Best car leasing companies
Car leasing — renting a brand new model for a fixed time period — is increasingly popular. We showcase the best car leasing firms and answer your PCH questions.
- The best car leasing firms rated
- Advantages of car leasing confirmed
- Car leasing's pitfalls described
Car leasing's popularity has grown significantly over the past decade due to lower monthly payments than those of Hire Purchase (HP) or Personal Contract Purchase (PCP) deals.
How are they lower? Becuase leasing — also known as Personal Contract Hire, or PCH for short — is essentially a rental agreement over a fixed time period, rather than a car purchase.
Traditionally, car leasing used to only be available to businesses but the market for personal leasing has boomed, so there are plenty of deals available.
Car leasing suits people who don’t want to be tied into the ownership of a car, want to be able to change cars regularly and are happy to potentially pay a small premium to do so.
The best car leasing companies
Here's the lowdown on the best leasing companies to consider if you're looking to lease a car:
All Car Leasing
All Car Leasing is a Cheshire-based leasing broker with more than 20 years of experience within its team, and is a part of the Eurocar Group.
It offers cars and vans for business and personal leasing, as well as long-term rental for periods up to and beyond 90 days. It supplies vehicles from a wide range of manufacturers, including premium brands such as Audi, BMW and Mercedes. It can also source high performance cars for leasing
Blue Chilli Car Leasing 
Blue Chilli Car Leasing is a UK-based broker in operation since 2007, with a combined experience of over 20 years in the vehicle leasing and sales industry.
It offer cars and vans for both business and private individuals, whether for hire purchase, lease purchase, PCP or PCH. It works with major leasing companies such as Leasplan UK and Lex Autolease.
Hippo Leasing
Involved in the motor trade since the 1960s, Hippo Leasing has been a franchisee for BMW, Land Rover and MINI. In 2013 it moved to a £2m purpose-built location in Blackburn to accommodate a larger stock of vehicles.
Hippo offers personal and business leasing on vans, cars and used vehicles, as well as offering deals for customers with poor credit and even no-deposit leasing deals.
Leasing.com
Leasing.com has been around since 2000 and offers a wide range of both cars and vans, claiming to have the 'widest choice of deals in the UK by working with franchised dealers, independent brokers, manufacturers and leasing companies.
Based in Stockport, the firm offers personal and business leasing with 6 million leasing offers available on its website.
Moneyshake
One of the newer companies around, Moneyshake is a car leasing comparison website which allows customers to quickly find the best personal and business car leasing deals from the UK’s top providers.
Established in 2019, Moneyshake has an expert team that is on hand to guide users through the leasing process to ensure they get the best lease deal. Based in Staffordshire, Moneyshake has coverage across all major manufacturers and models by partnering with leading franchised dealers and leasing brokers.
Nationwide Vehicle Contracts 
One of the largest leasing companies in the UK, Nationwide Vehicle Contracts has been operating since 2002, offering both cars and vans to private and business customers.
It can deliver nationwide and provides brand new cars from UK dealers. It works with some of the biggest finance companies such as ALD, Arval, Lex Autolease, Hitachi Capital and Leaseplan.
Select Car Leasing 
A UK-based company first established in 2004, Select Car Leasing supplies both cars and vans but deals only in leasing for private individuals and business users.
Select Car Leasing frequently offer deals through their website and also have a dedicated team available 9am to 7pm Monday to Friday and 10am until 4pm Saturdays.
What are the advantages of car leasing?
If you like the idea of being able to change your car regularly, then a car leasing deal may hold significant appeal.
Some companies offer leases of 12 months or less giving you the flexibility to drive about in different models far more frequently than is usual with a PCP deal.
PCH deals can make it even easier to budget for as only interest rate variations could impact your monthly bills.
If a service is due or you suffer a puncture, those are handled — and paid for — by the leasing company, so you needn't worry about maintenance costs.
Unlike with a PCP or HP arrangement, you won't need to have any concerns about depreciation, either.
What are the downsides of car leasing?
One of the main drawbacks of PCH deals is that because you will not own the car at any point, straying outside the agreed terms for mileage and condition at the end of the term will mean no espcape from financial penalties, which could add up to a significant sum.
You are also tied into the contract for the duration, so if you decide to end the agreement for any reason you will most likely have to pay a fee to do so.
Finally, a car lease may prove to be more expensive than a competitive PCP agreement, so you could end up paying more to rent a car than buy it — always do your homework thoroughly before signing on the dotted line.
Do I need to sort out my insurance out for a leased car?
Yes, you do. Even though it is not owned by you during the hire period, as you will be the driver you are legally required to ensure you have arranged appropriate insurance cover.
Although you are not paying to take ownership of the car, it is in your custody and is your responsibility for the duration of the PCH, which means the vehicle insurance is paid for by you.
The finance company will have their own policies to cover a loss on the vehicle but this does not cover your use of it on the highway.
What happens at the end of a car lease?
Unlike a PCP where there is the option to buy the vehicle at the end of the term, a PCH is strictly a rental agreement with no option to purchase at its conclusion.
At the end of the term the vehicle is returned to the leasing company for resale and therefore it has to meet the mileage and condition criteria that were given at the start of the agreement.
Failure to meet these criteria will result in financial penalties, so it's in your interest to keep the car in tip-top condition.
Can a car lease be ended early?
It is possible to end a lease ahead of term but because of the way in which these cars are funded it is not simply a case of returning the vehicle and walking away.
Should you be enduring financial difficulties and struggling to meet your monthly payments, your first course of action must be to contact the leasing company and explain the situation. They may be able to assist you by re-arranging the terms of your agreement and lowering your monthly payments.
If this option is not available or you are determined to end the agreement early, what happens next depends on the leasing company and the terms of your agreement. Be prepared to be liable for a proportion of the remaining monthly hire costs — anything from 50% to 100% of the amount owed.
This process is called early termination and individual leasing companies will have different ways of calculating any associated fees as well as determining your eligibility.
Why? Because the vast majority of leased vehicles are purchased by the finance provider in order to provide the car for your use. Consequently, your monthly payment is calculated based on the estimated cost of the vehicle use and its depreciation during the entire hire period.
Unless the vehicle can be sold at a price which clears the remaining finance and more, the leasing company will lose money on the deal — hence the result is usually a requirement for you to pay early termination fees.
Will a credit check be done if I apply for a PCH?
Yes, just like other forms of car finance, an application for a leasing agreement requires a credit check.
As you won't own the car, any leasing company will need to ensure that you can make the monthly payments over the term of the agreement and a credit check is an effective way of determining that.
Be wary of brokers or leasing companies that claim they can lease a car without a credit check — it's very likely they are not reputable.
Some leasing companies will still lease you a car if you have a poor credit rating but this will likely be at a significantly higher cost thanks to ramped-up interest rates.
