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Higher interest rates imposed by the Bank of England mean that company vehicle leasing costs are beginning to increase, the Association of Fleet Professionals (AFP) has said.
The industry body's board director Denise Lane said that the increases were not uniform across the market, but were being widely reported by AFP members.
In particular, increases appear to be affecting vehicles already on order.
Lane said: "Businesses are waiting on the delivery of an historically large backlog of vehicles because of ongoing production issues and some leasing companies are increasing their lease rates on these because of the higher base rate. Typically, the increases are around 1.5% with a low of around 1% and a high of 2%.
"The leasing companies involved are generally being very open and transparent about the cause. Most are providing calculations to show the additional interest by taking the Bank of England base rate at the time of the vehicle order and the equivalent figure now, then applying the difference of the outstanding average capital."
Lane said the AFP's view was that the increases were being driven by financial factors that were completely out of the hands of the leasing suppliers involved.
However, she said, the situation does create problems that are not just about having to pay higher costs.
She said: "For example, the increases may move vehicles between company car bands or mean that the lease rate exceeds employee entitlements.
"This creates some difficult decisions about whether to keep the vehicle on order, especially if a build or delivery date has been provided, or whether to start the ordering process again from scratch for a lesser vehicle choice, which could result in the loss of previously agreed manufacturer discounts and will almost inevitably mean a further delay."
Lane added that if, as expected, the Bank of England increased rates still further in the coming months, it would almost inevitably mean additional rises.
She said: "With inflation running at over 10%, the Bank of England has already signalled that further base rate rises are almost certain, which will mean further knock-on increases in vehicle lease rates before the end of the year and possibly more in 2023."
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