Activa Contracts has launched Rental Plus in response to an increasing demand for vehicle flexibilty coupled with changing employment conditions and tightening duty of care legislation.

The vehicle leasing and fleet management company's new product aims to enable fleets to hire cars and vans for 84 days or more and return them at any time without penalty.

The mini-lease programme has been developed and launched so customer vehicle demand for a wide range of immediate requirements can be met.

Typically that could include:

• Vehicle provision for new staff during the completion of a probationary period of employment
• A new business win and employees assigned to the contract requiring immediate vehicle support
• Employees without the benefit of a company car requiring a vehicle for a specific period of time
• Employees requiring a vehicle while working on secondment to a UK-based business from sister companies located elsewhere in the world
• Seasonal demands, particularly for temporary sales staff recruited to launch new products and to manage regional or national product promotions
• Companies undergoing change perhaps as a result of a takeover or due to a major fleet review and a hold being put on new vehicle orders
• As a stop-gap measure for employees between the disposal of their current company car and prior to them taking delivery of their new vehicle.

Lisa Temperton, sales director at Activa Contracts, said: “Rental Plus could be used by employers to meet a wide range of job requirements and negates any need for employees to use their own cars on business which can prove to be an expensive alternative due to mileage reimbursement.

"Equally it is administratively inefficient, particularly from a duty of care viewpoint.”