We’ve all heard about the credit crunch phenomenon over recent months and it’s been widely reported that the source of the problem was the US mortgage sub-prime sector.

However, the impact of the crunch is now being felt across lending institutions worldwide, as well as consumers.

As we said last month, it’s going to become increasingly difficult for customers hit by the crunch to be able to source “cheap” or “easy” credit from now on.

Indeed, many banks are expected to become more restrictive in their lending as they anticipate heavier losses from their higher risk loans.

Direct lenders, and some finance houses, may have to resort to this practice, as they are also exposed to personal loans.

Black Horse, however, is determined to maintain its existing lending criteria, which is great news for dealers and their customers.

In order to offer dealers the flexibility to submit proposals for all their customers, and have a greater chance of having that deal accepted, a number of initiatives are being piloted with nearly 2,000 Black Horse dealers across the UK.

Such initiatives allow us to maximise the business we can write with our dealers during a period when other lenders are re-assessing their lending criteria and are being forced to become more restrictive.

The success of our pilots demonstrates the fact that we can continue to write a broad range of risk, at the right price.

Dealers must offer more competitive pricing and automatically provide consumers with a finance quote.

Only then will consumers see that it’s not worth going elsewhere.

Consumers want to choose a car, arrange their finance and drive off the forecourt. Dealers have the products in place to enable them to do this.

Adopting our new pricing approach not only provides dealers with a level playing field to compete with direct lenders, but means that they’re now better placed to offer as competitive a deal as the high street can.