Early Exit from NHS solutions lease

OurDeb

My husband works for NHS and I'm a named driver on a second car leased through Fleet Solutions. It has come to light that the business insurance is only for NHS business - I work in children's social care and notified this at the start of the agreement.

We have had discussions but they say we can not pay additional insurance to cover me. I have been told that I can not end the lease early or buy the vehicle before the end of the lease. We are 19 months into the 3yr agreement.

Without business insurance I can not work and am expected to continue to pay the payments on the car. They appear uninterested because the lease is in his name and not mine.

Is anyone aware of a work around to this one ?

MEM62

Speak to an insurance broker and see if they can offer any options. How clearly was this explained in the lease documents before you signed them?

Nasqueron

Just to check, he leases the car, you are a named driver on the insurance, but are you using this as the primary driver? Can you not get business insurance on the first car?

Grumpy_chap

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6667456/early-exit-from-nhs-solutions-lease

Can you take out your own insurance on the car, with you as the first name driver (which seems to be correct, rather than your husband being the primary driver)? That policy can then include business use for whatever you do. It means paying for insurance twice but might be the least bad option given your current starting point.

I am not really sure that this is in the best board. Possibly better suited to the "insurance" or "motoring" sections.

dumpster_fire2025

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81991755#Comment_81991755

This.

Just get an insurance policy to cover you on the car. Why would you post this on an internet forum instead of just doing a web search for "insurance policy for each driver of a car"?

silvercar

Welcome to the forum @OurDeb ,I’ll move this to the motoring board.

Please be nice to newbies; the forum is massive, it can be hard to find your way round at the start.

Mildly_Miffed

From the FAQ page on the website…

https://www.nhsfleetsolutions.co.uk/faqs/

"Can I use my vehicle for business use?

Your car will be insured for social, domestic and pleasure purposes including commuting to a single place of work, and business use for your public sector organisation only. 

If you want to use your vehicle for any other business purpose, please call us on 0344 811 8228 to discuss your requirements in more detail."

(and, yes, that's their emboldenment)
…also…

"Can a friend/family member drive my lease car on their own insurance policy?

Only named drivers covered on our fleet insurance policy are authorised to drive the lease car provided. If you wish to add a driver to our insurance policy, please enter their details on the ‘manage driver’ section of your account. Additional Drivers are only permitted to use the vehicle once their status is shown as “Insured” in the My Account section of the website."

I can't say this surprises me in the slightest.
The car is leased as a full deal, including insurance, for NHS staff members, with an additional car available for the benefit of the NHS staff member's family use.

It seems very clear from that that this is not a solution if you want a cheap lease for your own business use.

If you get business insurance elsewhere, you may still find that you are using the car outside the terms of the lease. I'd suggest it's actually fortunate that you've discovered this now, and not when stopped by the police.

But it does seem as if an early termination IS not conceptually impossible…

"What is an Early Termination fee and when do I need to pay it?

An early termination fee is a financial penalty contractually due should your car contract not be completed for any reason.  The value of the penalty depends upon a number of factors which include; the original contract length, the cost of the lease and how far into the lease you are when the contract is ended.  It does reduce every year on the anniversary of the date you took delivery of your car.

The exact value is outlined on your original ‘Order Form’ (a copy of which can be found in the My Account section of our website).

In order to terminate the agreement, the request must be approved upon review of a valid lifestyle change and the penalty must be paid in advance of arranging collection of the car."

sheramber

In order to terminate the agreement, the request must be approved upon review of a valid lifestyle change and the penalty must be paid in advance of arranging collection of the car."

Is there a valid lifestyle change?

daveyjp

As above. The scheme isn't to enable open season whereby an NHS employee can take advantage of a lower priced car linked to their role and then let a third party use it for their own business use.

chrisw

As it's a 'second' car, swap over so your husband has the lease car and you use the main car for your business.

born_again

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81994082#Comment_81994082

My husband works for NHS and I'm a named driver on a second car leased through Fleet Solutions. It has come to light that the business insurance is only for NHS business - I work in children's social care and notified this at the start of the agreement.

I get the feeling that both are via Fleet Solutions. While OP advised them of job, were they told it was to be used for works/business purposes?