Can you dispute end of lease charges?

You can dispute end-of-lease charges, and the normal procedure is to call in an independent inspector who will then make a report on which a final decision is made.

This however doesn't usually help you as the customer. As an example, if you are certain that your car is in good condition, and all intact, but later you get a bill for a missing key. Calling in an independent inspector who will confirm the key is missing doesn't really help. 

However, we have seen examples such as this with our customers, who have had independent inspections with us prior to return. We have been able to supply the lease company with video of us inspecting the car and showing that the spare key and documents are in the glove box... their lease inspector just didn't look carefully enough. 

Even if you don't have an independent inspection done on your vehicle, we would strongly recommend that before you return your vehicle at the end of lease, you use photos and videos to document the condition of the vehicle. 

They don't happen very often, but mistakes do happen. From your perspective, you have just the one car, from the industry perspective, we see thousands of cars, and things go wrong all the time. The odds of it happening to you are slim, but it is going to happen to somebody, so you may as well take precautions.  

In summary, You can dispute end of lease charges, but in order to be successful, it is best to be prepared.

If you do have a dispute, just call your lease company, and they will tell you what the procedure is.  There should be no need to contact the BVRLA directly.

Written by Danny Argent. Last updated 16/06/2022 15:51