What paperwork will I need to complete for my lease car?

So, you’ve decided to lease a car; you know exactly what you want and now you can’t wait to get behind the wheel.

Before you get to drive away in your new vehicle, the paperwork needs to be completed.

While it’s not exactly the most exciting part of the leasing process, it’s absolutely vital that you know exactly what you’re signing, and that all the details are correct.

At OSV, we go through the documentation process with our customers every day, so we know that it can take some time to complete. And of course, it can get quite confusing at times. If you want to ensure that you’ve got everything you need and that everything goes as smoothly as possible, keep on reading.

Once you’ve signed your order form electronically everything is passed over to the finance team.

If, at any point, you need to speak to your sales advisor about anything other than the paperwork and your car delivery date, they are always available.

I’ve signed my order form, what happens next?

The main document you will need to complete when leasing a new car is the finance agreement.

Our Finance and Admin team will send you an email containing the finance documents pack as well as information on how the attached documents need to be completed. The pack will contain the finance agreement and the direct debit mandate but depending on the dealership / finance house it may also include:

• A DVLA Keeper Input or Registration Form
• A service car quotation pack
• Delivery note to pre-sign

The finance documents will vary from one finance house to the next and from one dealership to another. We will provide you with detailed guidance on how to complete each document. You will need to print and sign the finance agreement, direct debit mandate and the director’s guarantee (if there is one) by hand, as your signature will be verified against your driver’s licence. Once everything has been signed, you will need to scan the paperwork and email it all back to the OSV finance team.

Some finance houses will now send out your finance agreement directly to you by email so you can sign it electronically and return everything directly to them. If this is the case, we will advise you so you can keep an eye open for the agreement. There may still be additional forms which the dealership will require you to complete for the delivery. If these are required, we will send you these to print and complete, as well as any necessary instructions.

What happens once I finish filling out the paperwork?

Once you’ve returned all the completed forms to us we will check them before we send them to the finance house for final processing.

As part of the process we will also ask you to scan and send us your driving licence so that we can check the signatures on the paperwork match. However, some dealerships may request your original driver’s licence and signed finance documents are posted directly to them. If this is the case we will advise you and provide you with the correct mailing address.

Once we have all the completed paperwork and the finance house has approved the documents we can look into arranging the delivery of your vehicle. If it is in stock, we will be able to offer you a delivery date; otherwise we will keep you updated on the vehicle’s progress and contact you once it has arrived in stock to arrange delivery.

Why do I have to send the dealership my original driving licence?

Some dealerships will request you send your original driving licence as part of their fraud prevention process.

If this is requested and the dealership does not follow these processes and sends off their documentation without carrying out the necessary checks, they can receive a hefty fine and/or lose their job.

We recognise that having to send your original driving licence off to the dealership for verification can be a bit of a pain. However, if you send it to the dealership via recorded delivery and it is returned the same way, you shouldn’t be without it for too long.

I don’t have an up-to-date driving licence, what can I do?

If you don’t currently have an up-to-date driving licence that you can scan or send to the dealership then this can cause delays.

If this is the case, then the finance house may ask for the following:

• A copy of your passport
• Proof of address, often in the form of a utility bill or a bank statement that is less than 3 months old.
  • Each finance house has a slightly different list of what they deem to be acceptable as proof of address and if this is required we will advise you of what you can provide.

If you have been asked to provide original documents then we recommend you send them by a recorded method of delivery and send us the tracking number so that we can ensure the documents arrive safely at their destination.

How long will the process take?

The process is a fairly quick one. Ideally getting the paperwork sent out, signed and returned should take no more than a week. However, it can take longer.

Please note: Some finance agreements have a 14-day cooling off period. However, you will be advised of this when you are sent the finance documents.  If your finance agreement has a cooling off period, the delivery of your vehicle will not take place before the 14 days have ended.

How do I speed up the document process for my lease car?

Everyone wants to shorten the length of time they have to wait for their new car. There are several ways that you can speed up the document process so that you can get your brand new car as soon as possible.

• Read all the instructions carefully and completely
• Make sure you have your ID to hand when you sign your documents – so you can match your signature
• Check everything has been signed, dated and witnessed in all the right places
• If you have any questions at all, know that you can call or email OSV for the answers
• Ensure that you are sending the paperwork to the right email/mailing address before you send it off (if they are sent to the wrong address they could get lost in transit)
• When you print the documents make sure the margins have been set correctly to include any barcodes or reference numbers – if they aren’t printed correctly, they could be invalid
• Make sure all the documentation and any IDs are clearly scanned – if they are too dark, light, blurred or barcodes/reference numbers are missing they will not be accepted
• You have the option to waive the 14-day cooling off period if you sign your documents at the OSV offices

What sorts of things delay the paperwork process?

There are a several things that can cause delays to the paperwork and many of these are easily avoided.

These include things like:

• Documents being signed in the wrong place
• If you’re signing a business agreement, documents signed by someone other than the signing director
  • This can cause massive delays in the document process as finance houses require a listed director to sign the documentation
• Documents have been left too long
  • They may need to be reissued, which can affect delivery dates. Our repeated requests for return of your documents are for your benefit, though they may feel annoying
• Witnesses are wrong
  • The majority of the documents will require witnessing, however this cannot be:
    • A family member
    • Someone who lives at your registered home address
    • Another director (if signing a business agreement)
  • Your signatures don’t match
    • The signature on your driving licence and all signatures on the documents must match, if they don’t they could be rejected by the finance house

What should I be looking out for when checking through my documents?

It doesn’t hurt to do a last check of your documents before you sign them. Everything will have been on the order form and once you’ve signed that it’s binding. There shouldn’t be anything wrong with them, but it’s always worth checking the documents over one last time.

The sort of things you should look out for are:

• The payment profile
• Mileage allowance
• Servicing and maintenance responsibilities
• How late payments will affect the agreement
• How you can return the vehicle early – or at the end of the lease
• Bank details
• Terms and conditions – read our article outlining what is covered in the terms and conditions

When reading through the documents, just check that everything is exactly as you agreed on your order form. The finance house will have raised the finance agreement paperwork, however, if there is anything that you are unsure about, please do contact us.