Excess mileage charges on a lease car

How it's calculated

Excess mileage charges are generally worked out as: (actual mileage at return minus your contracted mileage allowance) multiplied by an agreed pence-per-mile rate. Both the allowance and the rate are set out in your original lease agreement — they're not standard across the industry, so your own paperwork is the only reliable source for your specific figures.

Typical rates

Rates vary by vehicle and provider. Based on figures commonly published by UK leasing brokers and calculators, excess mileage rates are often somewhere in the range of roughly 3p to 30p per mile, with many ordinary cars falling in a narrower band within that. Treat this as a general sense of scale, not a quote — check your own agreement for the rate that actually applies to you.

Estimate your charge

Enter your contracted mileage allowance, your actual mileage at return, and your per-mile rate to estimate the charge. This runs in your browser only — nothing is sent anywhere or saved.

What to check before you accept the figure

• The allowance used matches your actual contracted allowance, not a default figure
• The mileage reading matches what was actually on the vehicle at return — ask for the recorded figure if it isn't shown
• The rate matches your agreement, not a generic or listed rate for a different vehicle
• Whether your allowance was ever formally amended during the contract, and whether that's reflected

If your circumstances changed during the contract

Some leasing companies allow you to formally amend your mileage allowance mid-contract if your driving needs change. This generally has to be arranged before the vehicle is returned — it's not something that can usually be applied retroactively once you've already handed the car back.

If the mileage figure doesn't look right, our guide todisputing lease return chargescovers your options. For the full picture on lease return charges generally, see our main guide.

This calculator gives a general estimate only, based on the figures you enter — it is not a substitute for checking your actual invoice and lease agreement, and is not legal or financial advice.