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Hello, I need some advice please.
I recently VT'd my Corsa that was on finance as the Loan to car value was negative and depreciating by the month. I had passed the 50% payment stage, had the car collected and the damage report from Manheim carried out.
The manheim inspector had noticed on the car that there was a rippling in the paint down the passenger side, but at the time of completing the inspection, he told me not to sign his report and to contest it with GMAC, he was actually a very helpful guy.
Now, in Feb 2015, I had an accident in the car and the paintwork was damaged down the passenger side, and on the rear quarter of he car, this was repaired and re-sprayed by a garage that was arranged by my insurers at the time. I Still have copies of the invoice and a 3 year guarantee on the workmanship carried out on the car from the garage.
So, the case was now passed to Shoosmiths law firm, who act on before of GMAC with regards to the negotiations of the finance settlement. As instructed by the Manheim inspector, I contested the damage report and awaited a response. A month later, Shoosmiths contacted me and said that GMAC had dismissed my appeal against the repair charges and still found me liable for for £500 repair costs on the damage report, and advised me to contact the garage as they may offer to pay for the repairs. I contacted the garage and the guy said that he was disgusted with GMAC for pursuing the repair costs from me/them and that he would need to see the car before they did anything, but at this point, I had not had the car for 3 months. The guy at the garage was becoming irate (with GMAC, not me), and asked for me to email over the damage report that Manheim had provided showing the ripple in the repair work, but expressed that once the paperwork is all signed off, the work is considered as finished and was confused as to why it was only just being questioned now.
I have been given 2 weeks to report back to Shoosmiths on where the garage stand on this matter.
A couple of days after, i made a formal complaint against Gmac against the handling of the the VT and against them pursuing me for the damage costs, and they have responded with the following:
"" Dear Sir,
We are writing to your following our previous correspondence dated 12th July.
We acknowledge that following your recent request to voluntarily terminate your agreement, your vehicle was inspected by a gmac agent prior to collection. The inspection identified certain damage to the vehicle and we understand that you feel that you should not be liable for certain charges resulting from that damage.
we have listed the damages below:
Bonnet: £48.00
Quarter Panel: £294.00
Rear Door: £213.50
Total: £555.50
Please allow us to explain that all vehicle collections are completed in the same manner and that as part of the termination process, when the vehicle is collected it is inspected for damage prior to being sold at auction. In determining what amounts to damage, we choose to abide by a strict code of conduct in accordance with the guidance set out by the british vehicle rental and leasing association because it gives us an independent view of what is "fair & reasonable condition".
We understand that you explained in Feb 15 your vehicle was involved in an accident, unfortunately we have no control or jurisdiction over your insurance company, we can only confirm that the vehicle has not been put back into a condition as when you were provided the vehicle deemed as vauxhall standard. this is explained in your signed conditional sales agreement section 20.1, 20.2, 28.2. We have enclosed a copy.
We have now concluded our investigations in to your concerns. we would like to draw your attention to your signed letter dated the 6th April.
**(This was a letter i sent to Gmac asking to invoke my statutory right under section 99 of the consumer act, and asking for the car to be collected). **
By signing this document, you have agreed to the terms and conditions conditions of the voluntary termination process. under the consumer credit act, we are entitled to recover amounts realting to damage to the vehicle where you have failed to take reasonable care of the vehicle.
however, there is no legal requirement that repairs are then carried out to rectify the damage, as the monies claimed for the damage are intended to compensate us for the deterioration in value of the vehicle.
After your vehicle was assessed, damage was identified and the sum of £555.50 became payable. we can confirm that the sum is not a standard charge but the total cost of damages to the vehicle after the inspection was completed. In accordance with the termination process the account is then referred to a third party agent to collect the sums due should there be charges listed following the inspection.
We can also confirm that the vehicle sold for less than its valuation because of its condition.
For the reasons detailed above, we believe the charges have been incurred correct. we would also like to explain that as part of your voluntary termination there is a remaining finance liability on the agreement of £42.64, bringing the total remaining costs to complete your VT to £598.14.
we will now close your complaint. your complaint is not upheld. In conclusion, we empathise with the unfortunate circumstances of your complaint but we feel that we have acted equitably. we would like to thank you for giving us this opportunity to investigate your concerns and respond accordingly.
For the purposes of complaint management and to comply with financial conduct authority guidelines, we respectfully advise this letter constitutes our final response to your complaint. should you remain dissatisfied you have the right to refer your complaint to the financial ombudsman service, but you must do within 6 months of this letter. if you do not refer your complaint in time, the ombudsman will not have our permission to consider your complaint and so will only be able to do so in very limited circumstances.""
Can you please assist with my case? I feel that GMAC are bullying me into paying for the damages as a result of the repair work carried out by the garage, who were instructed by the insurance company.
Many thanks,
Christopher O'Shea
I recently VT'd my Corsa that was on finance as the Loan to car value was negative and depreciating by the month. I had passed the 50% payment stage, had the car collected and the damage report from Manheim carried out.
The manheim inspector had noticed on the car that there was a rippling in the paint down the passenger side, but at the time of completing the inspection, he told me not to sign his report and to contest it with GMAC, he was actually a very helpful guy.
Now, in Feb 2015, I had an accident in the car and the paintwork was damaged down the passenger side, and on the rear quarter of he car, this was repaired and re-sprayed by a garage that was arranged by my insurers at the time. I Still have copies of the invoice and a 3 year guarantee on the workmanship carried out on the car from the garage.
So, the case was now passed to Shoosmiths law firm, who act on before of GMAC with regards to the negotiations of the finance settlement. As instructed by the Manheim inspector, I contested the damage report and awaited a response. A month later, Shoosmiths contacted me and said that GMAC had dismissed my appeal against the repair charges and still found me liable for for £500 repair costs on the damage report, and advised me to contact the garage as they may offer to pay for the repairs. I contacted the garage and the guy said that he was disgusted with GMAC for pursuing the repair costs from me/them and that he would need to see the car before they did anything, but at this point, I had not had the car for 3 months. The guy at the garage was becoming irate (with GMAC, not me), and asked for me to email over the damage report that Manheim had provided showing the ripple in the repair work, but expressed that once the paperwork is all signed off, the work is considered as finished and was confused as to why it was only just being questioned now.
I have been given 2 weeks to report back to Shoosmiths on where the garage stand on this matter.
A couple of days after, i made a formal complaint against Gmac against the handling of the the VT and against them pursuing me for the damage costs, and they have responded with the following:
"" Dear Sir,
We are writing to your following our previous correspondence dated 12th July.
We acknowledge that following your recent request to voluntarily terminate your agreement, your vehicle was inspected by a gmac agent prior to collection. The inspection identified certain damage to the vehicle and we understand that you feel that you should not be liable for certain charges resulting from that damage.
we have listed the damages below:
Bonnet: £48.00
Quarter Panel: £294.00
Rear Door: £213.50
Total: £555.50
Please allow us to explain that all vehicle collections are completed in the same manner and that as part of the termination process, when the vehicle is collected it is inspected for damage prior to being sold at auction. In determining what amounts to damage, we choose to abide by a strict code of conduct in accordance with the guidance set out by the british vehicle rental and leasing association because it gives us an independent view of what is "fair & reasonable condition".
We understand that you explained in Feb 15 your vehicle was involved in an accident, unfortunately we have no control or jurisdiction over your insurance company, we can only confirm that the vehicle has not been put back into a condition as when you were provided the vehicle deemed as vauxhall standard. this is explained in your signed conditional sales agreement section 20.1, 20.2, 28.2. We have enclosed a copy.
We have now concluded our investigations in to your concerns. we would like to draw your attention to your signed letter dated the 6th April.
**(This was a letter i sent to Gmac asking to invoke my statutory right under section 99 of the consumer act, and asking for the car to be collected). **
By signing this document, you have agreed to the terms and conditions conditions of the voluntary termination process. under the consumer credit act, we are entitled to recover amounts realting to damage to the vehicle where you have failed to take reasonable care of the vehicle.
however, there is no legal requirement that repairs are then carried out to rectify the damage, as the monies claimed for the damage are intended to compensate us for the deterioration in value of the vehicle.
After your vehicle was assessed, damage was identified and the sum of £555.50 became payable. we can confirm that the sum is not a standard charge but the total cost of damages to the vehicle after the inspection was completed. In accordance with the termination process the account is then referred to a third party agent to collect the sums due should there be charges listed following the inspection.
We can also confirm that the vehicle sold for less than its valuation because of its condition.
For the reasons detailed above, we believe the charges have been incurred correct. we would also like to explain that as part of your voluntary termination there is a remaining finance liability on the agreement of £42.64, bringing the total remaining costs to complete your VT to £598.14.
we will now close your complaint. your complaint is not upheld. In conclusion, we empathise with the unfortunate circumstances of your complaint but we feel that we have acted equitably. we would like to thank you for giving us this opportunity to investigate your concerns and respond accordingly.
For the purposes of complaint management and to comply with financial conduct authority guidelines, we respectfully advise this letter constitutes our final response to your complaint. should you remain dissatisfied you have the right to refer your complaint to the financial ombudsman service, but you must do within 6 months of this letter. if you do not refer your complaint in time, the ombudsman will not have our permission to consider your complaint and so will only be able to do so in very limited circumstances.""
Can you please assist with my case? I feel that GMAC are bullying me into paying for the damages as a result of the repair work carried out by the garage, who were instructed by the insurance company.
Many thanks,
Christopher O'Shea
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