Guide
Leasing a prestige car as a company director
Updated 7 min read Performance & Prestige
As a director you sit on both sides of the paperwork: the company is the customer and you are usually the named driver. So the company is checked and so are you — licence, years held, endorsements, identity and address. The refundable deposit is held against a card in your own name rather than the company’s.
What is asked of the company, and what is asked of you?
Two separate sets of information, and it saves a round of emails to have both ready at once.
Of the company: registered name and number, registered and trading address, a billing contact, a purchase order reference if your process uses one, and the name of whoever is authorised to sign.
Of you, as the driver: your full driving licence, a DVLA check code, photo identity, proof of address, and a payment card in your own name for the deposit hold. If you are signing as well as driving, you appear in both lists and are checked against both.
The two lists are assessed by different people for different reasons, which is why one cannot compensate for the other. That is the single thing most directors get wrong about this process: a company that would pass any commercial test in the country does not make its director acceptable on a vehicle whose policy sets a minimum age above theirs, and nothing about the size of the business changes that.
Why does the deposit sit against your card rather than the company’s?
Because the deposit is a hold against the named hirer, and the named hirer is a person. It is not a payment to the business and it is not part of the invoice.
It is refundable, it is arranged with somebody before delivery rather than taken online, and it comes back at the end of the term subject to the condition record taken at handover. Deposits run £2,000 to £10,000 on our fleet and £1,500 to £50,000 across the whole catalogue.
The practical point: check the card can actually take the hold before delivery day. A debit card with a daily limit below the deposit is the single most common thing that stops a handover on the morning, and it is entirely avoidable.
What do you personally have to pass?
The criteria on the specific vehicle you want, in your own right, regardless of your role in the company.
Minimum age, years of full licence held and penalty points tolerance are all set per vehicle and published on each vehicle page. Age and licence history are separate tests and you have to pass both on the same car. Being a director of the company leasing it counts for nothing here, because the test belongs to the insurer rather than to us.
We ask for a DVLA check code so endorsements are read rather than taken on trust, and that happens before the car is booked out rather than on the doorstep. Driver requirements sets it all out.
Why does the enquiry ask about credit standing?
Because every agreement this site writes runs three months or longer and is underwritten as such. A question that would be intrusive on an afternoon's hire is an ordinary one on a commitment of that length, and asking it up front is better than discovering it late.
It is one question on the enquiry form. We are not building a product around it, we do not run pages about credit situations, and the answer does not change the figures on any vehicle page.
What is required in your case is confirmed with you in writing before anything is agreed, rather than implied by a page.
Where does the car get delivered — the office or your home?
Whichever you choose, anywhere in mainland Britain, and the two do not have to match at both ends. Delivered to the office at the start of the term and collected from home at the end is an ordinary arrangement rather than an exception.
The named driver has to be there in person with their licence, because handover includes the identity checks and a joint photographed walk round. It cannot be left with reception, a concierge or a colleague.
If you would rather the handover did not happen outside your office at all, name somewhere quieter nearby. Delivery and collection covers the sequence.
Can another director or your spouse drive it?
Only if they are named on the agreement in advance and checked the same way you are, and only if they meet that vehicle's own age, licence and points criteria in their own right.
That is worth deciding at the enquiry stage rather than in month three. Adding somebody later is usually possible if you ask before it happens; it is never possible at the roadside, and a driver who is not named is not insured.
A car that two people will realistically share is a different specification question as well as a paperwork one. Say so early and it shapes what we put in front of you.
What happens if you leave the company mid-term?
Tell us before it happens. The agreement is with the company, so it does not follow you out of the door — but you are the named driver on it, and that has to be resolved rather than left.
Usually that means naming a replacement driver who meets the vehicle's criteria and is checked in advance. Occasionally it means ending the agreement early, which is a conversation about the specific agreement rather than something this page can promise either way.
The version that goes badly is the one where nobody tells us and the car is being driven by somebody who was never named. That is not a paperwork problem, it is an uninsured vehicle.
What we cannot advise you on
How any of this is treated in your own or the company's accounts. Your accountant is the right person for that and we are not them; nothing on this site is tax advice.
What we will do is give you paperwork that is straightforward to hand to them: an agreement naming the company and the driver, invoices with VAT shown separately, and a clear statement of the term, the mileage allowance and the deposit.
Have that conversation before you commit rather than at the end of the term.
Common questions
Can I lease in my own name instead of through the company?
Speak to us first. Every agreement we write runs three months at a minimum, and a lease to an individual over a term of that length is treated differently in law, so those are handled personally rather than taken straight through the website.
Is a personal guarantee required?
What is required in your case is confirmed in writing before anything is agreed, rather than asserted on a page that cannot know your situation. Ask the question directly at the enquiry stage and you will get a direct answer before you commit to anything.
Do you check the company or me?
Both, and for different things. The company is assessed as the party to the agreement. You are assessed as the driver, against the specific vehicle’s age, licence and points criteria — a test that belongs to the insurer and that your role in the company does not influence.
Can the deposit be paid by company card?
The hold sits against a card in the named hirer’s own name, which is a person. It is not part of the invoice and it is not a payment to the business. If that is a problem for how you run things, raise it at the enquiry stage rather than on the delivery morning.
Can I have the car delivered somewhere other than my registered address?
Yes. Delivery goes to an address you choose in mainland Britain and collection can be from a different one. What cannot move is who receives it: the named driver has to be present in person with their licence for the identity checks and the walk round.
Related guides
- Leasing a prestige car through a limited company What actually changes when a limited company rather than a person leases the car: who the contract is with, who is named to drive, who is invoiced, and what happens when any of those move.
- What a business needs to lease a prestige car Everything a business has to put in front of us before a prestige lease can be quoted and set up, in the order it is needed — and the things we never ask for.
- What paperwork a prestige lease needs The documents a prestige lease actually generates, the order they arrive in, which one governs if two disagree, and what you should keep afterwards.
- Do you need a big deposit to lease a prestige car? There are two up-front payments and they are constantly mistaken for each other. What each is for, what each costs, and whether paying more changes anything.
Leasing a prestige car as a company director
Every figure in this guide is published per car, before there is any form to fill in.
A person confirms every booking · No payment taken online · Delivery or collection, your choice
Written by Performance & Prestige against the rates, driver criteria and delivery areas published on this site. Rates are “from” prices inclusive of VAT and are confirmed with you before anything is agreed — see driver requirements, insurance and excess and delivery.