If you are a driver of one of the 4.1 million licensed vans that drive around 55.5 billion miles on the UK’s roads* or someone who took one of the 85,000 unique delivery driver job vacancies** advertised in 2020, you might find this article interesting. 

Did you know you can lease a van as an individual; you don’t have to have a business?

Self-employed van driver? You need to read this!

Why? Because many of today’s so-called gig-economy drivers have to find their own method of transport and most therefore use an existing family vehicle, taking the wear and tear and inconvenience of this solution on the chin.

But, there’s another way. Have you ever considering leasing a van? That’s right, leasing isn’t just for business owners, individuals can take advantage of the benefits too. And those benefits are considerable especially when you look at cashflow and the ongoing costs of keeping a vehicle roadworthy.

Why lease?

There’s been some recent press coverage about whether businesses that require drivers to supply their own vehicles should be made responsible for the safety aspects of this. The jury is still out but it raises an important point: roadworthiness is a massive risk for drivers doing thousands of miles, often in built-up locations where wear and tear on engines and parts is much higher than motorway cruising.

1. With a lease vehicle, maintenance can be part of the package. This means you don’t need to find regular funds, which removes the worry and the need to budget for extras. You know what you are paying from one month to the next and what’s included.
2. If you’re happy loading your family estate car up with parcels and setting off for the day, have you considered the long-term impact of this? Your car is likely to need replacing a lot sooner if you’re using it for deliveries, meaning you’re hit with a potentially huge bill. With leasing, costs are spread over time and, when one vehicle reaches the end of its time with you, you simply hand it back and take on the new one.
3. Leases are flexible too. We offer agreements for a minimum of two years, ranging up to five years. This means you can budget for regular outgoings for a considerable period if you need to. Plenty of time to get a fledgeling business up and running.
4. Leased vans are a legitimate business expense too so can be included on your personal tax return, saving a little tax in the process.
5. If you are just starting out in business on your own, it’s a more straightforward process to lease a van in your name than in the name of the business. It therefore often makes sense when new business owners are jumping through lots of paperwork hoops as it is.

There are lots of options in terms of van size and spec too so you can discover what’s right for your workload and even change it as your business grows. Why not check out our range of vans at https://www.ovl.co.uk/vanleasedeals