Blackhorse Motor Finance Interest Refund ?

[shaggybfc]

Hi, I purchased a car from Motorpoint in 2010 and subsequently traded that in for another car, taking out a further agreement. I have repaid the second agreement early. Today, out of the blue, I have received a letter from them telling me that for the first car agreement, that as a review of the annual statements of account that they sent me regarding my agreement, they have identified that they did not remind me of my right to voluntarily terminate my contract before completion. As a result they have calculated that I'm entitled to £1194.86 for the interest paid as a refund.... they also go on to say that they will send a cheque and this 'must' be presented at my earliest convenience to benefit from the refund.

My question is; why are they actively encouraging me to bank and claim this ASAP - is there something more to this?

Thanks Shaggy

[coverfan]

Re: Blackhorse Motor Finance

I took out a fixed sum loan on a car from a Car Finance company (not a big operator, part of a dealership) in August 2010. Not HP. All annual statements issued to me including those after Feb 2011 have NOT included information on the right to overpay the loan. They did mention early settlement of the whole loan. My question is, in the same circumstances, HSBC has repaid me interest for annual statement periods when they did not mention overpayments, so, what's different about a loan for a car? the company are refusing to accept that my loan is covered at all by the new rules as it was taken out before Feb 2011. But, the loan seems to fall into the 'gap' period from June 2010 to Feb 2011 and so my understanding is that annual statements issued after Feb 2011 should have mentioned overpayments.

Any views? I suspect this is potentially a big issue for these smaller finance companies.

[nemesis45]

Re: Blackhorse Motor Finance

Hi,
I have recently received a similar letter from Black Horse regarding refund on Interest payments because of wording omission in the annual statement relating to voluntary termination, along with a cheque for over £2k. My question is this: I still owe them over £20k (though I have not paid them anything for a long time), and yet at the end of the letter they have the same statement: "Once you have presented the cheque for payment, you do not need to take any further action. Your agreement with us is regarded as closed."

Seriously? Why have they written off the unpaid amount? Could they wait till I cash the cheque and then come after me for the full amount?

I think if BH went back on that statement it would be in further mire, cash your cheque enjoy the money and Keep That Letter Safe!!

nem

[harri]

Re: Blackhorse Motor Finance Interest Refund ?

Hi All

I also have received a letter, with a rather disappointing cheque for £24. I called them to find out how they got to that figure (I had finance on an A4). They said that I took out my loan in 2006 and the 'legislation' didn't come in until 2010, luckily for them in the last month of my loan! Can anyone validate if this is correct? Anyone else had payment back on a loan pre 2010?

[xxz109]

Re: Blackhorse Motor Finance

Hi,
I have recently received a similar letter from Black Horse regarding refund on Interest payments because of wording omission in the annual statement relating to voluntary termination, along with a cheque for over £2k. My question is this: I still owe them over £20k (though I have not paid them anything for a long time), and yet at the end of the letter they have the same statement: "Once you have presented the cheque for payment, you do not need to take any further action. Your agreement with us is regarded as closed."

Seriously? Why have they written off the unpaid amount? Could they wait till I cash the cheque and then come after me for the full amount?

[nemesis45]

Re: Blackhorse Motor Finance

Hi welcome to LB,

I would suppose they could both be correct as it is possible that not all finance have
been guilty of the same " mistakes".

You could try a Formal Complaint which requires the finance house to fully investigate your complaint and respond within 56 days.

nem

[doobs]

Re: Blackhorse Motor Finance

Sorry to revive this thread, but my sister has had one of the "sorry we did not advise you certain bits when issuing annual statements " letters and had a large refund - this was with Suzuki Motor Fianance and it appears Black Horse are also doing the same and I suspect other finance companies - I presume they have not done this type of thing lightly but realised they had acted incorrectly. However, I have had 2 finance agreements for Hyundai vehicles via/underwritten by Santander finance. I contacted them to mention the specific issue regarding annual statements - their response was that they only had a duty to advise of termination rights when the agreement commenced, but not subsequently on the issuing of annual statements. I asked if they were aware that other finance companies did not seem to agree with this but so far no luck on them budging. I also contacted the FCA but they did not have any guidance or knowledge on the specific issue of annual statements. Therefore, I am in a bit of a quandary at present! Does anyone have any advice that may help me as I cant believe that some finance companies are saying one thing and mine another - they cant both be correct!

[DoraDoo]

Re: Blackhorse Motor Finance

Can someone please help me as I don't understand why Black Horse continue to 'omit' the paragraph informing of the VT available to the consumer at the half way point in a finance agreement.

If this was a genuine mistake it would be easy to rectify on all future annual statements they send out. I heard of one person receiving a letter last August exactly the same as the one on this thread and also giving her a refund of interest payments since the date of the letter. I have just received the same letter saying they've identified the same error and my annual statement was dated the end of November - whilst the £4000 refund is very welcome, I'm puzzled as to the why they and how they are continuing to get away with this - they've known it's an error for a very long time so to continue (IMO) is just wrong surely?

i do not have the previous years statement and I'm suspicious - and a bit hopeful that they omitted this paragraph on the others. Is this something anyone else has dealt with?

any advice is most welcome - thanks

[Kerry m]

Re: Blackhorse Motor Finance

Hi all,
i am new to this site so I apologise in advance if I have posted this in the wrong place!
I have also received a similar letter and I, like a lot of you thought it was odd that they are so keen for me to bank the cheque.
i phoned them today and it has raised serious alarm bells....so if anyone can help I would greatly appreciate any advice.
I asked the date of when they failed to remind me about my vt... Which he replied "Dec 13 and Dec 15, which I then reminded him that it was only February 15, and I sold the vehicle in June 14... He stuttered and after a long pause said "that's what I meant" I then went on to say that I had never heard about vt before the letter and would I be right in saying that I could have voluntarily terminated the contract if I had realised that I had the right after paying 50% of the finance. I was informed that under my contract that would have not been possible.
Just to be clear I bought a Clio from motor point in November 12 for £7,995 I paid £3600 deposit and had paid 12 payments at £118.24. So I was very surprised when he said " you could not have terminated your contract until I had paid half of £13,200" I quickly questioned him to how he had come to that sum if I had bought the car for £7995 & paid £3600 deposit? He then responded with I can't discuss the figures with you over the phone. Raising major alarm bells I asked the interest rate. This was 24.4% I then asked again how they got to the figure owed (by this time I was really confused) seeming very annoyed he again stated that he couldn't discuss figures over the phone!
I am not great at this stuff but it seems to me that they are trying to cover something up. I have asked for all terms and conditions of the finance and payments to be posted to me and unsure what to do next
Again any advice would be appreciated :tinysmile_grin_t:
Thanks
kerry x

[Amethyst]

Re: Blackhorse Motor Finance

Me too !

Doesn't specifically mention Black Horse but it is the same issue.

[Nibbler]

Re: Blackhorse Motor Finance

I knew about that as well. doh.

Think it is the gap in time that stopped me joining the dots. My excuse anyway.....

[Amethyst]

Re: Blackhorse Motor Finance

A kind person has come up with an OFT ruling back in March which may have been the precursor to the BlackHorse refunds. -

http://webarchive.nationalarchives.g...ess/2014/18-14

Over £149 million to be repaid to bank and building society customers following OFT action

18/14 20 March 2014
Seventeen banks and building societies have agreed to repay over an estimated £149 million in interest and charges to around 497,000 customers, following OFT action.
The money is to be repaid because the banks and building societies concerned did not provide customers with some of the post-contractual information about their credit agreements, as required by the Consumer Credit Act 1974. For example, many failed to provide the required statutory wording in statements and arrears notices.
Under the Act, a lender is not entitled to recover interest or default charges for any period during which it has failed to comply with certain statutory requirements.
The interest and charges were paid on products such as store cards, credit cards, loans and hire purchase agreements.
The money is to be repaid after the OFT wrote to 50 banks and building societies in November 2013 asking them to confirm that they had fully discharged their obligations to provide post contract information under the Consumer Credit Act.
The OFT took this action in light of previous similar issues relating to the Act by some other banks.
David Fisher, Senior OFT Director for Consumer Credit said:
'These issues were not deliberate misconduct, but the institutions concerned should have ensured they were complying with the law. The OFT welcomes the proactive steps taken to return money to customers where it was incorrectly charged'.
Customers do not need to take any action at this time and should be contacted directly by their bank or building society if their agreement is affected.
NOTES

1. Since October 2008, under Section 77A of the Consumer Credit Act 1974 (CCA), lenders have been obliged to send periodic statements to customers. These must contain specific information and wording. A creditor failing to provide the periodic statement as required is not entitled to enforce the agreement, and the debtor is not liable to pay interest or default sums, during the period of the creditor's non-compliance.
2. Section 86B of the CCA sets out the requirement to send a notice to the debtor where they fall into arrears by more than two payments to alert them to that fact and the potential consequence of falling into arrears. A creditor failing to send such a notice is not entitled, while the breach continues, to enforce the agreement and that the debtor is not liable to pay interest or default sums during the period of the creditor's non-compliance.
3. Other sections of the CCA impose obligations upon lenders to provide information to debtors, which for brevity are not listed here.
4. Following issues relating to the Act by some other banks, consumers were remediated over £370 million.
5. The CCA requires businesses that offer goods or services on credit, or lend money, or are involved in activities relating to credit or hire, to be licensed by the OFT.
6. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) will take over regulation of consumer credit from the OFT on 1 April 2014. The transfer of regulation is part of the Government's programme of regulatory changes for financial services and brings conduct of business regulation under a single financial services regulator. See the FCA's website for more information.

[Amethyst]

Re: Blackhorse Motor Finance

Thanks Nibbler, I've replied over there.

[Nibbler]

Re: Blackhorse Motor Finance

Another example.

I'm looking for a bit of help and advice. Yesterday I received a letter from Blackhorse finance about a loan I took out with them back in 2008 to help purchase a new car. The loan was over a 3 year period and the outstanding lump sum (as it was a pcp) was paid off in full at the end of the agreement. The letter states that they have carried out a review of my account and noted that they made an error. When I signed up for the agreement they neglected to inform me that I was free to terminate the contract voluntarily before its completion.

As a result they are not entitled to retain the interest I paid on the loan and therefore have to refund it in full from the date of the error, which happens to be the start of the loan. They have informed me that a cheque for the ineterest will be sent out in the next 7-10 days for the amount of £1800.

[Spencer]

Re: Blackhorse Motor Finance

Spencer - was yours from motor finance as well? exactly the same (barring amounts) as shaggy ? and any chance of posting a copy of your letter up ?

Hi, The letter is exactly the same as shaggy, for motor finance.