Taking Delivery of Your New Lease Car

Taking delivery of your new lease car deal is an exciting day for most drivers but if you’re new to car leasing, it can also be a little daunting. 

To help ease anxiety and answer any questions you may have about the delivery process, Nationwide Vehicle Contracts has put together a short guide on vehicle delivery, including what to expect on the day. 

This guide covers the following topics:

Upon receipt of your signed vehicle documentation, Nationwide Vehicle Contracts will contact the supplying dealership to confirm your vehicle has landed with them. We can only book your delivery once your vehicle has arrived with the dealer. 

Once the dealership has confirmed your vehicle is ready for delivery, our deliveries team will contact you by phone to arrange delivery at a time and date that is convenient for you. On average, there is a five working day turnaround from your vehicle landing at the dealership to arriving at your front door. Please note, we can only arrange delivery with contract holder due to data protection.

For all delivery options, deliveries typically take place Monday to Friday between the hours of 09:00-17:30. Weekend and bank holiday deliveries are not available. Times are obviously dependent on traffic, location and weather so on the odd occasion delivery may fall outside of this time frame. An email confirming the details of your delivery will also be sent to you by our deliveries team.

Ahead of delivery, all vehicles must undergo a Pre-Delivery Inspection (PDI) at the dealership. A PDI check is an inspection of the vehicle by the dealership to ensure that the vehicle does not have any body damage or mechanical issues. The dealer also checks the vehicle to ensure any accessories you have asked for have been fitted to the vehicle.

All PDI checks will take place at either the supplying dealership or at the holding compound where the vehicle is held. These checks are not completed by Nationwide Vehicle Contracts. Please note, we are unable to arrange delivery with the end customer until the PDI check has been completed by the supplying dealership. 

You can read more about what is involved in a PDI check in our handy Pre-Delivery Inspection guide. 

Once we confirmed your delivery date and the registration of your new vehicle, you will need to arrange your vehicle insurance.

For vehicles not on a Complete Care package, you are responsible for arranging your own insurance on the vehicle. This must be a fully comprehensive insurance policy and the hirer obtaining finance must be the main policy holder or a named driver on the insurance certificate.

Please note that for business contract hire and personal contract hire agreements, the finance company is the registered owner and keeper of the vehicle.

It is also worth noting that if you are using an online comparison site to compare insurance quotes, your vehicle registration may not be recognised as most new cars are not registered with the DVLA until the day before delivery. When arranging your vehicle insurance, you may need to call and speak to an adviser to arrange cover as some online systems will not identify the registration prior to delivery.

You can find out more in our insurance guide.

All our supplying dealerships and delivery agents will be complying with the COVID-19 and the Movement of Vehicles guidance. This document produced by the BVRLA, FLA and SMMT lays out the procedure for the delivery and collection of vehicles in line with Coronavirus / COVID-19 precautions and Public Health England guidelines.

Driven Delivery

In the majority of cases, vehicles are driven to your chosen handover address. On the day of delivery, the delivery driver will pick up your vehicle from dealership or PDI (pre-delivery inspection) centre and drive it to your home or workplace.

A driven delivery is the preferred delivery method for Nationwide Vehicle Contracts as it not only the most cost effective, helping to keep your lease costs as low as possible, but offers the most flexibility. Much like a dealership handover, on the day of delivery your delivery driver will talk you through the key functions of the vehicle and will answer any questions you may have. 

Transported Delivery

A transported delivery is where your vehicle is transported to your chosen delivery address on the back of a car or van transporter. This option tends to be popular with customers who order prestige or high value vehicles and who would like little to no delivery mileage on their odometer.

Due to the costs involved in arranging a transported delivery, there is an additional charge for this option. Costs vary depending on location and availability but generally range from around £150 to £500. If you are interested in this option, we will be happy to provide you with a formal price and arrange this for you, however it is worth noting that this option may affect the delivery date of your vehicle. We may not be able to offer the same delivery date as a driven delivery due to transporter availability however wherever possible, we will try our best to keep delivery lead times down to a minimum.

Collection at Dealership

On rare occasions, we may be able to arrange for you to collect your lease vehicle at the supplying dealership. This option is not always available as some vehicles are delivered direct from the PDI centre or holding compound which is not open to the public. It is also worth noting that the supplying dealer is not always the dealership local to the customer and you would be responsible for arranging your own transport to the dealership on the day of collection at your own cost.

If collection is available as an option, our deliveries team will confirm a suitable collection date and time with you, along with the dealership address and the name of the contact who will be able to assist you on the day. Like a driven or transported delivery, the dealer will talk you through the key functions of the vehicle and will answer any questions you may have about the vehicle. You will also need to show some form of photo ID on the day.

To comply with COVID-19 and the Movement of Vehicles guidance, some dealerships are operating a contactless delivery process to help limit the contact between the customer and the delivery driver.

In the event of a contactless delivery, the following procedure will apply:

• Ahead of delivery, the customer will need to verbally confirm that they or a member of their household is not in self-isolation due to coronavirus symptoms.
• Once the delivery agent has arrived at the handover address, the agent will call the customer to advise they have arrived rather than approach the door.
• At all times, both the delivery driver and customer must respect social distancing guidelines, keeping at least two metres away from each other and other members of the public. 
• Both the customer and the delivery agent will be required to hand wash and/or sanitise.
• The delivery agent will place the keys and all paperwork in the vehicle (preferably in an envelope) and leave it in a safe place for the customer to collect. 

In some cases, the delivery driver will be unable to show the customer the controls inside the vehicle. Therefore, the customer must take the time to familiarise themselves with the vehicle before driving on public roads and refer to the manufacturer's handbook for instructions on how to activate and/or control key features of the vehicle. 

For driven deliveries, on no account should the customer offer to take the delivery driver to the local train station or bus stop as this contravenes social distancing regulations. The delivery agent has specific instructions on how to return to base safely. 

On the day of delivery, your new vehicle will be delivered to your specified address, provided it is situated on the GB mainland. For some locations in Scotland, the Scottish Highlands and Scottish Islands such as Dundee (DD), Inverness (IV), Aberdeen (AB), Perth (PH), Oban (PA), Greenock (PA) Stranraer (DG) and Skye (IV) a delivery charge of up £450 may be applicable depending on distance and supplying vehicle manufacturer. 

For customers living on the Isle of Wight (IOW) it is likely that our suppliers will require an additional charge for deliveries onto the Island. It is possible for customers to meet the delivery agent for handover at the port of Southhampton or Portsmouth. For all port handovers customers must present in person and present the required IDs.

Currently, we are unable to offer delivery for customers living in Northern Ireland. 

Where possible, we will try to arrange delivery at a time and date that is convenient for you. Deliveries generally take place Monday to Friday between the hours of 9am and 5.30pm. To help provide you with an estimated time of arrival, the delivery driver will aim to call you approximately one hour prior to drop-off so please make sure you have access to your phone throughout the day. Please also remember that the person taking delivery of the vehicle must have permissions to accept delivery (some finance providers only allow the contract holder to sign for the vehicle) and have ID available to show to the driver - a photo driving licence or valid passport will suffice.

When your vehicle finally arrives, the handover process begins. Your delivery driver will talk you through the key functions of the vehicle and will answer any questions you may have about the vehicle. The vehicle should also arrive with enough fuel to get you to the nearest fuel station.

Nationwide Vehicle Contracts works hard to ensure the delivery of your vehicle goes as smoothly as possible, but it is important that you take your time to inspect the vehicle carefully before signing the delivery note.

When your vehicle arrives with you on day of delivery, it should be clean both inside and out. Please be aware that for driven deliveries, there may be some road dirt or unavoidable traffic film on the vehicle’s exterior body work subject to weather conditions. If this is the case, you may want to consider using a soft cloth to remove any road dirt or water marks from the vehicle without damaging the paintwork.

We advise that you start by checking the registration number to ensure it matches with your paperwork. You must also check the specification of the car is the same as what you ordered particularly the engine size, fuel type and trim level.

Once you’ve checked the registration and vehicle specification, move onto the bodywork and interior to check the following

• Check the paintwork for any scratches, dents or imperfections
• Check the windscreen and side windows for any cracks or stone chips
• Check the alloy wheels for any scuffs or kerb damage
• Check the interior is free from any marks or scuffs (e.g. all light fittings are stable, there are no rips or tears in the seats or gearstick)
• Check the locking wheel nut(s), handbook (including service book) and tyre repair kit (if required) are inside the vehicle

If you notice any damage on your vehicle, it is important that you highlight this to the driver and make a note of the damage on the delivery note. It is also advised that you take photographs of any damage where possible.

If you are unsure about anything during the delivery handover, please contact our Customer Services on 0345 811 9595 (option 4) before signing the delivery note as Nationwide Vehicle Contracts or the supplying dealer cannot be held responsible for any issues noted after this point.

Please be aware that most manufacturers do not offer car mats as standard so unless you have ordered these specifically with your sales representative, these will not be included in your vehicle.

As all of our vehicles are sourced from the franchised dealer or the manufacturer's holding compound, your vehicle is likely to have some mileage on its odometer depending on where it is transported from. This known as ‘delivery mileage'. This delivery mileage will not count towards your pre-agreed contracted mileage, subject to the finance provider. 

Your driver will make a note of the delivery mileage on the delivery note but it is worth making a note of this yourself for your records.

Once you have checked your lease vehicle for any damage or missing items, the delivery driver will ask you a sign a delivery note.

To limit the amount of contact between the customer and delivery driver, some delivery firms have stopped physical signatures during this time. However, proof of delivery will still be required and to allow contactless delivery.

In the event of a contactless delivery, the delivery agent will sign on behalf of the customer, adding notes to the signature box to that effect.

To ensure the customer is in possession of the vehicle, the delivery agent may record (on body-worn cameras or a telephone) the consent of the customer to take the vehicle or to acknowledge any damage.

Alternatively, the delivery agent will require the following documentation from the customer to replace the signed delivery note:

1. Digital photo of the customer alongside the vehicle to prove the customer is in possession of the vehicle – the picture must be of good quality and the customer's face and vehicle registration number should be visible.
2. Digital photo of the customer's Drivers Licence – the customer's home address must be visible and should match the delivery address (application address)
3. A delivery note stating delivery mileage – this will be signed by the delivery driver on your customer's behalf.

If the delivery address is different to the address on the Drivers Licence, the delivery driver will require a photograph of a second proof of address, i.e. utility bill, bank statement etc.

For contactless deliveries, some finance providers may also require an email from the customer confirming they received delivery or for a delivery note template sent via email to be completed by the customer and scanned back.

For non-contactless deliveries, the delivery agent will ask you to sign a paper delivery note or an electronic delivery note with an electronic signature on a tablet or mobile device.

As we mentioned before, it is important that you note any damage or scratches on the delivery note as Nationwide Vehicle Contracts or the supplying dealership cannot be held responsible for any issues noted after this point. You should also make a note of the delivery mileage.

Once the delivery note has been signed, all that’s left to do is to take your brand-new vehicle lease hire for a spin.