the end of the term. Return standards can be stricter than usual contract hire agreements.
How do I manage a fleet of vehicles?
When dealing with a large fleet of vehicles, managing servicing, road tax and end users can be quite difficult, espeically if you have drivers that run up parking fines or prone to speeding tickets.
You can look at fleet management software from specialist companies that can help with this and can even integrate into GPS tracking software so you can keep an eye on mileage and productivity.
We can help with recommending companies that will help with the management of your vehicles, just speak to the team for more information.
More Information
If you would like more information on how Cocoon Vehicles can help you with your fleet vehicles, please speak to the team on 01332 290173 or use the ENQUIRY FORM below.
We can take a look at your existing look up and even discuss moving away from grey fleet issues by using car subscriptions or salary sacrifice.
