If you are making an employee’s job role redundant who has a car with us here at ECS, we will be able to support you through this process. When an employee has to leave their role partway through their lease term, there are a few options to explore regarding the electric vehicle.
What are the options for the EV?
The employee can purchase the car outright from the leasing company
If they are keen to keep your car after they have left, they can purchase your EV outright from the lessor. The cost of this will be made up two aspects: the cost of the car + the Early Returns Fee.
They can take your car with you to your new company
If they have a new company that they are moving to after their redundancy, we can help support with the transfer. If the current company and new company are happy to go ahead with this process, we then will need to set up our cost-neutral scheme at the new company (if they aren’t already set up) and begin the novation (transfer) process. There is a cost associated with novating a vehicle. We can help advise of this cost dependant on the lessor.
Your company and the new company will also have to agree to novate the vehicle and sign additional documents to enable the transfer. The new company will also have to be accepted for credit by the same leasing company that the car is with. The novation timeline can vary but this generally takes between 2-6 months to complete from end to end.
Find a new owner
If none of the above options are suitable we will look to re-use this car as part of our goals to get people into second-hand electric vehicles!
The way this works is that we will initially market the car internally at your company to see if there are any people interested in taking over the lease. If there are no takers at your company, we will then market the car externally to our wider customer-base.
The process for this is very similar as if we were to transfer your car to a new company, except the car will go to the new driver.
How long do they have to have had the car for before they or the company is protected?
As part of our highly competitive risk protection offered, we offer redundancy protection from day one once the car has been delivered! In these cases, we here at ECS will cover the cost of the Early Returns Fee!
What do I need to do if I am making someone redundant?
The best way to ensure a smooth and simple process is to let us know about the redundancy as soon as possible with a rough end date in mind. Letting us know the current mileage (where possible), if there is any damage above BVRLA’s fair wear and tear and if the employee is a smoker will help us determine the early termination fee with the lessor. We will then get in touch with your HR/Finance/Payroll team to get a copy of the letter of redundancy and begin next steps on the paperwork.
We will act in confidence if you let us know about your decision to make someone redundant until things are finalised and we can then move on to the next steps.
Where should the employee keep the car in the meantime?
We don’t recommend driving the car after their last day of work, as they may no longer be insured and so before your last day of work they can either decide to leave the car on company premises (if possible) with the permission of the company to do so, or they can keep the car at their property in the meantime.
Can the employee transfer the car from a Business to Personal Lease?
Unfortunately, the lessors won’t be able to transfer cars from a Business to Personal Lease.
Summary: When am I liable for the Early Returns Fee?
In redundancy cases, neither the company nor the employee will be liable for the Early Returns Fee, as this will be covered by us here at ECS! If the redundancy turns out to be Dismissal for Cause then this may change.