Hello,
I am currently in the process of terminating my finance agreement with the finance company as i am half way through the aggrement. They sent a bloke to inspect the vehilce today from a reputable breakdown company to ensure the vehicle was in reasonable condition. He has come back with a wriiten report, stating that all four alloys need refurbishing and that there is a dent in the passenger door which you can hardly see, oh and a new tyre which i fully accept the tyre
The vehilce is on an X plate and Ive had it for two years its got 46000 on the clock and 3 owners me being the forth.
Can anyone advise the best thing to do as I think its really unfair that they want all this work done so the vehilce goes back in Showroom condition when I didn't buy it like that. There is an old AA report from the previsous owner whichs notes various dents and scratches on the vehilce. I can't remember whether the vehilce had damaged alloys when I bought it. The finance agreement states "reasonable condition" Its got an MOT a full service history" Any help please
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The car is 8 years old? I think it's reasonable to take that into account - good condition for a car of that age is not the same as for a much newer one.
If you have paid just half the HP price it's a fair bet that the finance house will lose a bundle when you surrender it - as you are fully entitled to do if you are up to date. I guess they are trying to mitigate their loss as much as they can.
I suggest you
(a) photograph everything if you haven't already, and keep copies of other evidence like service history and MoTs that show you have treated the car properly.
(b) surrender the car and make it clear that you regard it's condition as good taking into account the age, excepting the tyre if you are happy to bear that.
(c) If they do not agree with you, and you cannot reach an acceptable compromise, make a formal complaint.
(d) If the complaint is not resolved, involve the Financial Ombudsman service (and read the advice here - www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/consumer/complaints...m )
(e) If the lender is a member of the Finance & Leasing Association, invoke their complaints procedure as well - www.fla.org.uk/fla/consumerfinance/Consumercomplai...v
(f) Deal with all correspondence, dunning letters etc. promptly and make your position clear at every point. Keep copies of everything. Don't lose your temper.
Once they realise you aren't going to roll over I suspect they will give in.
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Thank you for this helpful advice I will give it ago
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He has come back with a wriiten report stating that all four alloys need refurbishing and that there is a dent in the passenger door which you can hardly see oh and a new tyre which i fully accept the tyre I think its really unfair that they want all this work done
Not clear from your post - Is the finance company actually asking for the work to be done? Or are you assuming they will based on the report?
Edited by Bill Payer on 01/07/2008 at 21:19
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Yes the finanice company are expectin the work to be done all of it as they state I am liable for it.
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I would check the terms of your agreement. I have a PCP on my car and it sets out terms such as service history etc and guidelines as to what is acceptable in terms of damage (sizes of scratches etc) upon return of the car.
Based on the age of your car I expect that its a straight forward HP agreement so is unlikly to have any terms regarding condition as the expectation is that you make all the payments and keep the car.
My guess is that they are trying it on to maximise their return, but you really need to read what you signed up to.
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Terminating the agreement is all about paying off the amount deemed
to be owing. In this case it seems that they are expecting to sell the
car to cover this amount.
Have you asked for a statement of the balance and compared it with the
value of the car?
Just giving them the car back is not likely to be a good deal for you.
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The car is worth about 2000 grand with a settlement of 3700 grand so there is quite a difference so it makes alot of sense to get rid as soon as
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