Knowledge base · Your rights
Lease or company car: who pays for which repair?
With a car that isn't yours, the first question with every repair is: who pays for this? The answer is not in the law but in the contract — and that differs per arrangement. These are the forms we see most often.
Operational lease
The leasing company owns the car; you pay a fixed monthly amount. Regular servicing and normal wear are usually included — brakes, tyres within the agreed terms, oil service. The leasing company often also decides where the work may be done. If you drive such a car, always call the leasing company before having a repair carried out; claiming afterwards rarely works.
Financial lease
You are the economic owner and pay the car off in instalments. Servicing and repairs are then your own cost and you choose the garage yourself. Here the normal rules on manufacturer warranty and servicing outside the dealer apply.
Company car from your employer
The employer owns or leases the car. Who pays and which garage is permitted is set out in the company car policy. Ask about it before something breaks — not while you are standing at the roadside with a failed clutch.
A car through an employment agency
We see this arrangement regularly. Often the agency provides the car, sometimes with an excess in case of damage and with agreements about who arranges servicing. Important: ask for those agreements in writing. Verbal promises along the lines of "we'll sort that out" cause disputes later about wear items such as tyres, brakes and clutch.
The grey area: wear or damage?
This is where most disputes arise. A worn clutch at 180,000 km is wear. A clutch that fails at 40,000 km may come down to driving style. A kerbed wheel is damage, not wear. We record neutrally and factually what we find — which is exactly what a leasing company or employer needs to judge who is liable.
What to sort out in advance
- Find out which arrangement you drive under and what the contract says about servicing, tyres and damage.
- Ask whether a mandatory garage network applies.
- In case of doubt, have the car read out and assessed first, with written findings — then the paying party decides.
- Keep all invoices; the car's condition is assessed when it is handed back.
Handing the car back
At return, the car is inspected for damage beyond normal use. Small things that are cheap to fix beforehand — a cracked windscreen, worn wipers, a bald tyre — are often charged more heavily at return than if you have them done yourself. A check a month before handover usually pays for itself.
Worth checking during brake service and scheduled servicing in Tilburg.