Hire Purchase Voluntary Termination

[HHEPPY]

Good evening Rob,

just want to confirm the procedure on a HP agreement if I may. I have contacted the lender and they have confirmed that i have paid over 50% ( i am 3.5 yrs into a 5 yr term)

It is a straight forward HP with no mileage clauses etc and the termination clause in the contract merely states that if you have taken reasonable care of the goods you will not have to pay any more.

I am comfortable with all of that.

The lender sent me an information pack with 1 page of details required, including name, agreement number, reg number contact details etc

I am minded to use your template letter rather than their template as it does not mention the CCA 1974 anywhere

Your template has a section which says that I have inspected the vehicle and recorded the information in case of further disputes, is it vital to leave that in?

I am intending to get this VT underway tomorrow at some point as the car insurance expires in 2 weeks

I was in effect buying a new car, but the dealership valued my car at less than the outstanding finance, so I would rather VT the car.

Hopefully this makes sense

kind regards,

Andrew

[HHEPPY]

Good afternoon,

I initiated the VT and they have collected the car today, they did their inspection then asked me to sign, I refused as I didn't want to be bound by the report or seen to be accepting the defects they detailed.

He did state that although there were a number of scuffs etc, they were all within the guidelines, I noticed that at the bottom of the report it did have the figure of £110.00 although I'm not clear as to whether that was a grand total or just a sub total.

I will now await further correspondence from the lender in relation to this.

I must add that if that was the figure they are going to demand then I feel that in all honesty it is acceptable.

Should they come back with some erroneous figure then I am minded to contest it given the inspectors comments.

I will update the thread in due course.

regards,

Andrew

[HHEPPY]

Just an update on this.

I received an email report of the vehicle condition which totalled £350, including damage to alloy wheels and some scratches on the front end.
the alloy wheels I accept were quite possibly damaged by me, a few scuffs, nothing major, the paintwork on the front end is nothing more than a lot of stone chips, something which I don’t particularly accept.
fast forward a bit because I have been a bit slack on this, I have now received a letter from the debt collectors asking for £276, I’m not sure why there is a difference here.

given that I don’t accept the paintwork costing I am minded to make a Without Prejudice Offer of £150 to see if they will accept.
on a serious note, times are extremely hard for me at the moment and realistically that is all I can afford.

any comments and thoughts gratefully received

many thanks

Andrew

[R0b]

What you choose to offer them is entirely up to you.

If you do make an offer of settlement, you may want to reserve your position and set some background to the payment offer. For example, you could say that whilst you dispute the lender's evaluation of the vehicle's condition - which was backed up by the person who initially inspected the vehicle on collection as being within guidelines, you are prepared to make a full and final settlement offer of £150 on the basis of no admission of any liability in respect of the alleged vehicle damage.

You could add, if you so wish, that the offer you are putting forward is the best (and only) proposal you are prepared to make in light of current circumstances owing to rising costs such as food and energy. You could also remind the debt collector of the lender's regulatory obligations in relation to arrears (which you are not admitting to) under rule 7.3 of CONC in that the lender must give due consideration and forbearance. If the lender chooses not to accept the full and final settlement offer then you will be making no further offers and the matter remains in dispute and you will not be paying the sum demanded by the lender.

[HHEPPY]

Many thanks for your kind reply Rob. I think I am going to make the offer on the basis you set out, it seems the most sensible approach.
I was wonder If the difference in the amounts relates to any potential balance there was on my account at the date of termination, I expect that there was and that they have retained that amount and used it to reduce the outstanding balance as per their calculations.

I will contact them today and make the offer.

kind regards

andrew