Often, yes — but it depends on your agreement and your lender’s consent. You cannot simply swap or sell a financed asset, because the lender has an interest in it. The usual route is to settle or refinance the existing agreement and start a new one on the replacement asset, sometimes with the old asset’s value used against the new deal.
Leases and contract hire agreements are sometimes more flexible about mid-term changes than hire purchase, because you were never buying the asset in the first place. Some agreements are written with upgrade provisions built in. Others treat any early change as an early termination, with the associated cost.
The practical questions to answer before you commit are: what is the settlement figure on the current agreement, what is the asset realistically worth today, and does the difference between the two leave you with a shortfall to fund. If it does, that shortfall usually has to be covered somehow, either paid or rolled into the new agreement — and rolling it in makes the new agreement more expensive.
Upgrading frequently can mean paying for the same value twice, so it is worth running the numbers rather than assuming a newer asset always pays for itself. Talk to us before you agree anything with a supplier, and never dispose of a financed asset without the lender’s written consent.