The car leasing industry has grown and evolved beyond measure since Skyfleet commenced trading back in 1997. With over 26 years trading, we pride ourselves in being one the most experienced & well-established car leasing brokers in the UK.

In the wake of Consumer Duty, and as a result of increasingly stringent regulation, the industry has had to take significant measures to protect its clients, with value for money products & services, greater transparency & communication being at the forefront of every customer experience. Skyfleet have always welcomed these changes and recognise the opportunities these often present in terms of improving what we offer to all of our clients.

One area of particular concern to us, is that of cancellation policy & charges. We carried out an in-depth review of the broker market and found that there was no clear uniformity across the industry in terms of charges. Cancellation policies were often deeply embedded within broker websites, complicated to follow, often with ambiguous content & using complex calculations. 

We do not feel it is fair for brokers to be imposing hefty and often disproportionately high (when considering the work they have actually undertaken) levies on their customers when they wish to cancel their vehicle orders prior to delivery. Experience tells us that circumstances can change, often without warning, necessitating the need to cancel. These often unforeseen circumstances can include a change in work situation such as a reduction in pay or hours, redundancy or perhaps a change in personal circumstance such as starting a family, moving home or a medical situation. All these, and many more can result in the need to cancel an order. Sometimes it’s simply a decision of affordability or a change of heart. The notion that a customer should be bound to an order regardless of their circumstances and have to suffer significant financial loss if they wish to cancel does not follow the spirit of fair play & goodwill, nor does it embrace consumer protection or current regulatory requirements in treating customer fairly.  

We believe there is a need for the industry as a whole, to recognise & accept that cancellations are an occupational hazard and are going to happen, for a multitude of reasons. There isn’t a single vehicle, in our experience, that has failed to sell following a cancellation. For sure it is inconvenient when this happens, some financial loss is likely, but customers surely have a right to cancel without exorbitant charges.

With all this in mind, we have taken the decision to offer all our customers, both business & private individuals, the right to cancel an order prior to delivery, without any financial consequences. We acknowledge & accept that there will be minimal costs incurred to process cancellations, but we believe this to be negligible compared to the goodwill, reputation & trust that we will gain from treating our customers fairly in this way.