The finer details: LEVC release frequently asked questions as cab drivers defer taxi payments
To ease the impact of the Coronavirus outbreak on the UK taxi trade, a three-month finance payment holiday initiative has been agreed by LEVC and Black Horse and is now available nationwide.
TX drivers on any existing Black Horse finance contract can register their interest for a three-month suspension of repayments by completing their details at below.
But what are the finer details? Here are some of the questions being asked frequently and the answers supplied by LEVC:
Is there a charge to defer a monthly payment and take a payment holiday?
“There is no charge to defer a monthly payment. However, please see following question for the overall cost implications of taking a payment holiday.”
Why am I being charged interest when I defer a payment?
“A payment deferral or payment holiday is technically a contract extension. As such, any deferred payments (1, 2 or 3 months) will be added on to the end of your repayment period and additional interest will accrue on the loan for those extra months. This will vary from customer to customer and will be disclosed once the deferment has been applied for. Black Horse have opted for full transparency regarding these costs.”
Is the end of contract vehicle valuation affected by the payment break?
“No, LEVC and Black Horse will honour the existing end of contract vehicle valuation providing all other terms and conditions are complied with.”
Is my credit rating affected by taking a payment break?
“No. During these unprecedented times, many financial institutions are working together to assist customers and this will be taken into consideration when you come to change your existing vehicle. Please note, we find ourselves in an exceptionally complex environment so systems and processes are having to be manually adjusted in order to offer the assistance available.”
Are Blackhorse going to do a blanket 3 month break for all taxi drivers, or only as and when drivers request it?
“Currently, Black Horse are trying to find an automated way of giving customers a blanket payment deferral. However, in order to give a quick solution to those customers with payments due in the next week or so, they have decided to allow an initial 1 month payment deferral to be activated immediately whilst they try and develop an automated process for months 2 and 3.”
What happens with up coming payments that are due within the next week or two?
“As per the latest communication, you can follow the instructions to log onto your Black Horse account and move the payment date back 30 days (1 month). If you have already done this during your current agreement, you will need to call Black Horse to arrange this for you."
If customers take the 3 month break is there an option where the customer can spread the payments across existing terms instead off extending term so in other words customers payments will just increase to cover the difference?
“At the end of the 3 month payment deferral, you can contact Black Horse and discuss rescheduling your agreement to reduce the period by 3 months and increase the resulting monthly payment. We fully appreciate that this is a protracted process but as previously mentioned, we are faced with extraordinary situations that everyone is trying to manage their way through.”
Joerg Hofmann, CEO at LEVC, also sent a message to taxi drivers in London and further afield assuring them that plans are already in place “far ahead for the time after the virus”.
Hofmann said: “We are all facing some challenges by the fast spreading Coronavirus throughout Europe.”
Hoffmann added: “It puts things into a positive perspective if we look at China these days and see that life there is back to normal with demand catching up the last six weeks of shut down.
“Rest assured that we at LEVC are already planing far ahead for the time after the virus.”
Image credits: LEVC
