Voluntary termination - Close Brothers

[Joshy H]

Hi, in January 2024 i will be starting the process of VT, im in a lose lose situation at the minute,

I have a RR Evoque on finance, financed it for £18,000 inc. interest, reason for VT is i can no longer afford the £300 a month payment and upkeep on the vehicle. These Evoques have been getting stolen a hell of a lot this year and insurance prices reflect that which is unaffordable.

In my finance paperwork it states i need to reach £9000 which is 50%.. im currently at £3600.. would the finance company be prepared to accept a repayment plan until my liability is paid off? As i cant afford £5000+ up front

history..

when we bought the car Nov 2022, there was a gearbox fault issue intermittently showing up on the dash, took it back to the garage 4 times to fix but it sorted its self out for a few month… guess what.. after 1 year exactly its back.. must be something to do with the cold months. I did raise a complaint with the finance company and threatened to reject but we decided not to go through with it because we thought the garage fixed it!! (The finance company sent us £150 compensation as it took the 2.5 months to reply to my email, and i rang up every week and couldn’t get through) (I have email trail back and forth with finance company so the finance company know about the issues i’ve had with this car)

now when i VT it will show on the dash board “gearbox fault” and the engine light.. but the car runs absolutely fine with no issues (as it seems)

literally in a lose lose situation and should have rejected in June! I think im in the worst situation anyone trying to VT ever.. any advice please

the car was due its service in Nov, which we haven't done as we just don't want to spend any more money on this car! Would that affect VT?

so to recap:

1) engine light on
2) intermittently “gearbox fault” message appears
3) No service for 2023
4) £5400 to pay before 50%
5) What other options do i have?





rob R0b any advice please.

[R0b]

Hi,

There's a few options, none of which are pretty but I will respond in more detail tomorrow at some point.

[Joshy H]

Thank you Rob, i appreciate the response

[Joshy H]

I am currently on erasing the issues with the car, i’ve been told its just a low battery via a evoque forum throwing up the faults so hopefully thats one thing off the list! Eases the pain a little

[R0b]

So just to follow up earlier, I guess if you are going to fix the engine light issue then that's one headache out of the way before you VT. I would suggest you get that done by an independent third party and obtain a receipt of copy of the work being carried out in the event the light does show up again you can argue it's an intermittent issue that's known to happen.

I would also suggest that before you hand the car over you also take photographs or copies of service invoices and other work that has been carried out just in case they try to shaft you on that as well.

You have to remember that the onus is on the creditor to prove that the damage was caused whilst in your possession.

As for repayment of the outstanding balance, the law doesn't explicitly state that you have to pay it all up front, rather it just says you are liable to pay that amount. The creditor is regulated by the FCA so there are additional obligations and duties that the creditor has to comply with as part of their permission to provide credit services. I suggest you have a read of the below link to familiarise with the rules and guidance given by the regulator. The relevant rulebook is the Consumer Credit Sourcebook (CONC).

FCA Handbook - CONC

You should give particular attention to Rules 7.3, 7.5, 7.12, and 7.14 as they are mainly the rules that crop up where the creditors fall foul of things. If the creditor doesn't play ball or for example expects you to pay it in one lump sum, then that could be breaching the rules and you should start the formal complaint process with a view to taking it to the Ombudsman.

An alternative option which might be a stretch would be to potentially argue that the same intermittent issues previously have started ti raise their head again and on that basis you want to reject the vehicle and terminate. I would expect that the creditor would have something to say about that and no doubt challenge you given the money at stake.

The most obvious defence to this is that the gap in the time between your previous issue over this one. That's not to say it can't be done, but there will be a bigger hurdle to overcome and the only way of having something solid is to take it into a reputable garage and get it diagnosed as a recurring issue do you can use that to terminate the agreement. This is a risky option because of the amount outstanding tips you over past the small claims rules so legal costs are in play, if you lose your case at a court hearing.

[Joshy H]

Thank you for your response,

“You have to remember that the onus is on the creditor to prove that the damage was caused whilst in your possession”….. i do have a log of emails and video/picture evidence of the intermittent fault from the get go, and they are fully aware so i think i may be fine with proving i was sold the car with the fault

i feel like i should go down the route of complaining the same fault has returned and go for rejecting the car but i feel the less stressful route is VT and do a payment plan of what i can afford.

thank you for laying the option out Rob

[R0b]

I should add a qualifier to the rejection option which I forgot to add which is you will probably need to obtain some evidence that the fault is inherent and linked to the previous faults so that will mean spending money on an independent report, though there are no guarantees.

In all honestly, I suspect any route you take is going to be stressful and I would half expect the creditor to refuse to terminate the agreement unless you agree to pay all of it at once. That would possibly constitute a material breach of contract which would allow you to terminate and walk away scot-free but it is also dangerous since if you get it wrong, you could be deemed to have unlawfully terminate the agreement and leave the creditor in a better position. Something to discuss if we cross that bridge (in the guide I've linked below I refer to this point as a repudiatory breach).

Always recommend getting yourself up to speed and understanding of how the process works, what to expect etc. so if you haven't done so already you might want to read my guide below.

A guide to voluntary termination: Your rights - LegalBeagles Forum

[Joshy H]

If i walk away scot-free that will be very, very ideal! If they do go down the route of making me pay all of it do i just go straight to the ombudsman? And hopefully they rule in my favour? (As ill be using the template stating my financial situation and regards to a payment plan) .. or do i let them know they are breaching contract and force a payment plan?

Im aware they try things on to pressurise customers but i refuse to be pushed around so I’ll be getting myself up to speed with my rights, hopefully start the process early January.

Thank you so much i will keep this forum posted with how i get on

[Joshy H]

Hi all,
after a month of reviewing the A guide to voluntary termination: Your rights , CCA 1974, FCA Handbook I feel in comfortable to Terminate the agreement and stand my ground

my only other question is, I don't have a service record for 2023... only a vehicle health check from Land rover in December.
Would I be charged for not servicing the car in 2023 or could they refuse the VT based on no service for 2023.. my gut instinct says yes they will try to refuse due to this.. I honestly don't know.

R0b
@pt2537
any help is always appreciated

[pt2537]

Hi all,
after a month of reviewing the A guide to voluntary termination: Your rights , CCA 1974, FCA Handbook I feel in comfortable to Terminate the agreement and stand my ground

my only other question is, I don't have a service record for 2023... only a vehicle health check from Land rover in December.
Would I be charged for not servicing the car in 2023 or could they refuse the VT based on no service for 2023.. my gut instinct says yes they will try to refuse due to this.. I honestly don't know.

R0b
@pt2537
any help is always appreciated

Land Rover have online service records i believe. You need the vin number to access the online record. I checked for my other halfs record on her Range Rover Evoque and its all there, so thats no issue.

And no, they cannot refuse to VT, its your right, they cannot decline it.

[Joshy H]

Hi, thank you for your response, my partner didn't get the car serviced in 2023 (it was due December2023) but didn't end up doing it. I will look and log into land rover to get the past service records. Thank you

[pt2537]

Hi, thank you for your response, my partner didn't get the car serviced in 2023 (it was due December2023) but didn't end up doing it. I will look and log into land rover to get the past service records. Thank you

https://www.landrover.co.uk/ownershi...e-history.html

[Joshy H]

Thanks, just checked there is only services from 2015, 2016 & 2022 online, i have the rest in paper at home but not for 2023

[Joshy H]

Hi All,

i have started the process of voluntary termination, All seems ok, miraculously t

[Joshy H]

Hi All,

i have started the process of voluntary termination, All seems ok, miraculously the engine light is off and no issues with the car so video and pictures have been taken for evidence.

Close Brothers did say though i should keep my direct debit in place as i could fall into arrears, i told them I've already cancel it and I'm not paying any more direct debits and they said “ok thats fine, theres nothing we can do about that”

one thing i do have a question on though R0b is… they said i need to keep the car insured as its still in my possession (on my drive).. if it gets stoled i will be liable for the full cost of the car!!!

Ive already cancelled the insurance, shall i insure it again until its collected or are they chatting nonsense? It’s not my fault they are not collecting it asap.