Leasing Finance FAQs

With leasing, the money you are paying is the depreciation value of the lease car. This is the difference between what the car costs new and its worth at the end of the contract (or the residual value). Depending on the initial rental amount that you take, the depreciation value is divided by the number of payments to be taken. If you have a four year contract and a three month initial rental, you will pay three months upfront in the first month and then another 47 monthly payments. This means the depreciation value is divided by 50 (3 months initial rental + 47 monthly payments) to get your monthly payment amount.

The funding for your lease contract is provided by your finance company. There are many finance companies available when it comes to leasing – our main leasing partner is Lex Autolease but we also have access to dealer finance options. We will usually specify who the finance company is when you decide to order the vehicle. To better understand funders, check out our what is a finance company page.

There are three types of payments you will need to pay when you take a lease out with Willow Leasing: your processing fee, your initial rental and your monthly payment.

The processing fee is the payment that you make to Willow Leasing for our brokering services. This amount is specified on your quote or on the website. This payment is due after we have received an approval for your application and your car has been ordered.

The initial rental is the first payment you make to the finance company. It can be as much as one month upfront to twelve months upfront. Depending on the finance company and supplier, the initial rental may need to be paid before your delivery otherwise it will be taken 7-14 days after you have taken delivery.

Your monthly payments will be taken by direct debit and will start a month after you have taken delivery. This exact date can depend on the finance company you have but they will inform you of the payment dates with plenty of notice.

The processing fee is paid to Willow Leasing for our brokering services.

The initial rental is the first payment you make to the finance company. It can be paid to either the supplying dealer or to the finance company themselves.

Your monthly payments will be taken by direct debit and paid directly to the finance company.

If you wanted to, you don’t have to put any deposit down for your lease contract. With leasing, you are paying the same total amount throughout the contract, whether you opt for a one-month initial rental or a twelve-month initial rental. The upfront payment simply lets you decide how much you want to pay monthly. If you want to pay less upfront, you will pay more monthly, if you pay more upfront, you will pay less monthly.

The freedom of the initial rental payment allows you to reduce or increase your monthly payments to suit your needs. However, if you want to pay the same amount throughout your contract with no upfront cost, you can ask for a no-deposit lease or a one-month upfront initial rental. Find out more about zero-deposit leasing on our no-deposit leasing page.

You do not necessarily need to be employed to lease a car, but you must have a regular form of income or benefit (like a pension) that will prove you can afford the monthly payments comfortably.

When you undergo a credit check, the finance companies will look at your credit score which usually ranges from “very poor” to “excellent”. We cannot tell you exactly what credit score you need to pass the credit check, but we can determine that if your score is on the lower end of the scale it is not likely that you will pass. Check out our what is finance page to learn more about the finance process for leasing.

Yes, as leasing is a finance agreement entered between you and the finance company who own the vehicle, they will need ensure that you can be trusted to pay for the car throughout the term. So they will need to check your credit history to decide this. For more information, check out our what is finance page.

It is not likely that your finance application will be approved if you have a bad credit score. Some other red flags that finance companies look for are responsible lending, missing payments, any bankruptcies/insolvencies, too many credit searches and reaching your credit limit. You can learn more on our bad credit page.

Once you submit your application, it can take up to 72 working hours for it to come back with a decision. Sometimes you may be asked to provide additional proofs to support your application which can extend the amount of time it takes to receive an acceptance or rejection. Learn more about finance on our what is finance page.