car finance payment holidays

To help ease the financial impact of coronavirus, car finance payment holiday plans have been introduced. Three month car payment holidays are available. Find out if you are eligible and how to apply.

The Finance Conduct Authority (FCA) has put this in place for leasing, personal contract purchase (PCP) and hire purchase vehicles (HP). It’s not just restricted to cars, these options are also available on bike and van finance as well. So if you’d like to apply for a payment holiday on your vehicle, then we’ll help you find out how.

what to do

To apply for a three month payment holiday plan we recommend that you contact your finance provider directly and as soon as possible. If your finances have been affected by the coronavirus pandemic, then you should approach your lender and explain your situation.

Many lenders have specific areas of their website where you can put in a payment gap request. Otherwise, you can give them a call. Each lender website may give you a specific telephone number to contact. You may experience difficulty getting through on the phone due to increased demand, but do persevere, especially if an online request is unavailable.

Whilst many people’s ability to make payments has been impacted, if you can still make your payments then this would be ideal. However, do not hesitate to ask for help. Lenders are not currently able to repossess vehicles due to coronavirus related financial difficulty. It is important to know that your interest will still apply throughout the payment holiday.

Your lender should be able to help you in other ways, if the payment holiday isn’t right for you. The best course of action is to contact your lender and see how they can help you in a way that suits you.

For more information, take a look at this helpful article from Which?.