PCP Voluntary termination settled and now they want more money - What are my rights?

[Vikram Mohan]

So I had a vehicle that I returned to a major German auto manufacturer under Voluntary Termination (i used the template of the letter from LegalBeagles and refused to sign their form), there was a shortfall to the 50% amount and some charges for vehicle quality (scratches etc).

They produced an invoice and I paid it off in full - confirmation was received from the Customer Service team (proof of letter and call recordings exist with me that I paid all my dues for the contract in full). Now several months later they have come back to me and said that I owe them another amount approx. £4,500 and to settle this as the shortfall for the 50% Voluntary Termination amount I owe them.

Apparently the previous charges I had to pay was only for the vehicle return quality standards and I still owe the entire amount for the shortfall I owe them !

Can they keep doing this? I made financial decisions based on the outstanding financial position they provided me as a full and final invoice.
What are my rights and appreciate any insights into relevant legislation that covers these matters.

Appreciate your insights please as I urgently need to go back to them with a position.

[R0b]

Did you receive an invoice that actually says full and final?

The law says you are liable for the remaining balance up to 50% of the total price payable, so it seems to me you are looking for a technical 'out' from paying the remaining balance, which I presume you would have been aware when you exercised your termination right.

You would need to prove what is known as 'estoppel', which means that you were induced to act on the basis of something said by the finance co. and now the finance co. is trying to abandon that position.

I'm not convinced that position is a winner here but it's your choice. I would repay the 50% otherwise there is a risk the finance co. may take you to court and you could end up with a CCJ on your file for the next 6 years if you can't pay the sums.

[Vikram Mohan]

Did you receive an invoice that actually says full and final?

The law says you are liable for the remaining balance up to 50% of the total price payable, so it seems to me you are looking for a technical 'out' from paying the remaining balance, which I presume you would have been aware when you exercised your termination right.

You would need to prove what is known as 'estoppel', which means that you were induced to act on the basis of something said by the finance co. and now the finance co. is trying to abandon that position.

I'm not convinced that position is a winner here but it's your choice. I would repay the 50% otherwise there is a risk the finance co. may take you to court and you could end up with a CCJ on your file for the next 6 years if you can't pay the sums.

So I did get an invoice that detailed all of the charges I need to pay, I paid a partial amount and then exchanged some notes about return fees due to vehicle return quality standards after which they sent me a second invoice with the remained of the amount.

I paid the second invoice too and they sent an email "confirming I paid all the money I owed and that my account was closed". This was confirmed to me by email & post. Few months later they demanded another £4k ish for the "shortfall".

I was under the assumption that the amount I owed them was adjusted due to market valuation of the car (barely driven 5k miles and top of the range for the model) and the payment demand mentioned in the invoice is the final amount I owed them.


Does this seem like a fair thing to do a consumer? Financial obligations should be made transparent when settling & closing contractual arrangements in my position not give the consumer the understanding that it was all settled and come back and say "oh no we actually didnt realise you needed to pay more"