Van leasing can pave the way for incredible company growth without the need for a significant upfront investment. For those who have only recently registered their Limited Company, it might seem like van leasing will be out of reach to you. After all, you have no trading history to support your application for leasing credit. Thankfully, there are ways you can make leasing work for your business, no matter how long you have been trading.

Can I lease a van for a new Limited Company?
The short answer is yes, you can lease a van for a new limited company. It might not be as simple as it would be if you have a longer trading history, but often it simply means that you’ll need to provide a little more evidence.
When leasing a van, the company will typically carry out a credit check on your company. This is to ensure there isn’t any reason that you wouldn’t be able to meet your financial obligations.
Leasing companies will typically want to see the following:
- A strong credit history. If your company doesn’t have any credit history, this might be more difficult to assess. In this case, the leasing company will look at the personal credit score of the directors to confirm credit worthiness.
- Evidence of registration. You’ll need to be properly registered with Companies House, so don’t attempt to secure a lease for your company until this step is completed. This is used to confirm the identity of those involved with the company.
- Trading history. If you don’t have any trading history, this is another step that can be difficult to complete. As such, there are other things you can provide, such as a balance sheet or other financial records. This is simply to confirm that you’ll have the income to meet your lease payments.
- A business plan. In some cases, a business plan can help to secure leasing. This will help to reassure leasing companies that your business is viable. This is ideal if you need a lease van to start trading and won’t see any income until you can get your business up and running.

How can a van lease help your new limited company?
If you’re a new business start up, you might not want to sink all of your funding into a new vehicle purchase. This is why leasing can be so beneficial. You’ll effectively be able to spread the cost of a vehicle, while taking on little to no risk. For those businesses that need a specialist vehicle such as a refrigerated vehicle, leasing can be particularly helpful.
The lease vehicle will be covered by a warranty, and you won’t be purchasing the vehicle, so you don’t have to worry about depreciation. Leasing also offers greater flexibility. By choosing a flexible leasing deal, you can take advantage of vehicle upgrades when you need more space. You could even quickly expand your fleet to help deal with a sudden increase in demand.
There are also tax benefits available from leasing. With an outright vehicle purchase, only a portion would offer tax benefits. With vehicle leasing payments, the entire amount can be tax deductible, which can offer significant tax savings for new limited companies.
You’ll also benefit from a maintenance and support package. Instead of taking the risk with a used vehicle that could break down at any moment and leave you completely liable for the repairs, leasing offers some backup and reassurance.

How to lease a van as a new limited company
If you’re convinced of the vast benefits of leasing or buying, the first step is to get your accounts in order.
First, make sure that your business is properly registered with Companies House and that you have the relevant paperwork. Next, develop a business plan to ensure that you can demonstrate how your van will help you to generate income, even if you don’t have any trading history yet.
If you can generate contracts for work to be fulfilled, this can help to secure a leasing deal. You should also consult with a tax specialist to ensure you are able to make the most of any tax benefits that might be available to you.
Remember that you’ll need to budget for an upfront payment and then ongoing monthly payments. The more you pay upfront and the longer you choose to lease the vehicle, the less your monthly payments will be. This is often a balancing act for new business owners to ensure they keep initial costs down.
Need help choosing the right refrigerated vehicle for your new limited company?
Get in touch with our team today if you’d like to explore leasing options for refrigerated vans. We can help you to choose the perfect van to help you grow your business.