Voluntary Termination of a Hire purchase or conditional loan under the CCA 1974

[Jacques]

Re: Voluntary Termination of a Hire purchase or conditional loan under the CCA 1974

[MENTION=71570]R0b[/MENTION]

I think I should have a good think about it over the weekend. I'll get back in touch with you on Monday.

Thank you for all your help. It is really appreciated.

[R0b]

Re: Voluntary Termination of a Hire purchase or conditional loan under the CCA 1974

No worries

The only other alternative I can think of is that you agree to pay but is paid under duress or undue influence and reserve the right to bring a claim for unjust enrichment at a later date through court proceedings (if you wanted to argue in court) but other than that, its a case of pay up or carry on challenging and hopefully, they will just write it off and take no further action.

One thing to note is that claims brought by lenders for excess mileage is pretty much non-existant, wouldn't you think that an amount such as £700 would be worth pursuing if its a clear cut debt case? Perhaps the reason why no claims are brought is because they are aware that they have no basis to bring a claim and rely on those who are scared and end up paying eventually.

[Jacques]

Re: Voluntary Termination of a Hire purchase or conditional loan under the CCA 1974

[MENTION=71570]R0b[/MENTION],

Good Morning. I have had a good think over the weekend and also discussed with my partner. We think the best step of us at this moment in time is to do what you said in your last post and pay the excess mileage charge but do so under duress or undue influence to prevent any issue when it come to us wanting to buy a house. To be honest I'm not 100% sure of the procedure of doing so or what it means exactly and will need to look into it a bit. If you are willing to asset me I would really appreciate it although I understand that this may be a bit of a waist of time for you.

It is very frustrating that a creditor can just charge you an amount, to which by law you are not liable, and basically use threats of dept collectors and bad credit history to make you pay because they know that most people are either ignorant or scared. And like you said, if it were such a clear cut dept case why do you they go about it this way. Their tactics however has worked on me in this instance and I am sure many other before and after me.

I think I am going to contact ford (phone call or letter) to tell them that their figures in that last letter does not add up and that they need to give a breakdown for exactly what I am being charged for and how they have calculated these amount.

I will then write to them to offer payment but do so under duress and undue influence and hopefully be able to get the money back.

Do you agree with my method?

[R0b]

Re: Voluntary Termination of a Hire purchase or conditional loan under the CCA 1974

If you want to go down that route then I would advise with caution. There is no general principle that if money for a debt was paid when in fact it wasn't due it must be returned, but it may be returned in certain circumstances such as mistake or duress or undue influence. Paying money then reclaiming it back is always much harder than to challenge it, so if you do go down this route then it does come with its risks.

Another alternative for the above is to obtain a declaration from the court that Ford is not entitled to the sums owed. This does not require you to go to court but you can make an application and submit your evidence on paper which the judge will consider based on the contract and the legislation related to it. That route will then allow you at least get a legal opinion as to what the judge thinks would be the correct route.

Equally, if a default was applied on your credit file then you could bring a claim for inaccurate data to remove the default and damages on top especially if you are looking to buy a house at some point in the future.

The decision is of course yours if you want to pay under protest and try to recover it but it could be difficult, or the alternative is to request a declaration from the court that the charges are unenforceable.

[Jacques]

Re: Voluntary Termination of a Hire purchase or conditional loan under the CCA 1974

Is it possible to just invoice them for an amount and take their tactics?

How long would it take to submit a application to the court to get a declaration from them? I only have until the 8th of November before they sell my dept to link.

[R0b]

Re: Voluntary Termination of a Hire purchase or conditional loan under the CCA 1974

You are not going to get a response from the court by 8 November that's for sure. Just because it goes to Link Financial does not mean they are going to take immediate action against you. They would more likely than not threaten court action against you and issue proceedings which ultimately would save you any money.

All I can really say is that if you are really that worried, then pay up and then you could try and seek to claim it back through the court by issuing proceedings, but bearing in mind the risks as pointed out above. If you do pay up then you need to make it clear that the payment is being made under protest of duress/undue influence in that you are effectively being forced to make payment in order to avoid any adverse effect on your credit rating, and in due course you will be seeking further advice on bringing an action against Ford for the recovery of such sums.

Also in mind if you do issue a claim against Ford for the recovery of monies paid, expect them to have a lawyer in court representing them.

[Jacques]

Re: Voluntary Termination of a Hire purchase or conditional loan under the CCA 1974

Do you know if their is a time limit on issue proceeding to claim back a payment made under protest?

[R0b]

Re: Voluntary Termination of a Hire purchase or conditional loan under the CCA 1974

I would say that unless you can prove it was fraudulent, the limitation period is 6 years.

[Jacques]

Re: Voluntary Termination of a Hire purchase or conditional loan under the CCA 1974

[MENTION=71570]R0b[/MENTION], would you be willing to help me write a letter with regards to making a payment under protest, or at the very least look ever it once I've written something?

[R0b]

Re: Voluntary Termination of a Hire purchase or conditional loan under the CCA 1974

If you draft something up then I will take a look at it yes

[Jacques]

Re: Voluntary Termination of a Hire purchase or conditional loan under the CCA 1974

Thank you [MENTION=71570]R0b[/MENTION]

[Andyreed99]

Re: Voluntary Termination of a Hire purchase or conditional loan under the CCA 1974

I have been viewing the forum in recent months and think I have made a big error of judgement and the understanding of this process.

I have a PCP with Mercedes Benz Finance and have made 22 payments @ £440 per month on a 36 month agreement. The termination figure on my agreement is £17275 so I assumed that I had to have made payments to 50% of that value and not the total sum of £34,550. I have sent the VT letter via special delivery on 4/10/16 and gave 14 days notice as per the template letter. I had no response so called them on 18/10/16 at which point they said they had not received so I sent via email with proof of signature.

I have again called them today as I received a request for payment as I cancelled the DD due November 1st. Having spoken to their customer services advisor, he has told me I am incorrect in my calculations and I would have to pay back an additional £3.3k to meet the 50% figure.

I am now at a loss what to do as may have messed up big time and have no way of finding the £3.3k as have got a cheaper car with VW on a PCP

Help!!!

I am a first time poster so not sure if I have posted in the correct section!

AR

[R0b]

Re: Voluntary Termination of a Hire purchase or conditional loan under the CCA 1974

Hello,

I'm afraid your suspicions are correct. Your agreement should have a clause that says "Termination: Your Rights" and within that clause it says if you have paid £x and any outstanding instalments you will not have to pay anymore. You can of course terminate before you make that payment but will have to usually pay in full for the remaining balance that makes up the 50%.

Legally speaking, once you give notice to terminate there is no going back and the agreement is terminated. What you could suggest is that you give them a call and set up a direct debit to pay back the £3.3k over a period of time though they may or may not agree to this and is entirely their choice.

There are certain rules that lenders must take into account when someone is struggling to repay the amount back and they need to consider your financial circumstances as well. So providing you offer to repay a reasonable sum (not £5 per month) that reflects what you can afford to pay back, hopefully it should be fine. If they are playing hard ball then your only other option is to make a formal complaint and then to the Financial Ombudsman if you are still not satisfied.

They could also, technically take you to court to recover the remaining balance which if you cannot afford, would end up with a CCJ on your file for 6 years.

[DannyHoo]

Re: Voluntary Termination of a Hire purchase or conditional loan under the CCA 1974

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[DannyHoo]

Re: Voluntary Termination of a Hire purchase or conditional loan under the CCA 1974

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