What Documents Do I Need for Car Finance?
You'll need to provide certain proofs when applying for car financing, whether online or in person. Each is required for various reasons, which we'll discuss further below, but if you're looking for a complete list of car finance documents, you've come to the right place. Knowing the exact documents you need will help speed up the application process and get you on your way in your new motor quicker.
1) Proof of Identification
For this lenders will either require a copy of your driver’s licence or passport. Both need to be valid and signed. Your driver’s licence can either be full or provisional.
If you need to replace either document, you can do so on the GOV.UK website. To get a replacement of your driving licence, you can do so here or if you require a new passport, you can apply here.
2) Proof of address
You’ll need to provide your address history from the past 3 months, and potentially any other addresses you’ve lived at over the past 3 years.
You can use either a gas, electricity or council tax bill, and it can be in joint names.
If you’re unable to provide a utility bill as proof of address, some lenders also accept:
Bank statements
Payslips
An up to date credit card statement
A letter from your college or university
A mortgage statement
A rental agreement for where you’re currently living
3) Proof of income
The documents you need to provide to prove your income differ depending on if you are employed, self employed or on benefits. Lenders want to see your proof of income to ensure you can afford to pay the finance loan you’re applying for and avoid any potential money laundering or other suspicious activity.
Employed
You’ll usually have to provide your last 3 months worth of payslips.
Self Employed
Seeing as you can’t provide payslips if you're self-employed, you can either use bank statements, or if most of your income is cash based, you’ll need to provide tax return information. This does depend on the lender though.
On benefits
Whether you’re receiving job seekers allowance or you’re on universal credit, as long as you can prove you meet a minimum income each month to be considered.
A lot of the time the benefits you receive must be additional to another form of income you already receive.
It’s worth bearing in mind that the specific documentation you need to provide across any of the categories may vary from lender to lender.
Looking for car finance in Plymouth?
Trying to find used cars on finance in Plymouth? We have over 90 pre-owned vehicles in stock, all ready and prepared to be driven away. All are available to be bought either on hire purchase or personal contract purchase car finance, and you can get a free finance check to see if you’ll be accepted before you apply.