For UK businesses
Van finance for your business
Found the van you want? Business Van Finance arranges commercial vehicle finance for UK businesses, from sole traders and partnerships through to established limited companies. They work with a panel of more than 100 lenders and a real person handles your enquiry from the first call through to the money landing.
Business Van Finance is a trading style of First Oak Capital Limited, authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.
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Finance for businesses
The finance arranged through Business Van Finance is commercial finance. That means the agreement is in the name of your business, whether that is a limited company, a partnership or you as a sole trader. It is a different set of products to the personal car finance most people have come across.
Business finance is usually the right route if the van is a working vehicle. If you are VAT registered you can normally reclaim the VAT on a commercial vehicle, and the finance itself is generally treated as a business cost. Your accountant will tell you exactly where you stand.
If you are buying a van for private use rather than for a business, this is not the right product and Business Van Finance will tell you so rather than waste your time.
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New businesses welcome
Trading for a few weeks or a few decades, both get a proper look.
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Imperfect credit considered
Past problems on a business or personal credit file do not automatically rule you out.
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One point of contact
You deal with the same specialist from the first conversation to the last.
How van finance works
Four steps, and the whole thing usually moves quicker than people expect.
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Find your van
Pick the van you want, here on Vans 4 Sale or anywhere else. You are not tied to a particular dealer, a particular forecourt or a particular make.
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Talk to a specialist
Send an enquiry through to Business Van Finance and someone will call you. They will ask about the business, the van and what you are trying to achieve.
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They approach the right lenders
Rather than firing your details at everybody, they pick the lenders most likely to suit your situation. That keeps the number of credit searches down.
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The seller gets paid
Once the paperwork is signed, the lender pays the seller directly and you start your monthly payments. The van is yours to use from day one.
Ready to get going? Enquire about van finance at Business Van Finance.
Enquire about van financeThe two main options
Most business van finance falls into one of two shapes. Which suits you depends on how long you want to keep the van and what you want your monthly payments to look like.
Hire purchase
The straightforward one. You put down a deposit if you want to, then pay the balance in equal monthly instalments over an agreed term. At the end of the term the van belongs to your business outright. There is no mileage limit and no condition inspection at the end, which matters if the van is going to work hard.
- Ownership: Yours at the end of the agreement
- Mileage: No restrictions
- Best for: Vans you intend to keep and run into the ground
Lease purchase
Similar to hire purchase, but part of the cost is parked in a larger final payment at the end of the term. That brings the monthly instalments down in the meantime. When the final payment is made, the van is yours. It suits businesses that want to keep monthly cash flow tight and plan for the balloon payment separately.
- Ownership: Yours once the final payment is made
- Mileage: No restrictions
- Best for: Keeping monthly payments lower on a more expensive van
There are other routes, including finance lease, contract hire and refinancing a van you already own. Business Van Finance will talk you through the lot rather than pushing you at whichever one is easiest.
Get your van finance enquiry moving
Speak to a commercial finance specialist. No obligation and no upfront fees.
Buying from a private seller
Plenty of the vans advertised on Vans 4 Sale are being sold by businesses and individuals rather than dealers, and finance is still possible on a private sale. It is worth knowing up front that there is more legwork involved. The lender will want to verify the seller, check the vehicle and arrange payment carefully, so expect a private purchase to take a little longer than buying from a dealer.
If the van you have found is a private sale, say so when you make your enquiry. Business Van Finance will tell you straight away whether it is workable and what they will need from you and from the seller.
Van finance guides
Worth a read before you commit to anything.
Van finance explained
What business van finance is, how the agreements work and the language lenders use.
Applying for van finance
What you will be asked for, what lenders look at and how to give yourself the best shot.
Your van finance options
Hire purchase, lease purchase, finance lease and contract hire, and which one fits which business.
Van finance questions
UK businesses. That includes limited companies, sole traders, partnerships and limited liability partnerships. The agreement goes in the business name rather than yours personally. If you are buying a van for private use rather than for a business, business finance is not the right route.
No. New businesses are welcome and are a normal part of what Business Van Finance does. A company registered a month ago can still be funded. There will be more questions about you and your background than there would be for a business with five years of accounts behind it, which is only to be expected.
It is worth asking. Business or personal credit problems do not automatically rule you out, and a decline from one lender does not mean every lender will say the same. Because Business Van Finance works across a panel of more than 100 lenders rather than one, there is usually somewhere sensible to take a case that has been turned down elsewhere. Nobody will promise you an approval before looking at your situation, and you should be wary of anyone who does.
Yes, though it takes a bit longer. The lender needs to verify the seller and handle the payment carefully, so there is more admin than a dealer purchase. Mention it when you enquire and you will get a straight answer on whether it can be done.
Both end with the van belonging to your business. With hire purchase the whole cost is spread across the monthly payments. With lease purchase, part of the cost is held back as a larger final payment, which brings the monthly figure down in the meantime. Lease purchase suits businesses protecting monthly cash flow, and hire purchase is the simpler of the two.
Not on hire purchase or lease purchase. You own the van at the end, so nobody is checking the odometer or inspecting the bodywork. That is the main reason these products suit trades and delivery work, where a leasing mileage cap would be a problem.
Normally yes. You can ask the lender for a settlement figure at any point during the agreement. The exact terms vary by lender, so ask about it before you sign rather than after.
Most commercial vehicles are sold with VAT on top, and a VAT registered business can usually reclaim it. Some lenders will let you defer the VAT for a few months so you can reclaim it before you have to pay it out. A smaller number of used vans are sold under the margin scheme and have no reclaimable VAT on them at all, so check what you are looking at. Your accountant is the right person to confirm your own position.
Usually details of the business, some idea of your trading history, the vehicle you want to buy and the seller's details. Depending on the lender and the size of the deal you may be asked for bank statements or accounts. Business Van Finance will tell you exactly what is needed rather than sending you a generic list.
Most lenders on the panel start with a soft search, which does not affect your credit score. A small number do run a hard search. Because Business Van Finance picks the lenders to approach before anything is submitted, you avoid the damage that comes from applying to a string of lenders one after another yourself.
No. Vans 4 Sale is a classified advertising website and is not a finance provider. Finance enquiries go to Business Van Finance, a trading style of First Oak Capital Limited, which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. Vans 4 Sale simply introduces you.
No. Business Van Finance will look at any suitable commercial vehicle wherever you have found it. Obviously we would rather you bought one from here.
For van dealers
Offering finance to your customers
If you sell vans, having a finance route for your customers makes a real difference to how many enquiries turn into sales. Business Van Finance works alongside dealers as well as direct with buyers, and the arrangement is deliberately light touch. There is no platform to learn and no minimum volume to commit to.
In practice it works like this. You send the customer's details over, or simply tell them to call. Business Van Finance handles the conversation, the application and the paperwork, keeps you posted on where things stand, and the lender pays you directly on completion. You stay in the loop without having to chase it.
It suits the deals that do not fit neatly elsewhere. Newer businesses, customers with something on their credit file, older or higher mileage stock, specialist and converted vehicles. Because they work across a panel of more than 100 lenders rather than one funder, there is usually somewhere to take a deal that has been declined already.
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No volume commitment
Use it for one deal a year or one a week.
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Paid on completion
The lender pays you directly once the agreement is signed.
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Named contact
The same person handles your deals, so you are not explaining yourself twice.
Ready to talk to someone about van finance?
Business Van Finance arranges commercial vehicle finance for UK businesses of every size and age. One conversation will tell you where you stand.
Business Van Finance is a trading style of First Oak Capital Limited, authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority, firm reference number 984955.
Vans 4 Sale is not a lender or a finance broker and does not arrange finance.