About Our Asset Finance Services

Introduction

We want to help you to obtain finance for your equipment that meets your business needs at a competitive cost.

This document explains factors that you should consider when using our services.

About Us

We are Hexa Finance Limited. We are authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. Our Firm Reference Number is 974633.

We are a credit broker and not a lender.

Our work for limited companies, limited liability partnerships and unlimited liability partnerships consisting of four or more partners is outside of the scope of Financial Conduct Authority authorisation and regulation.

Our Role

We aim to find a competitive and suitable equipment lease solution based on our understanding of your situation and needs.

We can introduce you to our panel of finance providers (‘our lenders’).

We will arrange a lease or hire purchase agreement. Other finance options are available in the market, please see our guidance below, ‘About Asset Finance’.

We will not provide specific advice or a recommendation on whether to proceed but if you are unsure about any aspect of the finance agreement, please ask us to assist.

If you need extra support, we will always be happy to speak to anyone who advises you and your business. Please let us know if you or your business have any circumstances, we, or the lenders, should be aware of.

What We Need From You

We ask you to provide accurate and complete information to us about your finance needs and situation. Please ensure you ask us about anything you are not sure about, and do not sign your finance agreement until you are confident it meets your needs at a competitive cost.

Complaint Handling

In the unlikely event that you have a complaint about our asset finance broking service, please contact us:

• In writing: Hexa Finance Limited, Wentwood House, Langstone Business Village, Newport, NP18 2HJ
• By telephone: 01633 374910

We will acknowledge your complaint within five working days. We aim to resolve complaints within two weeks and to provide a final response to all complaints within four weeks.

If you are not satisfied with our response to your complaint, you may be able to refer the matter to the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS). This applies to consumers and most small businesses. Details of which businesses can use the service are available at https://sme.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/complain/can-help.

You must contact FOS within six months of the date of our final response letter to you.

They can be contacted in the following ways:

• Post: Financial Ombudsman Service, Exchange Tower, London, E14 9SR
• Telephone: 0300 123 9 123
• E-mail: complaint.info@financial-ombudsman.org.uk
• Website: financial-ombudsman.org.uk

How We Handle Your Personal Information

Personal information which you provide to us may be used for business purposes including:

• To keep records of your needs and requirements
• To prepare enquiries and applications that we will submit to finance companies
• For accounting and regulatory purposes

We may share information about you with finance companies and other businesses to help obtain a lease finance arrangement to suit our needs and for fraud prevention. Finance companies may, in turn, pass your information to credit reference agencies as part of their lending procedures.

If you decide to arrange a finance agreement using our services, we will keep your data until five years after the end of that contract. If you do not arrange a finance agreement using our services, we will keep your data until three years after your enquiry.

Please contact us on 01633 374910 to cancel your consent for the processing of your personal data or to obtain more details about your rights to find out what personal data we hold about you, to have this corrected, restricted, or deleted, or to complain about how we have handled your data. For more details, please see our Privacy Policy https://www.hexafinance.co.uk/privacy-policy/

We are registered with the Information Commissioner’s Office, reference ZA791290.

Our Agreement

By asking us to help you to find a finance agreement, you confirm you accept the arrangements set out in this document.

About Asset Finance

Why Consider Financing Equipment

The main options for financing new equipment are:

• Purchase outright using available cash
• Purchase outright using an unsecured bank loan
• Rent for a short period (typically less than one year)
• Lease the equipment (typically for 3 or more years)
• Take out a hire purchase or conditional sale agreement

In deciding which option to select, relevant factors may include:

• Whether you have the cash to buy outright
• How long you need the equipment for
• Overall costs of the different options.

Further information about forms of finance is available from the British Business Bank (https://www.british-business-bank.co.uk/finance-hub/other-forms-of-finance/).

Types of Asset Finance

Most asset finance agreements involve making regular payments (called rentals, lease payments or repayments) to obtain the right to use an asset owned by the finance company.

The key difference between products is what happens at the end of the agreement and who gets title to the equipment.

• Hire Purchase: At the end of the agreement there is an option to purchase the equipment. If the option is not taken up, the equipment needs to be returned to the lender.
• Conditional Sale: At the end of the agreement, you automatically take ownership of the equipment.
• Lease: At the end of the agreement, there is no option to purchase. The agreement can usually be extended, you may be offered the option to sell the asset on behalf of the lender, or the equipment can be returned to the lender. You do not get title (ownership) of the equipment.

In deciding which option to select, relevant factors may include:

• Whether you expect to want to keep the equipment
• The income or corporation tax, VAT, and accounting treatment of the product
• The terms and conditions of the agreement Further information about asset finance is available from the British Business Bank (https://www.british-business-bank.co.uk/finance-hub/leasing-hire-purchase/)

Suitability of Asset Finance Products

Asset Finance may be suitable in the following circumstances:

• If alternative forms of borrowing are more expensive overall or not available
• If you are concerned that a loan facility may be withdrawn (asset finance facilities generally cannot be withdrawn during the agreed term of the facility)
• You require relatively fast and straightforward access to finance

Asset Finance may not be suitable in certain circumstances:

• If you have ready access to cash or any less expensive alternative form of borrowing
• If you are not sure if you will need the equipment for the minimum contract period
• If you expect you will want to keep the equipment rather than upgrade it at the end of the lease period

Successful Asset Finance

We recommend the following steps to help ensure your asset finance is successful:

• Confirm that the equipment being financed, and the associated services, meets your business needs at a competitive price
• Dealing only with reputable suppliers
• Consider how long you expect to use the equipment, and align the finance agreement period with this
• Check that the finance payments will be affordable
• Read the agreement carefully before signing it, and ask for help if you are unsure about any terms

Further Information

Please do not hesitate to raise any questions with us.

As we cannot provide specific advice on the accounting and tax implications for your business of different products, so we recommend you discuss these with your accountant if you have any questions.