Short-Term Car Leasing in the UK has become increasingly popular for both businesses who don’t want to commit to longer-term contracts and personal customers who want to change their vehicles on a regular basis.
These shorter-term contracts can be an excellent solution for many motorists with contract lengths between 5-months and 18-months, with a few options in-between.
These contracts are also an ideal way of driving a brand new car over a shorter timeframe, with the ability to change them on a regular basis and more affordable than a daily rental company or purchasing a car over the same time period.
What is a Short-Term Car Lease?
A short-term car lease works in a similar way to a traditional 2/3/4 year car lease agreement. The only real difference is that it is over a short period of time.
With contract lengths of 5-months, 6-months, 9-months, 12-months and 18-months depending on how you utilise the vehicle, it can really help businesses and individuals, whether the car is for a probation period, short-term work contract or you are coming in from overseas to work.
What is the length of a short-term lease?
Usually anything less than 18-months is classed as a Short-Term Car Lease. Anything longer than this is a long-term car lease (See Find a Car Lease).
The vehicles advertised on our website are usually between 5-months and 18-months, with a few options in-between. Our most popular short-term car lease contract length is 6-months or 12-months.
If a vehicle is advertised as being 6-months, it must be taken for the amount off time. If you were to send it back before then an early termination fee would be payable. Extending it could result in higher chargers. The contract lengths cannot be changed and are as advertised.
One of the most asked questions is “Can I lease a car for 3-months?” – The answer is yes, but this must be done on our flexible car contract service. Another question is “Can I lease a car for 1-month?”, the answer again is Yes, but we may prove to be more expensive than a daily rental company.
What are the benefits of a short-term lease?
Like most leasing options available, there are both benefits and downsides to a short-term lease. Here are a few of the main positives to a short-term contract:
Positives
- No long-term commitments unlike a traditional car lease
- You can have access to a new car on a more regular basis
- Cheaper than using a daily rental company over the same time frame
- Vehicles usually in-stock
- Low initial Outlay
- Business and Personal Customers Welcome
- Road Tax and Breakdown Assistance Included
- Maintenance Optional for a Monthly Fee
- Fixed monthly payments with generous mileage allowances
- Usually cheaper than our vehicle subscriptions
- Brand New or Pre-Registered Vehicles
Negatives
- Contracts cannot be extended or reduced in length
- Specification of cars cannot be altered
- Colours not guaranteed
- Delivery not as quick as a subscription car, usually 1-3 weeks
- Excess mileage slightly higher than a traditional car lease
- Early termination charge if you were to end early
Things to consider with a short-term contract:
Here are a few things to consider with a short-term car lease:
Mileage Allowance
Before signing the agreement, make sure that the mileage included with the short-term car lease is sufficient for your needs, otherwise you will have to pay an excess mileage charge.
Insurance
When purchasing an insurance policy for your flexible vehicle, we recommend taking a 12 month policy, as these can work out much cheaper than a Short Term Insurance provider such as TempCover. We’ve recently partnered with QuoteZone to provide you a great way of comparing car insurance quotes from over 110+ car insurance providers, just click on the following link to get a quote: GET CAR INSURANCE QUOTES.
Other companies that may help you in providing insurance cover include: Admiral, Bell Insurance, Swift and Tesco Insurance. Please visit their website for more information.
Quidco Cashback is a great place to look at comparing insurance quotations.
Wear and Tear
Short-term car leases do not have to adhere to the BVRLA fair, wear and tear guides as a traditional car lease would. We have set out our RETURN STANDARDS on our account management page, you can peruse these by clicking on the highlighted link.
Early Termination
If you need to send the vehicle back early, an early termination charge will be levied. On a short-term car lease the usual charge for this would be the balance of the rentals to the original end of the contract.
Who can apply for a short-term lease?
Anyone can apply for a short-term car lease but we do carry out credit checks to check on the eligibility to comply with regulations.
If you are a business, the authorised signatory must provide an ID and a Utility Bill dated within the last 3-months, further information may be requested.
For personal customers, ID and a Utility Bill dated within the last 3-months will be required, further information to support your application may be requested from the underwriters.
We can also help New Startup Businesses and Expat customers with our short-term services.
Click the button for further information.
Top 7 reasons to get a short-term lease...
- 1. You have a car on order with a long lead time
- 2. You like to change your car on a regular basis
- 3. You don't like long-term commitment
- 4. You are a contractor and need a car for a short-term project
- 5. You have a new business and need some wheels
- 6. You need cars for probation period staff
- 7. You are coming to work in the UK and need a car
Help finding the right car
We’ve been helping hundreds of customers from day one find the most suitable car (or van) for their business or personal circumstances. The Cocoon Vehicles can be on hand to help you with honest and upfront advce from the start.
If you need help with a short-term car lease, please call the team on 01332 290173 or use the enquiry form at the bottom of this guide to drop us a line.
Latest short-term car lease deals
Here is a small selection of our latest short-term car lease deals, click on the vehicle for more details:
