PCP finance calculator
A PCP calculator works out the monthly payment on a personal contract purchase from the price, deposit, term, APR and optional final payment (GMFV), which is deferred to the end so monthly payments are lower than on hire purchase. It also shows the total amount payable and the most you could be asked to pay to end early.
An example, not a quote — Autoza is not a lender or broker.
Important information
The half rule is what section 100 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974 sets as the most it can cost to end a PCP or hire purchase agreement early: the amount by which one half of the total price exceeds what you have paid. Section 100(1) is a maximum, applying unless your agreement provides for a smaller payment or none. Because section 189(1) of the Consumer Credit Act 1974 counts the optional final payment inside that total price — alongside your deposit and every monthly instalment — while the instalments never pay the final payment down, that point falls later than halfway through the term when your final payment is bigger than your deposit, and earlier when your deposit is bigger. Arrears still stand, and so does damage where the car was not looked after (section 100(4)); whether excess mileage does turns on the wording of your agreement. Leasing is outside section 99.
This page states what the law says and what your own figures produce. It does not recommend a product, a lender or a course of action.
Your figures
Example monthly payment
£336.25× 48
Then an optional final payment of £8,000 if you want to keep the car. Total amount payable £26,140.00.
An example, not a quote — Autoza is not a lender or broker.
This starts from a worked example. Change the figures to match the car you are looking at. Already have a PCP agreement? Choose “Check my agreement” above.
The advertised price of the car, before any deposit.
MoneyHelper says a PCP deposit is usually at least 10% of the car’s value. It counts in full towards the sums paid from day one. (Whether a bigger deposit brings the half-rule point forward depends on the final payment: see below.)
The number of monthly instalments. MoneyHelper says a PCP usually runs for three to five years (36 to 60 months).
Seeded at 12% because that is the average APR on hire purchase for used vehicles in the FCA’s survey of lenders’ 2023 agreements (CP25/27 Technical Annex 2, 7 October 2025). That is an average across the FCA’s own dataset, not a rate on offer, and not your rate: replace it with the APR on the quote you are looking at.
The finance company sets this at the start of the deal, from an estimate of what the car will be worth at the end (the guaranteed minimum future value). The figure shown is an illustration, 40% of the price, not a typical one. Enter 0 for hire purchase.
Part of the total price under s.189(1), so it moves the threshold. Treated as £0 if left blank.
Browse cars priced around £20,000
Used cars listed by dealers on Autoza, by cash price.
Browse cars in this price rangeThe half rule, with the arithmetic
Section 100(1) of the Consumer Credit Act 1974 sets the liability on termination as the amount by which one half of the total price exceeds the sums paid and the sums due. The section is a ceiling: it applies “unless the agreement provides for a smaller payment, or does not provide for any payment”, and section 100(3) lets a court order less again where that smaller sum would equal the lender’s actual loss. The figure this page produces is the most you can be asked for, not a charge every agreement makes.
| Deposit and part-exchange | £2,000.00 |
|---|---|
| 48 monthly payments of £336.25 | £16,140.00 |
| Optional final payment (balloon / GMFV) | £8,000.00 |
| Option-to-purchase fee | £0.00 |
| Total price (CCA 1974 s.189) | £26,140.00 |
| Half the total price (s.100(1) threshold) | £13,070.00 |
The balloon is inside the total price but not inside the monthly payments, and here it is bigger than the deposit. That is why the halfway point falls later than halfway through the term, and it is what most explanations of the half rule leave out.
On these figures the threshold is reached at month 33 of 48 (69% of the way through). To see what ending an agreement you already hold could cost today, choose “Check my agreement” above and enter the instalments you have paid.
The same car on HP and on PCP
Identical cash price, deposit, term and APR. The only difference is the optional final payment, and it moves the half-rule point by months, or past the end of the term.
| HP, no final payment | PCP, £8,000 final payment | |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly payment | £468.61 | £336.25 |
| Total price (s.189) | £24,493.28 | £26,140.00 |
| Half-rule threshold | £12,246.64 | £13,070.00 |
| Threshold reached at | Month 22 of 48 (46%) | Month 33 of 48 (69%) |
What voluntary termination does not clear
Reaching the threshold ends the agreement. It does not wipe the slate, and the bill that arrives afterwards is where most of the surprise lives.
- Excess mileage, but only if your agreement makes that charge build up during the agreement. Voluntary termination does not wipe out liabilities that had already accrued (s.99(2)); the Financial Ombudsman has allowed an excess-mileage charge on top of the half-rule figure where the contract said so, and ordered it removed where the charge arose only when the car was handed back.
- Any arrears outstanding on the agreement.
- More than the half-rule figure if you have not taken reasonable care of the car — s.100(4) increases the liability by the amount needed to compensate the lender for that.
- You must still return the car. The right ends the agreement; it does not transfer ownership, which only passes on the final payment and the option-to-purchase fee.
Monthly payment
An example, not a quote — Autoza is not a lender or broker.
Half rule
69% of the way through the term, later than halfway.
Assumptions in this figure
- APR converted to a monthly rate as (1 + APR)^(1/12) − 1, the basis prescribed by CONC App 1.2.6R — not APR ÷ 12.
- A month is treated as 30.41666 days (365 ÷ 12), per CONC App 1.2.6R(3)(e).
- Any optional final payment is treated as falling due on the same date as the last monthly payment. If your agreement has it a month later, the monthly payment will be slightly higher.
- This is an illustration on the figures entered. A lender's own schedule may differ by a small amount because of rounding and fee timing.
- The APR used is 12%, the seeded FCA average rather than your own rate.
PCP repayment schedule
Each month’s interest is the balance owed times the monthly rate; the rest of the payment repays what you borrowed. The optional final payment is due after the last month. An example worked from the figures above.
- Total interest
- £6,140.00
- Total amount payable
- £26,140.00
- Total of the 48 monthly payments
- £16,140.00
- Optional final payment
- £8,000.00
Total amount payable includes the deposit, the final payment.
The four sections that matter
- s.99(1) — the right to terminate at any time before the final payment falls due.
- s.100(1) — liability is the amount by which one half of the total price exceeds the sums paid and due, unless the agreement provides for a smaller payment, or does not provide for any payment.
- s.100(3) — a court may order a smaller sum where that sum equals the loss the creditor actually sustained.
- s.189(1) — total price includes any sum payable on exercise of the option to purchase.
The Consumer Credit Act 1974 extends to the whole United Kingdom, Northern Ireland included, so unlike the MOT fee or a clean air zone charge, nothing on this page is a Great Britain-only rule.
Read the section 75 guideHow a PCP works: the final payment, mileage and condition
A personal contract purchase is a form of hire purchase: a deposit, monthly payments, and an optional final ‘balloon’ payment, often called the Guaranteed Minimum Future Value (GMFV). The FCA says the monthly payments on a PCP cover the car’s depreciation plus interest, so you are paying for the part of the car you use, not the whole of it.
The optional final payment (GMFV). It is the figure the agreement sets for what the car is expected to be worth at the end, so it is linked to the expected value of the car rather than being a small option fee as on hire purchase. You pay it only if you choose to keep the car. If the car is worth more than the final payment when the agreement ends, the difference (equity) can go towards a new deposit.
Mileage. A PCP agreement can set an annual mileage allowance, pro-rated if the agreement ends early, with a charge for each mile over it. MoneyHelper says the allowance is usually 10,000 miles a year, and the two Financial Ombudsman Service decisions cited below show how different the terms can be from one agreement to the next (5,000 miles a year at 8p a mile including VAT in one, 10,000 a year at 9p plus VAT in the other), so the figures that count are the ones in your own agreement.
Condition. The car is inspected when it goes back. The agreement sets the standard it must be returned in, and a charge for damage beyond that is added from the inspection. This calculator cannot know either, so it works out the arithmetic and leaves the amounts to your agreement.
Sources, read 5 October 2026: FCA, Updated diagnostic report on motor finance commission arrangements (March 2026), paras 4.13 to 4.16; FCA, CP25/27 Technical Annex 2, State of Competition in the Motor Finance Market (7 October 2025), para 62 and the chapter 4 key summary; MoneyHelper (Money and Pensions Service), Buying a car with Personal Contract Purchase (PCP); Financial Ombudsman Service decision DRN-3597504 (12 January 2023); Financial Ombudsman Service decision DRN-3300710 (14 February 2022).
Worked example: one car, three shapes of agreement
£20,000 cash price, £2,000 deposit, 48 months, 12% APR. The final payments are illustrations, not typical figures. An example, not a quote — Autoza is not a lender or broker.
| Figure | Hire purchase, no final payment | PCP, £8,000 final payment | PCP, £14,000 final payment |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monthly payment (× 48) | £468.61 | £336.25 | £236.98 |
| Total of the monthly payments | £22,493.28 | £16,140.00 | £11,375.04 |
| Optional final payment (GMFV) | None | £8,000.00 | £14,000.00 |
| Total interest | £4,493.28 | £6,140.00 | £7,375.04 |
| Total amount payable, if you pay the final payment | £24,493.28 | £26,140.00 | £27,375.04 |
| Half the total price (s.100(1)) | £12,246.64 | £13,070.00 | £13,687.52 |
| Half-rule point reached | Month 22 of 48 (46%) | Month 33 of 48 (69%) | Not reached by the instalments alone |
Same car, same deposit, same term, same APR. On hire purchase the half-rule point lands at month 22 of 48. Add an £8,000 final payment and it moves to month 33, which is 69% of the way through. Raise the final payment to £14,000 and the threshold falls beyond the last instalment altogether: paying every monthly instalment would still leave a shortfall under section 100(1), so there is no point at which the half rule leaves nothing to pay. Section 99(1) gives the right only before the final payment falls due, and on a PCP that is normally the optional final payment, so once the last monthly instalment has been paid, whether the right is still open depends on the date your agreement gives for that payment: if it falls due with the last instalment the right has gone, and if it falls due later the right runs until then, so check the date in your agreement.
For the law behind these figures written out at length, read the voluntary termination guide, or can I hand my car back on finance for the answer in a paragraph. For a level monthly repayment on its own, the shape of a personal loan or plain hire purchase, use the car finance calculator or the hire purchase calculator.
PCP vs HP vs personal loan
The monthly payment means something different in each, which is why quotes for different products are so hard to compare. This is how the three differ on ownership, the final payment, mileage and ending early.
| Feature | Personal loan | Hire purchase (HP) | PCP |
|---|---|---|---|
| Who owns the car | You, from the day you buy it. The loan is a separate debt, usually not secured on the car. | The finance company, until the final payment and any option-to-purchase fee are paid. | The finance company, until you pay the optional final payment. A PCP is a form of hire purchase. |
| Final payment | None. Once the loan is repaid nothing is left to settle. | No large final payment, only the option-to-purchase fee if the agreement has one. | An optional final payment (the balloon, or GMFV), often much larger than an HP option fee. |
| What the monthly payments cover | The whole amount borrowed, plus interest. | The whole price less your deposit, plus interest. | The car’s depreciation plus interest, not the whole price. Lower than HP on the same price, term and APR. |
| Mileage limit | None. Nothing in the loan depends on what the car will be worth. | Only if the agreement sets one. A plain HP has no future value to protect. | Set by the agreement, with a charge per mile over it. Condition is checked when the car goes back. |
| At the end | Nothing more to pay once the loan is repaid. | Pay the last payment and any option fee and the car is yours. | Choose: pay the final payment and keep the car, return it, or use any equity towards a new car. |
| Paying off or ending early | A regulated agreement can be paid off at any time, with a rebate of interest. On a fixed-rate agreement the lender may also claim up to 1% of the amount repaid early (0.5% if a year or less was left) when more than £8,000 is repaid in a 12-month period, and never more than the interest it would have earned (s.95A). | The same early-settlement right and the same possible charge, plus a statutory right to end the agreement and return the car, by written notice. What that can cost is capped at the shortfall to half the total price. | As HP. The half is measured on a total price that includes the final payment, so the point is reached later than on HP with the same price, term and APR. |
Sources, read 5 October 2026: FCA, Updated diagnostic report on motor finance commission arrangements (March 2026), paras 4.13 to 4.16; FCA, CP25/27 Technical Annex 2, State of Competition in the Motor Finance Market (7 October 2025), para 62 and the chapter 4 key summary; Financial Ombudsman Service decision DRN-3597504 (12 January 2023); Financial Ombudsman Service decision DRN-3300710 (14 February 2022); Financial Ombudsman Service decision DRN-3329324 (1 March 2022); Consumer Credit Act 1974, section 94 (right to complete payments ahead of time); Consumer Credit Act 1974, section 95A (compensation for early settlement); Consumer Credit Act 1974, section 99 (right to terminate hire-purchase agreements); Consumer Credit Act 1974, section 100 (liability on termination); Consumer Credit Act 1974, section 189(1) (definition of total price).
Autoza describes how each works and recommends none. For the total interest on the same car as a hire purchase agreement see the hire purchase calculator, or the car finance calculator for a loan. For a longer walk-through there is our PCP vs HP vs personal loan guide.
What you would pay if you hand the car back
At the end of the term a PCP gives three choices (the FCA lists them as returning the car, paying the final payment to own it, or using any equity towards a new car). This is the same £20,000 example as the table above, with an £8,000 final payment, worked through each way. An example, not a quote — Autoza is not a lender or broker.
Pay the final payment and keep it
£8,000.00
due at the end of month 48
Total paid across the agreement: £26,140.00 (£2,000 deposit, £16,140.00 of monthly payments and the final payment). The car is then yours.
Hand it back
£480.00
example excess-mileage charge, no final payment
Example: 6,000 miles over a 40,000-mile allowance (10,000 a year for 4 years) at 8p a mile. Damage beyond fair wear and tear is charged on top, from the inspection and your agreement, and is not worked out here. Total paid across the agreement: £18,620.00 plus any damage charge, and you do not own the car.
Part-exchange it
Depends on its value
no figure, because the car’s value on the day is not known in advance
The finance is settled out of what the car is worth on the day. If that is more than the £8,000 final payment, the difference (equity) can go towards your next deposit.
Ending it early instead: the 50% rule
Section 99 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974 lets you end a regulated PCP or hire purchase agreement at any time before the final payment falls due, by giving the lender notice in writing (section 189(1) defines notice as written), and section 100 caps what that can cost at the amount by which half the total price exceeds what you have paid. Lenders print that as half the total amount payable. The total price counts the £8,000 final payment (section 189(1)), so here half is £13,070.00. After 24 of 48 payments you would have paid £10,070.00, so the most you could be asked to pay to end it then is £3,000.00. The half-rule point is reached at month 33; after that nothing further is due under the half rule.
That figure is a ceiling, not a fixed charge: the Act applies it unless your agreement asks for less, and a court can order a smaller sum. You still hand the car back, and arrears, damage where the car was not looked after (section 100(4)) and, depending on when your agreement says the charge builds up, excess mileage can come on top. The Financial Ombudsman Service allowed excess mileage alongside the half-rule sum in DRN-3597504 and ordered it removed in DRN-3329324 and DRN-3300710, where the charge arose only on return of the car (DRN-3300710 also found the agreement not clear enough about it). Voluntary termination of car finance: the half rule in full.
Sources, read 5 October 2026: FCA, Updated diagnostic report on motor finance commission arrangements (March 2026), paras 4.13 to 4.16; Consumer Credit Act 1974, section 99 (right to terminate hire-purchase agreements); Consumer Credit Act 1974, section 100 (liability on termination); Consumer Credit Act 1974, section 189(1) (definition of total price); Financial Ombudsman Service decision DRN-3597504 (12 January 2023); Financial Ombudsman Service decision DRN-3300710 (14 February 2022); Financial Ombudsman Service decision DRN-3329324 (1 March 2022).
How these figures are worked out
The APR is converted to a true monthly rate, not divided by 12.
monthly rate = (1 + APR)^(1/12) − 1
An APR is an effective annual rate, so the monthly rate it implies is the twelfth root of (1 + APR) minus one. Dividing the APR by 12 instead gives a nominal rate that overstates the monthly charge: on £18,000 over 48 months at 12% APR the two methods differ by about £5 a month. This calculator uses the effective rate, which is how the FCA’s APR rules define an APR.
Payments are rounded to the penny. A lender’s own schedule can differ from these figures by a few pence a month from rounding, and by more where its agreement sets fees, payment dates or a final payment due a month after the last instalment, so these figures do not reproduce a lender’s quote. FCA Handbook, CONC App 1.2.6R (read 5 October 2026).
Separate point: section 75 does not cover ordinary dealer-arranged HP or PCP
Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974 makes the creditor jointly liable with the supplier. Section 75 requires an agreement within CCA 1974 s.12(b) or (c). Dealer-arranged hire purchase and PCP fall outside it because the creditor is also the supplier.
Where section 75 does apply, to purchases put on a credit card, it covers a cash price above £100 and up to £30,000. That is why a deposit paid by card is often the part of a car purchase that section 75 reaches, while the finance on the car itself is not.
Above £30,000, section 75A can give a narrower claim against the lender for the dealer’s breach of contract (it does not mention misrepresentation) under a “linked credit agreement” for credit of £60,260 or less, if the dealer cannot be traced, has not responded, is insolvent or the buyer has taken reasonable steps without getting satisfaction. Our answer on section 75 sets out the conditions. On a dealer-arranged hire purchase or PCP the finance company is itself the supplier, so the two routes below are the ones that apply.
The two routes that do work are stronger, not weaker:
- •CCA 1974 s.56(2) — the dealer negotiates as agent of the finance company, so its statements bind the lender.
- •Consumer Rights Act 2015 s.7 — hire purchase is a goods contract, so a satisfactory-quality claim lies against the finance company that owns the car.
Alongside those, the Consumer Rights Act 2015 gives a 30-day short-term right to reject a faulty car from delivery, and a fault appearing within six months is presumed to have been present at delivery — section 19(14) attaches that presumption to repair or replacement, price reduction and the final right to reject, not to the 30-day short-term right. Cars are the exception to the usual no-deduction rule: section 24(10) lets a deduction for use be made even inside the first six months, and it can only be made because the goods are a motor vehicle.
On a PCP or HP the refund is not the price of the car. Section 20(14) of the Consumer Rights Act 2015 provides that where a hire-purchase agreement or a conditional sales contract is treated as at an end before the whole of the price has been paid, the entitlement to a refund extends only to the part of the price paid — your deposit and the instalments made. The outstanding balance goes with the agreement rather than being paid out to you.
Full guide: section 75 and car financeWhy the halfway point is not halfway
The half rule is usually described as handing the car back once you have paid half. That is right about the fraction and wrong about the base. The half is measured against the total price, and section 189(1) defines the total price to include any sum payable on exercise of an option to purchase. On a PCP that is the balloon, and it can be a large share of the total price.
So the balloon sits inside the number you are climbing towards while sitting outside the payments doing the climbing. The consequence is arithmetic, not opinion: the more of the price is deferred into the final payment, the smaller each instalment and the later the crossing point. Push it far enough and the crossing point moves past the end of the term.
A deposit counts in full towards the sums paid on the day the agreement starts, which is why the hire purchase column in the worked example above reaches the threshold slightly before the midpoint of the term rather than exactly at it. Whether a bigger deposit always brings the crossing point forward depends on the final payment: only half the deposit counts net against the total price, and a bigger deposit also lowers each instalment, so when the final payment is a large share of the price (roughly half of it or more, depending on the APR and term) more deposit can push the point later.
Section 99(1) gives the right at any time before the final payment falls due, and it applies to hire purchase and to conditional sale agreements regulated by the Act. PCP is a form of hire purchase, so it is covered: you do not own the car until the final payment and any option-to-purchase fee are paid.
What the calculator does not know
It does not know your excess mileage. Whether that lands on top of the half-rule figure turns on your own agreement: the Financial Ombudsman Service allowed it alongside the half-rule sum in DRN-3597504 and DRN-4066698, and ordered it removed in DRN-3329324 and DRN-3300710, where the contract triggered the charge only on return of the car (DRN-3300710 also found the agreement not clear enough about it). On a high-mileage year it can be the larger of the two.
It does not know your lender's own schedule. The payment here is an annuity computed from the APR you entered, on the monthly-rate basis prescribed by CONC App 1.2.6R. Small differences in rounding and fee timing are normal.
It does not know what the car will be worth. Voluntary termination is a right to end the agreement, not a valuation, and a PCP's final payment is the finance company's estimate, made at the start of the deal, of what the car will be worth at the end (MoneyHelper). This calculator takes that figure from you and cannot check it against the car.
The FCA motor finance redress scheme is separate
The half rule is a statutory right under the 1974 Act that exists whether or not any redress is ever paid. The scheme's dates, the notification deadlines and what the FCA says about claims management companies are set out in am I owed car finance compensation.
Sources
Each was fetched and read on 5 October 2026. Autoza is not authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority and does not give financial advice; An example, not a quote — Autoza is not a lender or broker.
- FCA, Updated diagnostic report on motor finance commission arrangements (March 2026), paras 4.13 to 4.16 — what the forms of hire purchase are, who owns the car, and the choices at the end of the agreement.
- FCA, CP25/27 Technical Annex 2, State of Competition in the Motor Finance Market (7 October 2025), para 62 and the chapter 4 key summary — PCP payments covering depreciation plus interest, the choices at the end, and the 12% average APR on hire purchase for used vehicles.
- Consumer Credit Act 1974, section 94 (right to complete payments ahead of time) — paying off a regulated agreement early.
- Consumer Credit Act 1974, section 95A (compensation for early settlement) — the up-to-1% charge a lender can claim when more than £8,000 is repaid early on a fixed-rate agreement.
- Consumer Credit Act 1974, section 99 (right to terminate hire-purchase agreements) — the right to end an HP or PCP agreement before the final payment falls due.
- Consumer Credit Act 1974, section 100 (liability on termination) — the half-of-total-price ceiling on what ending early can cost.
- Consumer Credit Act 1974, section 189(1) (definition of total price) — the total price including any sum payable on the option to purchase.
- FCA Handbook, CONC App 1.2.6R — how an APR is defined, and so how it converts to a monthly rate.
- Financial Ombudsman Service decision DRN-3597504 (12 January 2023) — an example of mileage terms in a real agreement (5,000 miles a year, 8p a mile including VAT), and excess mileage allowed on voluntary termination.
- Financial Ombudsman Service decision DRN-3300710 (14 February 2022) — excess mileage ordered removed because the charge accrued only after the agreement ended and, in the alternative, because the agreement was not clear enough about it (10,000 miles a year, 9p a mile plus VAT).
- Financial Ombudsman Service decision DRN-3329324 (1 March 2022) — excess mileage ordered removed where the charge accrued only after the agreement ended, on return of the car.
- Financial Ombudsman Service decision DRN-4066698 (12 May 2023) — excess mileage allowed alongside the half-rule sum where the agreement made the charge accrue immediately before termination (8,000 miles a year, 18.02p a mile).
- MoneyHelper (Money and Pensions Service), Buying a car with Personal Contract Purchase (PCP) — the usual PCP deposit (at least 10% of the car’s value), contract length (three to five years) and mileage allowance (10,000 miles a year), and that the finance company sets the final payment at the start of the deal.
An example, not a quote — Autoza is not a lender or broker.
Factual information only. This page describes what the Consumer Credit Act 1974 says and what the figures you entered produce under it. It is not advice, not a recommendation and not a quotation, and it does not suggest that anyone should take, keep or end any finance agreement. Statutory references verified against legislation.gov.uk; APR averages from FCA, CP25/27 Technical Annex 2 (7 October 2025), read 5 October 2026. Always check the agreement itself and speak to your lender before acting.
Monthly payment
£336.25
PCP, before any fees, not a quote