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Hi,
My wife VT 'd her Audi at the beginning of the year where upon VWFS did the usual request for pro rota excess mileage, £490.
Using the various templates on here we sent them our response saying we did not think that amount was payable and heard nothing for 8 months, thus assuming the case had been closed.
However last month we got the first of several letters from debt collection agencies which we responded to by saying we had contested the claim. Upon contacting VWFS they discovered no one had logged our complaint, hence the delay in getting back to us. They then re-logged the complaint and said they would investigate. As expected they have come back saying my wife still owes the excess milage charge. We responded by saying they had not addressed any of the arguments we put forward relating to the CC Act or reasonable wear and tear and their response was just a standard email back and as such we are not satisfied they have made any argument to make us pay. We also stated that the excess mileage was not unreasonable as it amounted to about 5 miles per day so we did not deliberately enter the agreement with the objective of deviating from it. Furthermore, at the time of the VT we were looking at part exchanging for another Audi and the salesman of course said just VT and you won't have to pay any excess mileage. We concluded by saying they must address each of our concerns, provide legal justification for their request and we would contest the charge with the Financial Ombudsmen if need be.
Surprise surprise, the lates communication from VWFS was a standard email saying the amount is still outstanding. My wife has again received a debt collection letter, to which I intend to respond by saying the case is still under dispute and as such no payment will be made.
A few things I was hoping for help with:
1) If we complain to the financial ombudsmen, do the debt collection letters have to cease until a finding is made?
2) I have read on here of a successful defence of a VT excess milage charge by RachRad against MBFS but cannot find the court findings or an exact reference as do not know her name. Does anybody have the court findings in their entirety as that would be useful to write back to VWFS saying their is now case law precedent saying excess mileage is unenforceable?
3) I have also read that some firms mark credit files with VT + unpaid claim, is this legal if the claim is under dispute as obviously would not want this to crop up?
At the moment we are 50/50 about paying. We could pay just to make it go away however, out of principle and the general shoddiness of the handing of the complaint by VWFS plus the fact there now seems to be case law on the consumers side, we are happy to go to the FOS to delay further.
Any advice on any of the above would be appreciated.
Thanks
My wife VT 'd her Audi at the beginning of the year where upon VWFS did the usual request for pro rota excess mileage, £490.
Using the various templates on here we sent them our response saying we did not think that amount was payable and heard nothing for 8 months, thus assuming the case had been closed.
However last month we got the first of several letters from debt collection agencies which we responded to by saying we had contested the claim. Upon contacting VWFS they discovered no one had logged our complaint, hence the delay in getting back to us. They then re-logged the complaint and said they would investigate. As expected they have come back saying my wife still owes the excess milage charge. We responded by saying they had not addressed any of the arguments we put forward relating to the CC Act or reasonable wear and tear and their response was just a standard email back and as such we are not satisfied they have made any argument to make us pay. We also stated that the excess mileage was not unreasonable as it amounted to about 5 miles per day so we did not deliberately enter the agreement with the objective of deviating from it. Furthermore, at the time of the VT we were looking at part exchanging for another Audi and the salesman of course said just VT and you won't have to pay any excess mileage. We concluded by saying they must address each of our concerns, provide legal justification for their request and we would contest the charge with the Financial Ombudsmen if need be.
Surprise surprise, the lates communication from VWFS was a standard email saying the amount is still outstanding. My wife has again received a debt collection letter, to which I intend to respond by saying the case is still under dispute and as such no payment will be made.
A few things I was hoping for help with:
1) If we complain to the financial ombudsmen, do the debt collection letters have to cease until a finding is made?
2) I have read on here of a successful defence of a VT excess milage charge by RachRad against MBFS but cannot find the court findings or an exact reference as do not know her name. Does anybody have the court findings in their entirety as that would be useful to write back to VWFS saying their is now case law precedent saying excess mileage is unenforceable?
3) I have also read that some firms mark credit files with VT + unpaid claim, is this legal if the claim is under dispute as obviously would not want this to crop up?
At the moment we are 50/50 about paying. We could pay just to make it go away however, out of principle and the general shoddiness of the handing of the complaint by VWFS plus the fact there now seems to be case law on the consumers side, we are happy to go to the FOS to delay further.
Any advice on any of the above would be appreciated.
Thanks
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