Activa Contracts is a company where staff provide a personalised approach to vehicle leasing, working in close partnership with customers to understand and respond to their needs. It’s a strategy that has helped its customers through the myriad challenges of this year, and also helped the company to win the award for Best Leasing Company (fewer than 25,000 vehicles) at the 2020 Business Car Awards, with the judges impressed by the firm’s commitment to customer service and attention to detail.
Among the examples of Activa’s approach is its fleet consultancy service, offering a free fleet policy audit on company vehicles, and also a bespoke company fleet review using a sophisticated whole-life cost model. This assesses all the costs and business factors involved in a fleet, from irrecoverable VAT to fuel reimbursement, and allows fleets to get an accurate picture of the cost of each leased vehicle.
Activa’s consultancy service was at the heart of its response to a major fleet issue earlier this year: the introduction of full WLTP. Activa sat down with fleets and discussed their choice lists and potential tax liability, and how this would change, with some best-guess scenarios being developed where some carmakers had been slow to publish their data. This helped customers to be more proactive in not only adapting their choice lists, but also educating their drivers about the changes. Activa also spoke to customers about the introduction of the 0% BIK rate for electric company cars, following a big increase in interest once the measure was announced. The level of support offered by the firm on both these issues won praise from the Business Car Awards judges.
Activa also has an ongoing initiative to reduce end-of-life recharge levels. This has included developing a robust driver policy, so they clearly know their responsibilities when given a company vehicle, and providing an in-house app that allows drivers to send in images of the vehicle prior to the end of contract, so Activa can understand the extent of charges. The outcome of this has been an average recharge level of £174, well below the industry average of just over £300.
Another successful initiative is Daily Rental Plus, which allows fleets to hire vehicles for 84 days or more and return them at any time without a penalty. This has been especially welcome for many customers during the business uncertainty caused by the coronavirus pandemic, with peaks and troughs of business activity making it difficult to predict fleet requirements.
Activa sales, marketing and customer services director Lisa Temperton said: “As we are part of the Arnold Clark Group, we are well placed to endure. This unforgettable and unprecedented year of 2020 has tested us all, but we have continued to deliver the high levels of support that is expected at Activa.
“A huge thank you must go to all our wonderful customers! To have all the hard work and dedication recognised with this reward is special and we are all very proud.”
