The government has announced that it is going to maintain the current MOT test frequencies and concentrate on improving testing standards and cracking down on clockers, which is welcome news. The British Vehicle Rental and Leasing Association (BVRLA) chief executive, John Lewis, commented as follows:

“The once a year after three years model works perfectly well for cars and vans as long as test centres do their job properly. Our only disappointment is that the government didn’t listen to our calls for safety recall notices to be made an MOT criterion. It is ridiculous that a car can pass its MOT while having an outstanding safety recall notification that hasn’t been dealt with.”

“We would also urge the government to go further in clamping down on clockers by introducing some sort of licensing system for mileage adjustment companies.”

The British Vehicle Rental & Leasing Association (BVRLA) is set to launch a new online motor manufacturer safety recall system in 2012 in conjunction with Ebbon-Dacs and the Operator Services Agency (VOSA). The new system will provide a single location for all car manufacturers to list their safety recall notfications.

The BVRLA hopes that companies that run vehicle fleets and motor manufacturers will be able to test the new service during the pilot stage in May 2012, with an aim to launch by August 2012.

The Ebbon-Dac’s web-based system will also allow BVRLA members to input their own fleet data which can be compared to the recall information so that a report can then be produced to highlight any outstanding recalls.

In the meantime, if you want to search for car recalls you can do so via the VOSA website from the link below;

http://www.dft.gov.uk/vosa/apps/recalls/default.asp?tx=VOSA

The British Vehicle Leasing and Rental Association (BVRLA) has reported that despite the new lease accounting proposals recently announced, that leasing and rental will remain popular. The International Accounting Standards Board proposal intends to bring all leased assets back onto the balance sheet, with a view to giving a more complete picture of a businesses’s financial position.

Currently whether leasing a vehicle, computer or property, all leased assets will usually appear possibly in the “notes to the audited accounts” and not on the balance sheet as a liability to the company. There are a number of changes being proposed by the IASB however they would only effect publicly quoted companies who report to the standards of the IASB. Most small to medium sized enterprises reporting to the UK’s generally accepted principles (GAAP), would be unaffected until UK standards converge with those of the IASB (probably by 2015)

The proposals by the IASB will also affect lease accounting regarding maintenance and servicing, short term hire, contingent rentals, residual values, options to extend and auditing decisions around whether accounting for leases is necessary (i.e. the scale of the liability on the balance sheet). The IASB will hold a further consultation before publishing a final standard in the first half of 2011, followed by a transition period before any new lease accounting rule standards become mandatory.

More information on lease accounting can be found at the BVRLA website via the link below;

www.bvrla.co.uk/Lobbying_and_

Campaigns/Lease_accounting_overview.aspx

The British Vehicle Rental and Leasing Association (BVRLA) has called on the HMRC to make VAT recovery on leased cars more fairer, as currently the numbers of businesses recovering the appropriate VAT is too low. Businesses that lease cars are currently only allowed to recover 50% of the VAT portion relating to the finance element of their rental payments and this assumes a level of private use of the vehicle. On contract hire the true cost to a business is sometimes called the “Effective Rental“, so be aware that if you are VAT registered, you will not be able to recover all of the VAT, that is added to a monthly lease rental.

The BVRLA has written to HMRC asking them to change the 50% VAT recovery rate as they have calculated (on data from over 120,000 drivers covering nearly 2.5 million miles) that the business mileage usage (excluding commuting) is around 70% and that personal mileage usage is around 30%. VAT will also rise to 20% from January 1st 2010 and this issue is likely to be exacerbated.

John Lewis, chief executive of the BVRLA said,”There is nothing we can do to prevent VAT rising to 20% in January, but we will do our utmost to ensure that leasing customers are treated fairly when it comes to paying it. ” HMRC has chosen to ignore the very robust data we provided in favour of a much smaller sample of 418 drivers based on an anecdotal survey conducted by the Department of Transport, which conveniently backs its own position”.

The BVRLA (British Vehicle Rental and Leasing Association) has commented that many business fleets are focussing their efforts on reducing their fuel costs and CO2 emissions. The BVRLA’s members operate around 1.6 million cars and they have found that the average CO2 emissions of vehicles, brought on fleet in 2009,  fell to 144g/km. The trend is clearly towards driving low CO2 cars and fuel efficient vehicles.

The reduction on business car fleets outstrips those seen across all new car registrations, as reported by the SMMT, which recently published an average figure of 149.5g/km. John Lewis, BVRLA chief executive said,”Our members continue to lead the way in lowering road transport emissions and disproving the myth that company cars are gas guzzlers. The government’s emission based-tax regime has given fleets and their drivers a great incentive to drive cleaner cars and the message is clearly getting through”.

Vehicle Leasing companies also reported a 2% drop in the average contract mileage for cars added to fleets in 2009, down to 19,183 from the 19,617 seen in 2008.

The BVRLA (British Vehicle rental and Leasing Association) is the trade body for companies engaged in leasing and rental of cars and commercial vehicles. The are advising businesses that they should check that “employee owned cars” used for business, are roadworthy and are properly insured.

John Lewis, chief executive of the BVRLA speaking at the OGC Annual Grey Fleet Conference told delegates that they needed to adopt a “zero tolerance” policy on employees who were unable to prove their vehicle was properly maintained and insured or give details of their driving licence. Companies still have a duty of care requirement for a “grey fleet”.

The BVRLA (British Vehicle Rental and Leasing Association) has launched its revised Guide to Driving at Work. This new online reference manual can be used by anyone who is involved in driving for business and offers advice on health and safety within the workplace. It will help you if you are looking to put together a corporate driving at work policy and will demonstrate that you have taken all reasonable steps to protect your employees and other road users.

This is important as if you run a fleet of vehicles you have a duty of care responsibility. BVRLA chief executive, John Lewis said ” Every person driving at work presents a risk, and health and safety law applies just as much to on-the-road activities as it does to the conventional workplace. The information in this guide is equally applicable to drivers covering many miles each day, or just a few each month”.

This new guide has been endorsed by HRH Prince Michael of Kent who is a patron of Roadsafe and has been reviewed by legal experts at Eversheds. The new guide includes advice on the following:

- Revised and updated sections on the vehicle, the driver and the journey which take into account recent legislative and technological developments.

- Practical case studies that will demonstrate the business benefits of implementing some of the recommendations that the BVRLA make in their guide.

- Information on telematics, monitoring devices and other technical solutions which may assist in safer driving and reducing accident costs.

-Advice on towing, vehicle loading and equipment which has been added to help light commercial van operators (LCV’s).

- A section on grey fleet, which covers employees using their own vehicles and highlights the potential extra cost to business.

The BVRLA is the trade body for companies engaged in the leasing and rental of cars and commercial vehicles. Its members operate a combined fleet of 2.6 million cars, vans and trucks and all the contract hire leasing partners on this site are full members. The guide is available from the BVRLA website under the Advice and Guidance section.

RoadSafe the automotive backed industry forum, has won a three year contract from the Department for Transport, to deliver the “at-work” road safety programme. RoadSafe has already launched the “Driving for Better Business” campaign and this new contract award is in recognition of this.

Central to the work has been the recruitment fo 23 high-profile safety-focused business champions and organisations from across the public and private sectors, who are keen to showcase their own good driving management practises. Companies like Arval, Gateshead Council and BT to name just a few.

The new programme will include:

- Recruitment of more “business champions” and the enhancement of the network of other organisations, such as trade associations, to promote the business benefits of at-work driving safety.

- The launch of a high level steering group, chaired by John Lewis, chief executive of the BVRLA

- The launch of a stakeholder forum, chaired by Rob Gifford, executive director of the Parliamentary Advisory Council for Transport Safety.

“Driving for Better Business” is a campaign to alert the private and public sectors that managing at-work drivers and road safety saves money and is a legal requirement.

Many companies may not be aware that there are some significant changes happening in April, to the way fleet cars are going to be taxed.

The whole tax system around fleet cars is changing with tax incentives for running low emission fleet cars. The new rules are designed to incentivise cars that emit CO2 of 160g/km or less by allowing companies to claim a much larger amount of capital allowances (if owned) or rental allowances (if contract hired or leased).

The BVRLA has laid out a brief guide to the new tax changes on their website however the major points are as follows.

So whether you own your own vehicles or contract hire lease them the figure of 160g/km is the one to remember. John Lewis, chairman of the BVRLA, said in Fleet News  recently  ” I think fleet managers should be careful about those cars falling close to the 160g/km and 110g/km tipping points”. 

Mr Lewis went onto to say ” Some extras – maybe different tyres or automatic transmission – will affect the car’s emissions, possibly putting it over the threshold”.

The BVRLA estimates that circa 40% of all leased cars currently emit more than 160g/km and all small businesses and fleet managers are advised to review the cars they buy or lease, based on CO2 emissions.

Contract Hire rates for cars with a CO2 figure of greater than 160g/km will also have to rise as leasing companies reflect these changes on their own balance sheets.

The figure of 160g/km is the one to remember.

More information about the new changes are available off the BVRLA website.

Editorial contribution for this article came from Ralph Morton

The BVRLA,  the trade body for the leasing and rental of cars and commercial vehicles, has launched a new crisper website. The site has 50% fewer pages than the old one yet has a large array of content that is much easier to read and find.

Using bright colours and an easy to use navigation menu , the new site aims to give businesses and consumers, loads of jargon free advice on how to obtain their next vehicle.

John Lewis, chairman of the BVRLA said ” This new site will raise the profile of the BVRLA and the vehicle rental and leasing industry among policymakers, professional advisers, businesses and consumers”.