Voluntary termination - Collection charge

[brogz512]

Hi,

I was hoping get some advice re voluntary terminating a PCP agreement.

The agreement we have is with PSA finance, after sending them the letter we gave them a ring to ensure that they received it (we sent it signed and recorded so were fully aware they had it, but are keen to get rid of the car as it is sat on our drive) at which point they told us that we would have to pay a collection fee of £79.
We have not agreed to pay them this, but they have sent an email with a document detailing this charge/a list of locations we can pick it up from (we can't drop it off as it is no longer taxed/insured).

How would be the best way to proceed with this? My understanding from reading yours and various other forums is that we are not liable for a collection charge as it falls outside the 50% total payable which we have already paid.

R0b We used the termination lettter you provided on one of your threads, after reading your "your right" VT thread. could you please advise?

Thanks

Manheim locations.pdf

[brogz512]

Wouldn't let me edit this in, but here is the document I mentioned

[R0b]

Hello

That is still my view. When the agreement ends, you become an involuntary bailee i.e. someone unwillingly in possession of another’s goods.

You will have read the CCA limits your liability and exclude anything over and above that 50%.

If PSA try to insist you are liable then you either pay up or arrange for it to be taken to a Mannheim location. Alternatively you can continue to refuse and instead send them notice of your intention to have the goods sold. There is a template letter for that if you click on the link below in my signature. It’s the one that says Notice if intention to sell goods.

If if they refuse after allowing them time to collect, you are legally entitled to dispose of the car without any penalty.

[brogz512]

R0b Thank you for the response.

I knew they would try and play funny with this but didn't imagine they would be so quick to do so. Since this they have also tried "We've lost your letter somewhere in the system" I have emailed them to remind them that we sent it recorded and signed for, so we know they got it, but sent them another emailed copy anyway 'for their convenience'. I have also asked for any further correspondence to be in writing via email, so that we can have a record of what is said. Despite this, they have still phoned asking us to ring them back.

I will continue to refuse to pay a collection charge and go down the route of notifying them of our intention to sell the goods, although hopefully their last phone call was them trying to arrange to pick it up, we shall see when we ring them back.

[brogz512]

R0b

Just an update as I have just spoken to them on the phone. They are still trying to impose a collection fee, which we have refused to pay. They are simply telling me that the car wont be collected. We have cancelled the direct debit already so they wont be taking any more payments from us. I have also re-iterated that I would like all further correspondence to be in writing which they have agreed to.

On the phone he tried to tell me that my partner had agreed to it in the contract, I can't see anything, but even so, am I correct in thinking that if it was in there, as soon as we VT that cannot be charged and we're capped at 50% of the total payable?

[Aukey]

Hi, if they're going to keep calling instead of emailing, might be worth putting a call recorder on your phone, assuming it's a mobile, there are plenty available.

[R0b]

I would suggest making a formal complaint to PSA Finance with regards to collection of their vehicle and at the same time, you should consider issuing them with a notice to collect the car otherwise you will take steps to sell it.

There is a link to a template letter in my signature below under the title Letter notifying creditor of intention to sell goods Torts (IG) Act 1977. If you are going to use this, then you should accompany it with your formal letter of complaint and the contents of that complaint should require PSA Finance to explain why they think it is appropriate not to collect the car for refusing to pay the collection fee. Your refusal to pay any fee is a separate matter, and if they truly believe that they are owed the collection fee then they can pursue legal proceedings for the recovery of it. But that shouldn't stop them from retrieving the car which belongs to them.

You could also say within your complaint that the car is currently say on your drive and any permission for it to be on your property is now revoked and if PSA's stance continues as it is then you consider the vehicle as trespassing and you reserve the right to bring an action against them for damages.

If you need any feedback on your complaint, have a go at drafting it yourself and then post it up (no personal info) and we will comment on it.

[brogz512]

Hi Aukey

I will do that in preperation for any further calls with them, altough when I last spoke to them they did agree toi do everything in writing from now one.

I believe R0b has a template for disputing collection charges so I will probably use that in the coming days and see how that goes. Further to that I will send them notice of my intention to have the goods sold. Although at this point I'm considering dropping it off myself, the only issue with this is that we have currently declared it off the road and would need to tax and insure it.

[Aukey]

That's good, got to keep a trail of it all, we all know what these places are like......

As for dropping it off, apart from the issue of having to tax and insure it, i would personally be a bit worried about something happening along the way, that would be my luck anyway! Not sure how things would stand then.

I think i would do as you say, sort out the template and see how it goes from there, sorry can't be anymore helpful!

[R0b]

Do make sure that the template letters are adapted to suit your situation because it is not always the case and makes you look silly for including something that is entirely irrelevant to you.

If you want to return it then that is up to you but in that case you wouldn't need to send the notice of intention to sell letter. You may however, want to adapt your letter to say that you will return the car to the Manheim auction address at PSA's own expense, should they not collect the car by X date. That would include the cost of one days' tax and insurance which you reserve the right to bring an action for those sums if not paid to you.

Something along those lines.

[brogz512]

R0b Aukey

Thank you for the responses, I am at work at the moment, but I will come up with a draft this evening along with an altered version of the template, and post for you to take a look at.

The date I originally gave them to pick it up by will be this saturday (18/08/2018), so I am happy to have it untill then but would really like to get rid of it soon to keep our new car on there. Not to mention that this process is causing my partner(whos car it was) a lot of stress.

Rob, if I was to use your template RE: dipsuting collection charges, would it be good to put in a formal complaint when doing that? or wait until they have failed to pick it up?

Is there any merit in speaking to the citezens advice buerau about this as well?

Thank you both for the responses, really appreciate the help.

[brogz512]

R0b

Here are the two letters I was intending to send for you to take a look at when you can.

I'll send them both via email and by post, recorded and signed for, when they are ready.

[R0b]

Hello

I will take a look at them today when I can

[matthj]

Hi brogz512 , would be so kind to let me know what the final outcome was after you VT the vehicle? Did you get any additional charges? How long did the process take from first letter to all finished? Any detail would be really appreciated. Thanks, Matt