Reversible decisions
A four-year contract commits you to a headcount forecast nobody can make accurately. Short terms let you be wrong cheaply.
Business pillar
Business leasing and rental, on terms that flex
Fleet decisions are easier when they are reversible. Short-term business agreements let your vehicles track contract wins, headcount and seasonality instead of locking you in for four years.
In short
Business leasing at Short Car Leases means short-term contract hire and subscription agreements for cars and vans, taken in a company's name, from 1 to 24 months. Prices are quoted excluding VAT; VAT-registered businesses can normally reclaim 50% of the VAT on a car with private use and 100% on a commercial vehicle used solely for business. There is no minimum fleet size, and agreements of 12 months or less may qualify for the short-term lease exemption under IFRS 16 — check with your accountant.
The commercial case
What short terms actually buy a business
Predictable cost per head
Road tax, warranty and breakdown in one figure, with maintenance included on subscriptions and optional on leases. No surprise garage invoices mid-quarter.
Speed
In-stock vehicles in as little as 3–5 working days from signed order and payment, rather than a factory order measured in months. Useful when a start date will not move.
One account, mixed fleet
Directors' cars, pool vehicles and vans on a single account with consolidated invoicing and a named contact.
Interim and project staff
Vehicles that end when the assignment ends. No stranded assets, no early termination negotiations.
Staged electrification
Move part of the fleet to electric and find out what it does to your operations before committing all of it.
Where to go next
Business services
Salary Sacrifice
Give staff an electric car out of gross salary. Employees save income tax and National Insurance; the company saves employer NI. No capital outlay from the business.
Learn more
Salary SacrificeNew Business Start-ups
Trading under two years with no filed accounts? Mainstream funders decline these almost automatically. We place them regularly.
Learn more
New Business Start-upsOverseas Directors
A UK-registered company whose directors live outside the UK. Solvable, with the right funder and the right documentation.
Learn more
Overseas DirectorsOverseas Parent or Shareholders
UK subsidiaries of foreign groups. The credit file often looks thin even when the parent is substantial.
Learn more
Overseas Parent or ShareholdersNon-Status Leasing
When your situation falls outside standard credit criteria. Assessed case by case by specialist underwriters instead of being declined by a system.
Learn more
Non-Status LeasingVan & Commercial Fleet
Panel vans, crew vans, tippers and pickups on subscriptions or fixed 6 and 12 month contracts.
Learn more
Van & Commercial FleetThe finance side
VAT and accounting, briefly
We are not accountants and this is not accounting advice — but these are the points your finance team will ask about, so here they are.
- VAT on car rentals
- A VAT-registered business can normally reclaim 50% of the VAT on the rental element of a car available for private use, and 100% on the maintenance element.
- VAT on van rentals
- Normally 100% reclaimable where the vehicle is used solely for business purposes.
- Corporation tax
- Rental payments are generally an allowable deduction against profits, subject to a restriction on higher-emission cars.
- Balance sheet
- Under IFRS 16 there is an exemption for leases of 12 months or less, which many of our agreements fall within. FRS 102 treatment differs.
- Benefit in kind
- Applies where a car is available for an employee's private use. Electric vehicles attract a far lower rate, which is why salary sacrifice works so well with EVs.
Please check with your accountant. Treatment depends on your reporting standard, your VAT position and how the vehicle is actually used. We will give your accountant whatever documentation they need.
Specialist underwriting
If you have been declined elsewhere
A large share of our business comes from companies that a mainstream funder has already turned down — not because anything is wrong, but because automated credit scoring cannot read the situation.
- A company formed eight months ago with strong contracts but no filed accounts
- A UK subsidiary of a substantial overseas group with a thin standalone file
- A director who has lived abroad for six years and has no recent UK credit footprint
- A UK entity of an overseas business, employing UK staff who need vehicles
None of these are unusual, and none of them are automatically a no. See what we can do with specialist cases.
Enquiry
Talk to us about your fleet
Business vehicle enquiry
Tell us roughly what you need and we will come back with real availability and a written quote.
Enquiring about
Answers
Frequently asked questions
For a VAT-registered business the usual position is half the VAT back on a car that sees any private mileage, and all of it on a van kept strictly for work. Any maintenance element inside the rental is normally fully recoverable. Those are the general rules; your own accountant is the person to confirm how they land on your return.
It depends which reporting standard you follow and how the agreement is written. IFRS 16 carries an exemption for leases of twelve months or under, which a good deal of short-term business falls inside. We are not accountants and this is not accounting advice — treat it as the question to put to yours.
No. A company with no filed accounts trips the automatic decline at most mainstream funders, and that rejection says very little about whether the business is fundable. It is routine work here, generally structured around a heavier first payment or a personal guarantee from a director.
It rules you out at a lot of lenders and rules you in here. A British company run from overseas, or owned by a parent overseas, is a structure we place regularly — the pages on overseas directors and overseas-owned companies set out exactly which documents get it done.
One. There is no minimum fleet size. Plenty of our business customers run a single director's car; others run twenty vans across three sites. The service is the same — a named contact, consolidated invoicing and terms that flex.
Yes, and most of our business customers do. A single account can carry directors' cars, pool vehicles and commercial vehicles with one invoice and one point of contact.
In-stock vehicles — generally GL or GPC supplier reference — can be delivered in as little as 3 to 5 working days from a signed order form and payment. With a credit line already in place it can be sooner. If you need six vans for a contract starting next month, tell us the date and we will be straight with you about whether it is achievable.
Next step
Get a business quote
One vehicle or a whole fleet. Send us the requirement and we will come back with availability, pricing and lead times.