Minibus Leasing Frequently Asked Questions

Q. Are there different types of Minibus Lease?

A. You have a number of choices when you take out a minibus lease:

1. The length of term of the contract. This is usually two, three or four years.
2. The size of the initial payment. This is typically equivalent to three, six or nine monthly payments.
3. You can choose whether to take out maintenance payments. This is where an amount per month is paid to cover the costs of servicing, tyres etc. during the term of the contract. It is seen by many as a way of predicting future costs.

Q. Can anyone have a Minibus Lease?

A. The short answer to the question, ‘Can anyone have a Minibus Lease?’ is yes. But there is legislation to comply with.

Q. Do I have to run a business to lease a minibus?

A. No!

Many of our customers are sole traders and owner managed businesses, some are start ups and may not have the required business accounts history to secure a minibus lease through their company.

They lease from us on a personal basis - contact our team to find out more.

Q. Do you provide insurance?

A. We want to make leasing a minibus as easy as possible for you and our package MBL Total Care does just that providing:

• An Insured Leased Vehicle including Third Party Liability and Own Damage Protection (including fire and theft) Glass Damage Protection
• Maintenance cover - for all your servicing and repairs on your vehicle
• reakdown cover - to fix your vehicle or recover it and if necessary provide a replacement vehicle
• Accident Management - management of your incident from start to finish

Our expert team does all of the hard work for you – the biggest decision you’ll have to make is which minibus to lease – and even then we’ll be with you every step of the way to support this process. Read more here.

Q. Driving Licence Requirements for minibus drivers

A. Please see our page on Minibus Driving Licence

If you volunteer to drive a minibus you must, by law:

1. ensure a Section 19 permit has been obtained if one is needed;
2. hold the appropriate full car driving licence to do so;
3. be at least 21 years old;
4. be insured to drive the vehicle in question;
5. not drive a minibus with more than 16 passenger seats; and
6. have held a full driving licence for at least two years when driving a minibus under a Section 19 permit.

You must comply with any additional requirements imposed by your local education authority, school or insurers. These may relate in particular to training, age or length of qualification to drive.

Q. Is VAT charged on the Minibus Lease payments?

A. Yes, VAT is charged and this is fully reclaimable through your VAT return.

Q. Minibus Driver License

A. The standard driving license allows a person to drive a minibus of up to 16 people if the government requirements are fulfilled. Check out the details on our legislation page.

Q. Minibus Driver Training

A. You should agree to drive a minibus only if you have received proper training. Even if you have received such training, however, you cannot be required to drive a minibus. Driver training should normally include:

• familiarisation with the vehicle;
• simple vehicle checks to be conducted before each journey
• emergency procedures;
• passenger care;
• use of seatbelts/harnesses etc;
• use of passenger lift, if there is one;
• loading/unloading and securing of wheelchairs;
• journey planning; and
• road assessment on the types of road the driver is likely to use, for example, motorways, dual carriageways, urban/rural roads etc.

Many local education authorities provide accredited training schemes for minibus drivers.

Q. Minibus Drivers Licence Pre 1997

A. If you passed your car driving test before 1 January 1997, you automatically gained a licence with Category B and D1 entitlement, or Groups A and B on older licences, qualifying you to drive minibuses as well as private cars.

If you pass the car driving test on after 1 January 1997, you no longer automatically gain a licence with Category D1 minibus entitlement. You will need to pass the additional Category D1 test to drive minibuses, together with the standard theory test and a medical examination. If you are willing to do this, your school or LEA should make all the necessary arrangements and meet the costs of the training, test and medical report. Paid time off should be given for all these matters.

Q. What are the advantages of a Minibus Lease?

A. There are a number of advantages of getting a minibus lease:

1. It is seen as an efficient use of resources as less cash is needed to get your new minibus. When you buy with cash you need all the money up front. With a lease you just need the initial payment and then the amount per month.
2. The payments are evenly spread over the term, making financial planning more predictable. Contracts are from 2 years to 5 years.

Q. What do you need to be a minibus driver?

A. Can anyone be a Minibus Driver?
In a word yes, as long as they have necessary driving licence.

Q. What information is need to apply for a Minibus Lease?

A. The best way to answer this is to take a look at our application form. Just click here to see the Minibus Lease application form.

Q. What is a Minibus Lease?

A. A Minibus Lease is a way of financing a new Minibus without having to pay the full price at the start. An initial payment is made at the start. Then monthly payments are made until the end of the agreement at which point the vehicle is returned.

Q. What is the Maintenance option about?

A. Maintenance is a way to pay for maintaining your new minibus or crew van, over the time of your lease. It includes paying for regular servicing, replacement tyres, windscreen replacement and the MOT if you have a lease which lasts for more than three years.

Maintenance is an option you can choose when organising your next lease minibus. People often choose the maintenance option to spread the cost. The actual amount will vary depending on the make and model, the term of the lease and your expected mileage, as well as other factors.

To discuss more details on maintenance for your new minibus or crew van just call us and we’ll be happy to talk it through with you.

Q. What is the required number of Minibus Drivers?

A. There is no legal requirement for a second minibus driver. For schools it is recommended that, other than on the shortest journeys, a second trained minibus driver should accompany every teacher driving a minibus. This will help cover emergency situations and prevent tiredness on long journeys. Even on short journeys, a second minibus driver, acting as a supervisor, is likely to be required. Exceptions might be where a teacher is driving a group of post-16 students for a short distance.

If there are two trained minibus drivers available and only one is a teacher, it is recommended that, for short journeys, the non-teacher drives and the teacher supervises. A second minibus driver, acting as supervisor, will help to ensure that passengers are well behaved and that they do not distract the driver and will also assist in the event of any emergency. Insurance policies may also specify a requirement for a supervisor.

It is also recommended that a mobile telephone be carried in all minibuses to cover emergency situations. This must not, however, be used by the driver while driving the vehicle.

Q. What kinds of organisations use Minibus Lease to acquire their minibuses?

A. Getting a minibus lease is now very common. In fact it is the usual way most organisations get their minibuses. From our experience this includes:

• Schools
• Colleges
• Nurseries
• Universities
• Childminders
• Care Homes
• Charities
• Voluntary Organisations

Q. When is a Minibus Driver License required?

A. If the minibus is being driven commercially or if the requirements set out on our legislation page are not fulfilled, then a special licence is required.

The Category D1 licence gives a permission to drive a vehicle with the following characteristics

• No more than 16 passenger seats
• Maximum length of 8 metres

Q. Who is the Minibus Lease taken out with?

A. At MinibusLeasingUK we act as a broker and use four of the most competitive finance companies which are part of international banks. These are Lex, Arval, When we build a quote for you we find the most competitive finance rates from our contacts.