The findings
| Finding | Result |
|---|---|
| Quotes analysed | 1,753, across 53 providers |
| Disclosed no interest rate at all | 68.2% |
| Disclosed rates that understated the real cost | 92.5% |
| Quotes carrying an accurate rate | 1.9% |
What it means
Two in three quotes give you no rate to compare. Of those that do, almost all print a figure below the real reducing-balance rate — usually because it is a flat rate, or because fees capitalised into the lease are left out of it. Fewer than one quote in fifty states the rate you actually pay.
That is why a rate has to be calculated from the cash flows rather than read off the quote, and why any comparison is only as good as its method.
The fix we proposed
The Novated Lease Transparency Standard (NLTS) asks every quote to print five figures in the same order — finance payments, balloon, total cost, total amount financed and total term charges — all ex GST and excluding management fees and running costs. With those five, anyone can calculate the real rate and see the true cost of the finance in dollars.