Short-term vehicle specialists since 2007 · FCA registered

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Specialist leasing: the cases others turn away

Automated credit scoring is very good at approving straightforward applications and very bad at everything else. These are the situations where a person needs to read the file — and where most of our business comes from.

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In short

Specialist leasing means arranging a vehicle agreement for someone who does not fit a mainstream funder's standard criteria — a company with no filed accounts, an applicant with no recent UK credit history, or a UK business owned or directed from overseas. The vehicle, the inclusions and the contract are the same as any other agreement. What changes is the funder, the documentation required, and sometimes the security requested.

Where we help

The four situations we handle most

Expats and overseas customers

Returning to the UK after years abroad, or relocating here for work. You have income, employment and often significant assets — but no UK credit footprint, which automated scoring reads as risk.

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Expats and overseas customers

UK companies with overseas directors

A UK-registered company whose directors live outside the UK. The company may be perfectly sound, but funders that require UK-resident directors will decline it without looking further.

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UK companies with overseas directors

Overseas parent or shareholders

A UK subsidiary of a foreign group. The parent may be substantial, but the UK entity's standalone credit file often looks thin or non-existent.

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Overseas parent or shareholders

Non-status leasing

A new company, an overseas parent, foreign directors, or no UK credit history. Situations that fall outside standard credit criteria and get declined automatically.

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Non-status leasing

Related cases

Also specialist, in practice

New business start-ups

Under two years' trading and no filed accounts. Declined automatically by mainstream funders; placed regularly by us.

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New business start-ups

Short-term needs

Short terms reduce a funder's exposure, which is one reason specialist cases are often easier to place over 6 or 12 months than over 4 years.

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Short-term needs

Subscriptions

A subscription's rolling structure and lower total commitment can make it a more practical starting point than a fixed lease.

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Subscriptions

The process

How a specialist case actually progresses

An honest conversation

Tell us the whole situation, including the parts you would rather not mention. We would rather know up front than discover it at underwriting.

We tell you where you stand

Whether it is placeable, roughly what it will cost, and what documentation you will need. If it is not placeable, we say so.

Documentation

Usually more than a standard case — identity, address history, proof of income, and for company cases, structure and ownership details.

Underwriting by a person

A human reads the file and makes a judgement. Slower than an automated decision, and far more likely to result in an approval.

Being straight

What we will not do

  • Tell you it will definitely be approved before it has been underwritten
  • Run applications we can see will fail, just to look busy
  • Hide the initial payment or the rate until you are committed
  • Pretend a specialist agreement costs the same as a standard one — it usually does not

If the honest answer is that you would be better off waiting six months and applying with filed accounts, we will tell you that instead.

Answers

Frequently asked questions

Vehicle finance arranged for applicants who do not fit a mainstream funder's standard criteria. That usually means new companies, applicants with limited or no UK credit history, and UK companies with overseas ownership or directors. The vehicle and the agreement are the same; the underwriting route is different.

Usually, yes. A larger initial payment is the most common difference, and the monthly rate may be higher to reflect the additional risk. How much more depends entirely on the case — we will tell you the figure before you apply, not after.

A full application involves a credit search which is recorded. Before we get to that point we will talk through your situation and tell you honestly whether it is worth applying, so you are not accumulating searches on cases that were never going to work.

Longer than a standard one, because a person reads it. Straightforward specialist cases are often decided within a few working days; complex ones involving overseas structures can take longer, particularly if documentation needs translating or certifying.

That is most of what this part of the business does. A decline from an automated system tells us very little about whether the case is actually placeable. Tell us what happened and we will give you a straight answer.

Keep reading

Next step

Tell us the situation

The messier it is, the more useful it is for us to hear it in full. We will tell you honestly whether we can place it.

Get a quote 0330 330 9425