New approaches to service and maintenance will be needed as personal contract hire increasingly makes an impact in corporate circles, says epyx.
Tim Meadows, commercial director, said that typically 80% of cars on traditional corporate contract hire were leased with inclusive maintenance packages but that this fell to around 20% for PCH.
He explained, “Fleet leasing companies are selling increasing amounts of PCH in a corporate environment, either to individuals or as part of affinity schemes linked to employers.
“It’s a market that is set for major growth over the next few years and, largely, an incremental one that is sold alongside traditional contract hire solutions to non-core company car drivers.
“However, unlike the contract hire that makes up the majority of business for major lessors, only a minority of PCH deals are sold with maintenance included.
“This creates a whole series of issues. For the leasing company, this means they don’t know whether a vehicle is being regularly serviced to manufacturer standards, which will inevitably affect values when it comes to remarketing. It makes them uncomfortable.
“Also, for the employer whose employee is using the vehicle on business, it is much less easy to find out whether the car is being maintained to standards in line with their duty of care obligations. Again, this is something that creates a great deal of angst.”