Anyone used energy trust used electric car loan?

[Pammela2]

Hi,

we’re thinking of getting an electric car. We’ve been looking at the 0% loan for a used electric car as linked below. Has anyone used it and was it straightforward?

https://energysavingtrust.org.uk/grants-and-loans/used-electric-vehicle-loan/

thanks!

We recently used it and also applied for the £400 home charger grant.

All straight forward enough, but took a looooooooooong time to process.

Agree it was simple but took quite a few weeks to go through. Happy with it though! Staff were lovely.

So did you just apply via the website and then went to look for cars once approved? Can you basically use any large dealership?

Tells you on the page you linked. We bought a MG and went to the local MG dealership.

Ye, I know that. I just mean did you wait for the application to be processed before looking at cars? The website suggests it shouldn’t take too long, but this doesn’t seem to be the case?
How long did it take you to receive the go ahead?

Currently in process, it is fairly slow. I would suggest finding a car first as you need to apply for the amount you want, not just generic approval.

Took 3 weeks from application to get approval for amount needed. Sent everything away 1 week ago and not heard back yet, website suggests another week at least then another 3-5 days for funds.

I think it's a no brainer at 0%, especially if you can charge at home. Saving about 10% in total payment compared to current bank loan rates.

Now I’m interested….
By any chance, would England be as progressive and offer similar incentives??

3/8/2023 Applied
14/08/2023 Loan Offer
16/08/2023 Sent Claim Documents - The docs when in claim being check status for about 3 weeks
15/09/2023 Someone called for me to verbally accept the loan and I had to send an email to confirm the verbal acceptance
22/9/2023 Money in bank

You are not allowed to buy the car until you have the loan offer, but you can put a deposit down on it. We bought the car in late August after the loan offer with our own funds as the dealer had been holding the car for us for 4-5 weeks by that point.

The dealers seem to be aware these things take a long time and they didn't mind holding the car for us, but we needed it quicker.

You also get the information you need to apply for the home charger grant with your loan offer. But you cant apply for that until you have bought the car. You also cant have it fitted until you are approved for the grant.

You pick a car first - you have to say what car you’re getting and how much it costs. We put a v small deposit on a Nissan at a major dealership and they held it for us. The dealership actually knew more about the length of time the process took than we did, so it was no problem.

Hi. I've been waiting quite a while now for the loan to be processed and the dealership (based in Liverpool, I'm in central Scotland) is getting a little anxious about this and chasing me for an update. However, it seems that EST are currently working their way through some massive backlog with no end date in sight. I've emailed twice and called twice in the last week, but their calls are being diverted to an external call handling company who can only pass on my message.

I'm wondering if it will be okay to purchase the car (through finance from the dealer) and then simply pay that loan off when the EST 0% loan comes through (whenever that might be...)? The dealer said it would be fine, but I don't want to be stung by EST for buying the car!

FYI

03/10/2023 Applied
19/10/2023 Loan Offer
24/10/2023 Claim Documents sent

Heard nothing since!

I was over 5 weeks from all documents sent to money being transfered, so you might not be far off!

Claim documents sent 1/10
Payment Received 8/11

EST want either a paid invoice or proof the money left your account through a bank statement. If either of those weren't the dealership I imagine there could be some questions asked.

If you have the funds available you can buy the car once you have the offer, but it will be at your own risk as the guy that called the week before we got the funds said still not guaranteed to get the EST loan until the money appears in your bank.

As pp says you need to send in a paid invoice to prove you bought the car. Don't think a paid off finance agreement would cover that requirement.

I now have my home charger installed and trying to sort out the paper work for the EST grant for that 🤦🏻‍♀️. Cant get the installer to provide the EIC certificate! Need to chase for the 6th time tomorrow 🤬

Thank you Blanketpolicy and TheTrees1 - appreciate the replies. I'm now wondering if I took out a short-term bank loan (Tesco or something like that) to pay the dealership that might suffice for the EST?

Sorry, but you can apply without a specific car.
Then supply details of a car you've reserved.

They say, you can't do that and they will cancel the loan.
Most dealers are aware of the delay and seem happy to wait ( if you are).

Can you buy a car over £30k?

No £30k maximum, it's in the documentation.
It also has to be over 6 months old and more than 1000 miles.

Update: the day I posted this I got an update from EST. Seems things are moving along and the money should be in my bank account this week. The dealership in Liverpool have never been through this process before so they were a little nervous to say the least. Give them their due; I paid a deposit and they've kept the car for me through this whole process.

Thanks for the updates / responses everyone. Merry Christmas (when it comes).

Can I ask how long it took.

I've been waiting 4 weeks.

I applied on the 10th October, and the money should hopefully be in my account by Thursday. EST are a nightmare to get updates from, sorry to be the bearer of bad news... (at least, this has been my experience). Hope you get your loan sorted sooner!

Yip. Hopeless to contact and chase. Fortunately the dealer is part of a national group and is aware of the issues.
Just so frustrating...

Hi, I just went online to look at this and it seems to have stopped! Is this correct? Kicking myself that we didn’t apply at the end of last year!

Yip. No longer accepting applications.

For those who got the loan, how long did it take before they started taking repayments? I got the funds mid Sept 2023 and they still have not taken any repayment yet?

I thought perhaps with them being so slow processing the loan, perhaps processing the repayment might take a while too!

I have emailed to enquire what is going on but no reply yet.