Guide

Do you need a big deposit to lease a prestige car?

Updated September 2026 6 min read Performance & Prestige

There are two separate payments and people conflate them. One month of the lease is paid up front — that is the 1+2 structure every agreement here uses. Separately, a refundable security deposit is held against a card in the hirer’s own name: £2,000 to £10,000 on our fleet, and up to £50,000 across the catalogue.

What are the two up-front payments?

The first is rent. Every agreement here is 1+2 — one month paid up front, then one a month for the rest of the term. That month is not a deposit and they are not returned; it is the first month of the lease, paid early.

The second is a refundable security deposit. It is a hold against a payment card in the named hirer's own name, it is not part of the invoice, and it comes back at the end of the term subject to the condition record taken at handover.

Almost every confusion about "how big a deposit do I need" is these two being added together or mistaken for one another. They are different money doing different jobs.

The distinction matters beyond the vocabulary. One is spent and one is not, so they belong in different places in whatever you are using to work out whether the agreement is affordable — and on a business agreement they even land on different parties, because the lease is invoiced to the company and the hold sits against a person.

How much of the lease is paid up front?

One month of it, and only one. The 1+2 structure means one month paid up front and then one a month for the rest of the term, so the up-front rent is the monthly figure once rather than a multiple of it.

Across the three-month minimum that is three months of rent in total, the first of them early. Over a longer term it is still one month early and the rest monthly, because the first number in the profile never changes.

What that gives you is a sum worth doing the moment the quote arrives. One month of rent, plus the deposit hold published on that specific car, is the money that has to be in place before delivery. The monthly figure is what gets discussed; this is the number that decides whether the agreement works.

How big is the security deposit?

It is set per car, against what the vehicle is worth and what a repair on it costs — not against the monthly figure.

Across the catalogue the spread is £1,500 to £50,000, and on our fleet £2,000 to £10,000. Two cars at a similar monthly figure can sit thousands of pounds apart on this.

Does a bigger deposit reduce the monthly figure?

No, and it is worth being blunt about it. The structure is 1+2 and the monthly figure is the monthly figure. We do not publish a scale where more money up front buys the rent down, because we do not operate one.

Nor does a larger deposit unlock a car you do not qualify for. Minimum age, licence history and points tolerance are insurance conditions on each vehicle, and money does not move an underwriter's position.

If the up-front shape is the problem rather than the monthly one, say so at the enquiry stage. That is a conversation worth having, but have it as a conversation rather than an assumption.

Why does the card have to be in the hirer’s own name?

Because the deposit is a hold against the named hirer, and the named hirer is a person who has been checked. A partner's card, a parent's card or the company card is not a workaround — it is the point of failure that stops a delivery at the kerbside.

It applies on business agreements too. The company is invoiced for the lease; an individual's card carries the deposit.

Check the limit before delivery day. A debit card with a daily ceiling below the deposit figure is the single most common reason a handover does not happen on the morning it was meant to, and it takes two minutes to rule out.

Is the deposit the same as the insurance excess?

No, although on most cars the two figures happen to match, which is exactly why they get confused.

The deposit is a refundable hold arranged before delivery and released at the end of the term. The excess is your maximum contribution towards a repair on a claim the policy covers, and it is only ever reached if something is actually damaged.

Across the catalogue the excess runs £1,500 to £35,000. The lowest on any car here is £1,500, which is why cosmetic damage — a kerbed wheel being the standard example — is nearly always paid in full by the hirer rather than reaching the insurer at all. Insurance and excess works through the mechanism.

When is the deposit taken, and when does it come back?

It is arranged with a person before delivery. Nothing is paid online and no card details are taken through a form on this website.

It is released at the end of the term, against the condition record taken at handover and the matching one taken at collection. That is why the photographed walk round at both ends matters more than it looks like it does: it is the evidence both sides rely on.

Take your own photographs at handover as well. We would rather you did, and a set of your own dated images is worth more to you at the end of the term than any assurance given at the start of it.

If a release takes longer than you expected, the usual reason is the card rather than the car: a hold sits with your bank for a period they set, not one we do. Ask us anyway. It is a question we would rather answer than have you wonder about.

So how much money do you need?

Add the two figures for the specific car you want, and ignore any general answer including this one until you have.

Half of the sum is already published. The deposit hold is on every vehicle page, and across our fleet it runs £2,000 to £10,000. The other half is one month of rent, which arrives with your quote. Add the two and you have the figure, and nothing beyond it is taken at handover.

The whole cost stack — monthly figure, deposit, excess, mileage allowance, excess mileage rate — is stated in writing before anything is agreed, and the published half of it is on the vehicle page before there is any form. See the catalogue.

Common questions

Is the security deposit refundable in full?

It is released at the end of the term, assessed against the photographed condition record taken at handover and the matching one at collection. That record is the whole point of the joint walk round at both ends, and it is why taking your own photographs is worth the two minutes.

Can the company pay the security deposit?

The hold sits against a card in the named hirer’s own name, which is a person rather than the business, even where the company is the party to the agreement and is invoiced for the lease. If that is awkward for how you operate, raise it at the enquiry stage.

Will a debit card work?

Often, but check the daily limit against the deposit figure first. A card that cannot take the hold is the single most common thing that stops a handover on the morning, and it is entirely avoidable with one phone call to your bank the week before.

Is the deposit taken online when I enquire?

No. No payment is taken on this website at any point and no card details go into a form here. A person confirms every agreement, and the deposit is arranged with somebody before delivery.

Does the deposit go up if I want a longer term?

The deposit is set against the vehicle rather than the length of the agreement, so it is the car that decides it. Everything that applies to your specific agreement is confirmed in writing before you commit, so nothing about it should be a surprise later.