The car finance company and extra charges

[Kj34uk]

I have a car under finance with the car finance company. I am almost to the half way mark and only have about £270 to pay. I have gotten a new car through notability and no longer need the other car. I contacted the car finance company today to cancel the agreement and return the car.

The gentleman told me on the phone that he was going to email me the paperwork to sign and then return. At that point he told me that there was a £250 charge for collecting the car and that it must be paid before I could sign the documents and I could end the agreement.

I pointed out that it did not say anything like that under the section of early termination of a finance agreement, I was told that it was in section 14, which was the charges table. I pointed out that the £250 fee was a repossession fee, to which he said the wording is not correct.

I am unsure about how to convay that this so called charge cannot be charge to me as all I want to do is send the car back and pay the last £270 which I owe.

Cheers Keith Jackson

[R0b]

Re: The car finance company and extra charges

Hello,

In order for you to lawfully terminate the agreement and limit your liability, you need to do this in writing. If you do it over the phone and they agree mutually then your not protected by the limited liability under the Consumer Credit Act. Even if they do send out papers to you it will likely contain a statement at the bottom saying you agree to all charges which is contrary to the CCA but they nevertheless try to enforce it upon you.

You should therefore write to the Car Finance Company yourself and give them notice of termination, templates can be found here ->http://legalbeagles.info/forums/show...tter-Templates

As for the £250 collection charge, if you terminate and limit your liability that is not recoverable. If there is no clause in the contract that says you must pay £250 for them then they cannot force it on you as it wasn't agreed at the time you entered into the contract inthe first place. They can't introduce new terms once the contract has been signed unless you agree yourself and if the wording is incorrect then that is their problem, not yours.

Termination of the agreement (once you have given notice) is not affected by any potential charges they might seek to recover from you. You have an indefeasible right to terminate the agreement at any time you like before the final payment becomes due and if on termination you owe some money then you come to an arrangement to pay, but the agreement remains terminated at the point you gave your notice and they received it.

[Kj34uk]

Re: The car finance company and extra charges

Thank you for that advice. I will do what you have suggested, then I can have peace of mind