Funding for rank-licensed taxis, arranged around the plate your council issues rather than around a standard car agreement.
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Yes. A hackney carriage can be financed, but the agreement is written against a working licensed vehicle rather than a private car. Your council decides which vehicles it will plate, and those conditions of fitness differ from one district to the next, so confirm the current requirements with your licensing office before you commit to a particular cab. Funders who understand rank work accept high annual mileage and the wear that comes with it. Many ordinary motor lenders will not touch a vehicle once it carries a hire and reward plate, which is why placement matters more here than the paperwork.
Used kit: Yes — used hackney carriages are routinely funded, and condition, service history and licensing eligibility carry far more weight than the registration year alone.
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Business asset finance is quoted on a flat rate, so that is what this shows — with the equivalent APR underneath, because the two are not the same number. A quick guide only; your actual rate depends on the asset, term, deposit and lender.
Representative example: on Hire Purchase, borrowing £25,000 over 48 months at a 6.0% flat rate (equivalent to 11.5% APR representative), you would repay around £646 a month; total amount repayable approximately £31,000, of which £6,000 is the cost of finance. This calculator is for illustration only — it is not a quote or an offer of finance, and the rate and repayments you are offered will depend on the asset, term, deposit and your circumstances. CW Asset Finance is a credit broker, not a lender, and may receive a commission from the lender that funds your agreement. All finance is subject to status, affordability and lender approval. CW Asset Finance is an Appointed Representative of Rural Finance Limited, which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FRN 630701).
Licensing sits in the middle of this decision. A hackney plate is issued by a single local authority and the conditions attached — vehicle age at first licensing, emissions standard, permitted body types, sometimes a cap on how many plates exist at all — vary council by council, so a cab that is perfectly licensable in one district may be refused in the one next door. Check with your own licensing team rather than assuming. Clean Air Zone and ULEZ schemes have pushed a lot of rank work toward hybrid and electric cabs and reshaped used values in the process. An owner-driver is underwritten personally, on badge history and trading evidence; a plate-holding company is underwritten as a business. Hire and reward insurance is quoted separately and is a real cost to budget for.
Examples of the machines we are asked to fund. This is not an exhaustive list — if what you are buying is not here, it does not mean we cannot fund it. Your supplier quote is what the agreement is written against.
| Machine | What it is |
|---|---|
| LEVC TX | Range extended purpose-built black cab |
| Mercedes-Benz Vito Taxi | Six-seat hackney with rear ramp |
| Nissan Dynamo | Electric purpose-built taxi for cities |
| Peugeot E-Traveller | Electric MPV licensed in many boroughs |
| Ford Galaxy | Seven-seat MPV used as a hackney |
| LEVC TX4 | Older diesel black cab still in service |
| Volkswagen Sharan | Seven-seat MPV for hackney plates |
| Vauxhall Vivaro Life | Accessible people carrier for hackney work |
| Toyota Proace Verso | MPV conversion for licensed hackney use |
| Ford Tourneo Custom WAV | Wheelchair accessible hackney conversion |
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Typically a driver who already holds a badge and has been renting a plated cab weekly, and has worked out that the rent is dead money. The trigger is usually a plate becoming available, an existing cab failing its licensing inspection, or a council tightening what it will re-plate. We also see drivers moving from a rented saloon into a purpose-built cab so they can take rank and wheelchair work they currently have to turn away.
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Bought on hire purchase, business plant and machinery normally qualifies for capital allowances on the full cost even though you pay for it monthly, which is a large part of why hire purchase is the common structure. On a finance lease you generally set the rentals against profit instead. The rules change between budgets and your position depends on how you trade, so treat this as the direction of travel and get your accountant to confirm the detail before you commit.
Usually the sequence runs the other way. A funder will want to know the vehicle is licensable, and you will want the plate confirmed before you take delivery. We normally arrange the facility subject to the vehicle passing its licensing inspection, so nothing is drawn down on a cab your authority will not accept.
Not in itself, but it narrows the buyer pool. A plated cab is worth what another licensed operator will pay, and purpose-built hackneys hold up reasonably because there is a national trade in them. Saloon-bodied cabs go back to the general used market once the plate is surrendered.
It is a factor rather than a barrier. A funder is looking at whether you can service the agreement, so a short badge history is usually offset by previous driving work, a clean credit profile or evidence of the rent you have been paying to drive someone else’s cab. We explain that context in the submission.
Often yes. Meters, roof signs, council-specified signage, partition screens and card terminals can normally be included as part of the total asset cost where they are fitted before delivery. It is cleaner to bundle them at the outset than to fund them separately afterwards.
The finance agreement does not change. If a licensing policy shift means your cab is no longer re-plateable, the practical options are to sell it into a district that will accept it, settle the agreement, or refinance into a compliant vehicle. Keeping an eye on your authority’s consultations is the best protection.
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Not an offer of finance. All finance is subject to status, affordability and lender approval.
Tell us what you’re looking to fund and Conor will come back to you personally — usually the same day.
Prefer to talk? Call 07581 364281 · serving Leeds, York, Harrogate, Wakefield, Selby, Tadcaster & across North & West Yorkshire.