Consumer Credit Applications

Personal Contract Hire and PCP vehicle finance is rapidly expanding and becoming one of the most popular methods of acquiring new vehicles for personal consumers. Personal Contract Hire and PCP vehicle finance are classed as regulated consumer related products that are protected by the 1974 Consumer Credit Act including Personal Contract Hire, although it is essentially a fixed term hire agreement.

Before being able to enter into any form of agreement, whether it is regulated or not, you will require lenders (usually major finance companies and contract hire companies) to agree to offer you the relevant credit account before you are able to proceed with your vehicle order.

All Vehicle Contracts (acting in its broking capacity) specialize in ensuring our customers get the best available deals on all aspects of Personal Contract Hire and PCP finance.

In this guide, we set out to provide transparency to what is involved in obtaining credit and your rights with reference to the data provided by you under the Consumer Credit Act 1974, relating to personal details provided to obtain personal leasing and finance credit acceptance.

So let’s take a generalised look at what is usually required in order to be eligible to obtain credit acceptance for regulated Personal Contract Hire and PCP (Personal Contract Purchase). It is important to remember that while there are guidelines lenders may follow, there are no guarantees to what the decision may be and they may agree or refuse credit on terms they deem to be relevant, as responsible lenders.  

Standard criteria for credit acceptance

Financers are responsible lenders that require financial information that demonstrates the customer’s affordability and ability to pay. To demonstrate this, standard information required for private individuals usually includes:

• Three years or more address history (proved through utility bills, etc)
• Three years or more employment history
• Applicants should be registered to vote at address given

In some instances, wage slips or bank statements from the last three months can be requested; this is in order to prove the ability to pay and the income levels of the applicant.

A standard credit check is carried out, usually through Experian or Equifax. County court, defaults or bankruptcy usually mean automatic account rejection, but may be considered by non-status finance funders.

Proofs of identity required

To avoid identity fraud, document signatories must provide proof of identity; this is a full UK driving licence with photo ID (an old style licence must be accompanied with your passport).

Personal Contract Hire Eligibility

Personal Contract Hire is available to employees opting out of the company car scheme, or with company car allowance, and to employees who can demonstrate that they are able meet the relevant credit criteria requirements.

PCP (Personal Contract Purchase) Eligibility

PCP (Personal Contract Purchase), Lease Purchase and general Hire Purchase are usually offered by main stream finance companies, and available to all employees who can demonstrate that they can meet their credit criteria requirements.

Credit account applications

All Vehicle Contracts (acting in its broking capacity) provide credit details to lenders (finance companies) provided by you to obtain credit acceptance for the vehicle/goods detailed on your pre-contract order. 

Credit references

Lenders (finance companies) may use credit reference agencies to obtain further information about you.

You have the right to request any information we hold about you (acting in our broking capacity); these details can be obtained by writing to All Vehicle Contracts and upon receipt, we will provide you with the relevant details within seven working days. We will also provide you with the details of any lender/credit reference agency which All Vehicle Contracts has shared your details with during negotiations/applications for information about the financial standing of the customer, and information received from the lender.

Credit account cancelation

You have the right to obtain any information we hold about you (acting in our broking capacity) and can request we remove your details from our records by writing to All Vehicle Contracts. Upon receipt, we will remove your records within 28 working days and provide you with the details of any lender/credit reference agency which All Vehicle Contracts has shared your details with during negotiations/applications for information about the financial standing of the customer, and information received from the lender.

Consumer credit account acceptance

All Vehicle Contracts (acting in its broking capacity) provide credit details to lenders (finance companies) provided by you to obtain credit acceptance; vehicle pre-contract orders can only be processed after credit acceptance. Lenders (finance companies) may request further information to process an account application.

Further information examples

Requests for further information may include bank statements, payslips, proofs of address/previous addresses. Lenders (finance companies) may also agree account acceptance to profiles that add further security to their asset, such as an increased down payment and/or shorter finance term. All Vehicle Contracts (acting in our broking capacity) will use our best endeavours to obtain account acceptance to suit your requirements and to that specified on your pre-contract order.  

Consumer credit account refusal

All Vehicle Contracts (acting in its broking capacity) provide credit details to lenders (finance companies) provided by you to obtain credit acceptance and use our best endeavours to obtain credit acceptance to suit your requirements, and to that specified on your pre-contract order.

Lenders (finance companies) may refuse account acceptance based on information that can not be made available to All Vehicle Contracts within our broking capacity.

To obtain these details, please write to All Vehicle Contracts, and upon receipt, we will provide you with the relevant details within seven working days. This includes details of the lender/credit reference agency which All Vehicle Contracts has shared your details with during negotiations/applications relating to obtaining credit acceptance on behalf of the customer. You may contact the lender (finance company) directly to obtain the reasons relating to the details of their credit decision.