Car hire agreement- can I get out of it?

[debfoster84]

Hi
i took out what I thought was a PCP with Peugeot , when it was actually a 4 year “hire agreement”
i realise this is stupid but the paperwork looks identical almost and the salesman assured me it was PCP, same as my previous car.

anyway , I’m 2 year 4 Months in and would ideally like to VT if possible.

can anyone advise what a hire agreement is? There is no box with termination rights which worries me.
it is regulated by the consumer credit act

[debfoster84]

@Rob

sorry, shamelessly trying to bump this post up,


if there is no section in the paperwork about right to termination, does this mean I have no right to do so?

[R0b]

Hello,

Generally, you would be expected to have reviewed the terms of the contract before signing it off so on the one hand it could be said that it is your fault. On the other hand, if you relied on the salesman who said it was the same as your previous agreement then that is also a potential misrepresentation. The difficult is that unless you have a witness or two to corroborate your story, your leaving it in the hands of a judge to decide on the facts and evidence before him/her. You could try to seek out going to the Financial Ombudsman but in reality they are pretty poor and I've seen on a number of occasions that they won't even look into the misrepresentation on the basis of no evidence (if oral) and it is effectively your word against theirs.

Leaving the above aside for one moment, it is true that you cannot rely on voluntary termination under sections 99 and 100 of the CCA if the agreement is a true hire agreement. Strictly speaking you can terminate a hire agreement but is subject to stringent conditions under section 101 of the CCA. There are (amongst other things) two important points to note:

1. Your annual payments must not exceed £1,500; and
2. You cannot terminate the agreement any earlier than 18 months.

If your monthly payments exceed £1,500 per year then I am afraid you have no recourse in terms of voluntary terminating the agreement and I can only suggest making a complaint and see how far that takes you.