Where are the most competitive contract hire deals?

The cost of products and services vary from company to company and contract hire and leasing is no exception. One of the many factors that determines price is residual values (What the contract hire company believes the car will be worth at the end of the contract hire period). One of the difficulties with contract hire when comparing quotes, is that you are often not comparing like with like.

The Internet can be a good place to find competitive offers, which is where most contract hire brokers advertise. One of the difficulties of looking for the lowest possible rate, each time you buy a vehicle, is that on each occasion you will probably have to deal with a different broker, because different contract hire brokers will have special deals at different times. This stops you getting to know the broker and getting to know and trust a good broker is vital, because contract hire broking is an unregulated industry.

Where a company has a number of vehicles in its fleet, trying to always find the lowest price advertised, each time they acquire a new vehicle, is not a very practical option. It is probably a good option for the individual looking for a vehicle on personal contract hire, providing they have the time to spend checking out the contract hire broker, they are intending to use. The company acquiring several vehicles a year would probably be better off finding a broker whose prices are keen across the board and who will keep to the delivery date and prices quoted.

Companies that regularly buy cars and deal with various brokers, usually find that things start to become very disjointed and eventually set about finding a reliable contract hire broker with whom they can develope a more permanent relationship and can also provide additional services to the client, one of the most important being a regular licence checking service. The broker will have a record of all the clients’ vehicles and will therefore be in a position to advise them of renewal dates.

For an individual or company that only acquires a vehicle every two or three years, there is no reason not to go onto the Internet and seek out the cheapest deal available. Putting the key words, contract hire, into Google will bring up somewhere in the order of 4,000,000 entries. Clearly one couldn’t hope to look at more than a fraction of those companies advertising contract hire, most people confine their search to the first page. It can also be worth checking out, contract hire and leasing, car leasing and vehicle leasing.

There are sites that act as directories for a range of contract hire and leasing brokers. Some people are quite happy using these sites others don’t like them. There is nothing essentially wrong with them, although it is important to be aware that they don’t take responsibility for, or police their advertisers. So whilst the site may be very reputable it does not necessarily follow that their advertisers are. There is certainly evidence of contract hire brokers that advertise on these sites offering prices and delivery dates that are unachievable.

Amongst those advertising there will be some very reputable companies and some less so. Try to stick to those that have very straightforward proposals, where you can clearly see what they are adverting. For example if the advertisement just says 24 or 36 months and doesn’t state what the payment profile is, for example 3 x23 or 3×35 (3 months payments in advance followed by 23 payments, or 3 payments in advance followed by 35 monthly payments) then generally it is going to be something different so you will not be comparing like with like.

Some companies manage to show a lower monthly rental by taking six rather than three payments in advance. There is nothing wrong with a deal that takes six payments in advance, as long as overall it works out less expensive than one that takes three payments in advance. The problem is that that they rarely do.

Where a delivery date is quoted that is much sooner than generally seems available, it may be that the broker has access to vehicles that others do not. It may on the other hand mean that they are promising a delivery date that they know is not achievable. One should proceed with caution, particularly if there is a deposit involved. The customer should perhaps speak to them on the phone and see if he feels comfortable with the information being given,

This also applies to the price; there are companies that consistently advertise vehicles at prices at which they cannot supply the vehicle. Sometimes it is clear when you go into their website because you will see the vehicle on their website at perhaps 20 per month more than initially advertised, on other occasions it is more difficult; they prefer that you phone and then they will sometimes tell you that those vehicles have all gone but that they have an alternative. As and when contract hire broking becomes regulated by the FSA, this conduct will hopefully be curbed but in the meantime it is something the client needs to take into account.

Contract hire broking is an industry where customers are frequently let down, sometimes this happens where small brokers who have to work through other brokers, have themselves been let down by the main broker.

Perhaps the answer is to find three or four contract hire brokers offering the most attractive monthly rentals and speak to them on the telephone. And attempt to ascertain if they can indeed provide what they are promising. The worst thing that can happen is to order a vehicle and then be told at a later date, that the price or delivery date cannot be met. Sometimes it can be better to pay a little more and deal with a broker that inspires confidence.

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