Voluntary Termination - Please Post the Outcome of your case.

[Amethyst]

We see many posters asking for help dealing with mileage charges being charged following Voluntary Termination. The majority of posters don't come back and let us know how they got on and what the final outcome was. This would obviously be extremely useful to know for others looking into dealing with the same issues, and for us to know whether any changes need making and how different finance companies handle complaints.

If you have a thread in here and haven't posted your conclusion, we'd be very appreciative if you could let us know how it went.

We're also interested in whether people have had their credit file damaged by going through the VT Process.

To find your threads/posts click on your username ( top right of this page ) and click Find all Posts or Find all Started Threads under your avatar on the left of the page. Or you can post on this thread, but often when people are looking for help they will read other posters threads... and it's frustrating when they don't end with a conclusion.

If you are looking for help R0b has made a very good outline of the current situation on Mileage Charges here.

[CharlieP24]

Just started a VT for my Range Rover with Black Horse Finance. 50% was £17k but I have paid £19k before deciding to VT. Sent them the VT letter from here and received a response today that I owe £962.72 as a total liability figure before they’ll even collect? What is this?

happy to keep posting updates here as they happen. I wonder if anyone else has had difficulty from Land Rover Finance / Black Horse? the car is worth less than we predicted when I bought it so wonder if that’s why they’re kicking up a fuss

[Sarah08]

Hello, this is my first post.
I’m currently in the process of Voluntary termination with Advantage finance.
I have used the templates provided on this site but so far they are fighting me on the £80 collection charge.
This is the email I was sent by them this morning - is it worth fighting this or is it looking like they’ll dig their heels in?

If they’re behaving like this now I can’t imagine what they’ll be like if they try and do me for any damages to the vehicle.

Thank you for your email. As per terms and conditions of voluntary termination which we abide by the consumer credit act. As a company we have to provide free drop of points throughout the country we do however provide an extra service for collection which is a charge of £80 due to us having to get a recovery truck in to recover the vehicle for you. This is stated in the voluntary termination terms and conditions that would of been sent to you prior to going ahead. This charge will remain outstanding on your credit file until paid.

Has anyone had any luck with this?
Thank you.

[R0b]

Well done on persevering, personally I think you could have pushed for compensation in terms of the inconvenience in addition to removing it but the main point is getting the default removed.

I am curious what defence BH raised when they denied liability as to the data protection claim, would it be possible for you to send me a copy of their defence with your personal data redacted? There's a few people in a similar position who might benefit and gain an insight into how they might react if proceedings were issued.

[MrsFtheBaker]

Hi

This is the first time I have posted here but have used the information I have learnt from this forum to fight our case against Black Horse Finance for excess mileage charge after voluntary termination of the vehicle.

This started 2 years ago when BH were not prepared to lend any further funds (due to becoming self employed) to move the car over to HP from PCP when the agreement was due to end so we had to find a car elsewhere and decided to VT it and buy the new car.

At the time we were asked to sign a form from BH agreeing to cover excess mileage if there was any when we VT it. We didn't sign the form and wrote to them instead. The car was collected and that is when the letters started chasing for the excess mileage.

We replied to every letter stating the case over and over again that the PCP agreement advised that as long as more than 50% of the cost of the vehicle had been paid there would be nothing further to pay.

Suddenly after about 6 months letters stopped and we thought that was the end of it only to find a few months ago that they had put a default notice against our credit file.

After doing some research on here we sent BH a 14 day letter before action advising that they were in breach of data protection. We didn't hear back from them and so started proceedings in the small claims court.

BH raised a defence disputing the breach of DP and agreed to mediation.

At mediation they caused confusion when they said we hadn't asked for the default notice to be removed, which the mediator could clearly see on the file, but strangely they offered compensation of £324. The legal representative for BH was not in a position to remove the default notice and would take it back to BH

Today we received an email from the legal representatives for BH agreeing to remove the default notice and also to write off the excess mileage charge of £3230.00 as long as we marked the county court action as settled.

Thank you to everyone who posted on here as this was our guidance to getting this resolved.

Don't give up if you know you are in the right.

[Chuchi]

SUCCESS with Vauxhall Finance (GMAC) on having excess mileage charges dropped, 'damage' charges dropped and refund of a Direct debit taken after the VT. It has taken 14 months to resolve and I have had to be patient through some fairly aggressive phone calls and communications on the excess mileage in particular. What has helped me is not rushing to the ombudsman.

No legal action, no ombudsman and no impact on credit file.

Without the excess mileage and damage (they did at the auction house... photos essential!) the VT would have been really easy and straightforward.

More here: https://legalbeagles.info/forums/for...excess-mileage

Thanks for the info and templates R0b Amethyst

[Dawnclaire]

Hi, I started a claim against Nissan finance back in July 2019. I had excess mileage on my Juke, to the cost of arounf £1,700. I sent in letters to the FOS from this site, particularly the case against Mercedes.

It's taken 2 years for them to reach a decision...... But it is in my favour
They have decided to not claim the excess from me - see email below:

Your complaint about RCI Financial Services Limited trading as Nissan Finance

Thank you for your patience while we’ve been looking at your complaint. I’m sorry it’s taken longer than we would have liked to provide you with an answer. As previously explained, this was because of the complexities involved.



The business is making you an offer



Following our investigations and discussions with the business, they have now agreed to settle your complaint about the excess mileage charge being applied when you voluntary terminated your car finance agreement.



In your case, this means the business will either waive the excess mileage charge or, if you have already settled your excess mileage charge, they will now refund the charge adding interest at the rate of 8% simple per year from the date of payment until the date of settlement. If any adverse information has been recorded on your credit file – in relation to the period where the excess mileage charge wasn’t paid – this will now be removed.



This is in line with what the Financial Ombudsman Service would expect in these types of situations – and I think their offer is fair and reasonable.



What happens next?



I think this is a fair outcome in the circumstances, for the reasons I’ve explained.



If the business’ offer is acceptable, you don’t need to do anything. They’ll be in touch directly with full details of the settlement, in the next six weeks.



If you're not happy with the offer, or if there are outstanding secondary issues to your complaint, please let me know within TWO WEEKS. If I can’t resolve things, an ombudsman here can look at everything again and make a final decision.



If I don’t hear from you by TWO WEEKS, we might not be able to look at your complaint again. So please get in touch as soon as possible to let me know what you’ve decided.



If you have any questions – or need more time – please get in touch within two weeks of the date of this letter and we’ll be happy to help. You can get in touch by emailing casework_DP03@financial-ombudsman.org.uk, or calling us on 0800 023 4567.



If we don’t hear from you, we’ll take it the business’ offer is acceptable and we won’t take the complaint any further.

Kind regards Cesca Hall | Investigator | Financial Ombudsman Service | Exchange Tower, London, E14 9SR

[PzPirate]

Hi all, some good news!*

Having spent a good 18 months arguing to and fro with BMW FS I can confirm the mileage charges have finally been dropped and the adverse entries to my credit file have been removed.

This essentially came down to me accusing them of coercing and falsifying my finance documents. As R0b has mentioned multiple times, the people that read and respond to these letter are most likely low-level customer support workers with no real awareness of 1. The law, and 2. How to counter concise arguments, thus going on the offensive and dropping themselves in it.

I won't go into the details but I am more than happy to supply you with my correspondence should you wish to see it.

Keep plugging guys - you will get there eventually!

Hi jonevns,

Would love to see that paperwork please, its hard work isn't it!!

KR PzPirate

[R0b]

Hi everyone

just wanted to post today to let everyone who is interested know that we pursued our case to have the excess mileage charges of roughly £3500 waived (roughly 28000 excess miles) with VW audi and the financial ombudsman last year. Due to covid this has taken quite a bit of time to resolve. However, we have finally had confirmation that VW have agreed to settle. This means the fees will either be waived or any charges paid refunded with an additional 8% interest per year from the date of payment until the refund.

I used the template letters in the VT guidance and i just want to let everyone know it was a success! If your in the same boat keep at it.

Thanks for your help legal beagles!

Gemma

Good news and well done. Did you receive an Ombudsman's decision or did VW Audi cave in without a formal decision being made?

[Gem H]

Hi everyone

just wanted to post today to let everyone who is interested know that we pursued our case to have the excess mileage charges of roughly £3500 waived (roughly 28000 excess miles) with VW audi and the financial ombudsman last year. Due to covid this has taken quite a bit of time to resolve. However, we have finally had confirmation that VW have agreed to settle. This means the fees will either be waived or any charges paid refunded with an additional 8% interest per year from the date of payment until the refund.

I used the template letters in the VT guidance and i just want to let everyone know it was a success! If your in the same boat keep at it.

Thanks for your help legal beagles!

Gemma

[Jamesaudi]

Hi all - my story following advice from here with VW finance for my Audi A5 2014

Aware I was going to VT, I had touches done on the car including a refurb of the alloys and some larger scratches removed (not ones you get from a stray branch that litter the lower side of your car). In order to get the car VT’s ASAP and not wanting to lose out on another significant monthly payment, I emailed late on a Friday ahead of the following Monday payment being taken out. Quite risky I suppose but the work required me to keep the vehicle until the last safe moment Friday morning. Emailing earlier would see the car not road legal and stuck 30 mins away at a garage.

I emailed the letter template (cheers Rob!); cut down significantly as a lot was not relevant to my situation. Along with the email I filled in their proforma box as it does not seem to trap you into anything. I did leave the reason for VT blank however.
I took their auto reply as confirmation. At this stage no actual personalised confirmation had come from VW stating it had been cancelled.

So as not to risk / muddy the waters of my credit score, I allowed the DD to be paid knowing full well they wouldn’t Have cancelled it over the weekend. Upon acknowledgement of my VT a few days later, I rang VW finance, who have agreed to refund the payment once it is processed (5-7 working days). ‘So long as you VT before the day of payment being taken, you are ok’ - happy days.
Of note - VW finance had a different starting mileage (19k) that the actual one (37k) which would see a huge cost potentially fall my way as the expected mileage in their eyes was 60k and not 85k. Calling the dealership that sold me the car and emailing the initial documents meant they could update WV finance. Audi have confirmed the updates have been sent through - but nothing yet from VW finance who seem to take a week or so to process anything. Fair enough given the conditions, but I expect to have more back and forth on this as I try and connect the VW telephone operator to Audi!

BSA got in touch within days and booked in the car for inspection and collection. I did not keep it insured and had stated the fact in my initial email that the insurance would be running out a couple of days later. It was taxed and still within MOT.

I havejust had the car inspected by BSA (40 mins) - in which the very nice inspector said anything he found was well within expectations for a 7 year old car. He has stated and showed £0.00 charges on his tablet.

now I await the Month’s refund and hope that nothing comes from any potential future inspections from BSA! Having time stamped Images and videos of my mileage and the car - I feel that they will struggle to find anything to bill me for going forward. Other people’s reviews concern me on this however...

[Mumoftwo2018]

Here is my outcome.

11/01/2021 - notified Oodle finance of my intention to VT.

13/01/2021 - received confirmation of VT from both Oodle finance and Shoosmiths.

14/01/2021 - received an online appraisal to complete of the car but refused to.

28/01/2021 - car collected and VT finalised, 2 weeks from start to finish.

I do have a charge of £170 for a scratch that I hadn't noticed before, only light but someone had scratches it all the way down the passenger side.

[JoBrindle21]

Have you returned your vehicle yet? if not and you haven't taken advantage of the covid payment holiday I suggest maybe asking for a 3 month holiday though you VT amount will increase slight due to the interest they charge on the amount outstanding you might be able to save the £935.00 plus interest as hopefully you will have a new job and maybe VT your car in three months time. Just a suggestion. Hope it helps x

[Stella82]

Hi. I have recently requested a voluntary termination for a car that I had on Hp finance through Motonovo finance. Car has been collected by Crystal collections. I have an outstanding amount of £935 to pay. I am unable to pay in full. Motonovo will not accept monthly instalment so I can get up to 50% mark owed. I have no job due to current COVID conditions. If I fail to pay within 30 days it will result in Agreement being noted as terminated with default liability. Not sure what that means. Bit confused. Can anyone help. Thank you.

[Utumno]

We're currently going through our second VT process, informed by the excellent resources here and the "VT Pack". I'll update the key points in this post as requested.

We were expecting this to be easy enough, given the car is in excellent condition (way better than "reasonable") and within it's mileage limit. We'd also removed the cherished plate, received the new V5C, changed the plates and collected all the relevant paperwork including service books and invoices.

Timeline follows, to today's date:

• 6 Jan 2021 - VWFS notified of VT using the VT Pack template letter by letter and email. Automated email acknowledgement was received by return.
• 8 Jan 2021 - VWFS emailed their VT form, which we ignored and responded by attaching our original PDF cancellation letter.
• 11 Jan 2021 - VWFS emailed that the agreement has been cancelled, and gave a (pretty good) set of instructions for contacting BCA to arrange a collection.
• 11 Jan 2021 - BCA had a collection slot available on 14 Jan 2021, so we took that slot
• 11 Jan 2021 - Lightweight valet and minor scratch removal undertaken by local detailer (following COVID regulations!). Cost £50 and flagged two small imperfections that VWFS might want to bill us for (paintwork damage on the front bumper where it looks like someone has very lightly bumped it while parked, and a very small N/S scratch on a door that was too deep to detail out). I did a full photo/video walk around and kept all that for our records in case VWFS get shirty about charges.
• 13 Jan 2021 - A collection pack arrived in the post from VWFS, which I thought was excellent. It gave clear details on what to do with the V5, what to prepare for collection, and confirmed that the agreement has been cancelled. It also gave very clear instructions on next-steps, what the inspection process is, and how we would be notified of any charges as well as several different options to pay any charges. I wish BMWFS had done something similar for our first VT.
• 14 Jan 2021 - Car collected from our house to schedule by a very professional and friendly chap from BCA, who did a 45 minute inspection and graded the car "A" with no notification of any damage found whatsoever. He said he found the bumper scuff and the scratch but didn't mark it on his report as he felt it was clearly well within "reasonable" condition for the age/mileage.
• 14 Jan 2021 - Direct Debit to VWFS has been cancelled, as has the car insurance. Far as we're concerned now, the VT is complete apart from any arguments around remedying scratches and blemishes. All done in just over a calendar week, and it has been very easy.
• 9 Feb 2021 - we contacted VWFS as nothing further has been heard. They have confirmed there are no charges to pay whatsoever and the balance of the agreement is at zero. They also said that it's not their policy to send letters confirming account closure, but they have sent an email, received today, confirming the above.

In short, the process was painless and fast. The end position could be clearer, but again we've had a straightforward VT experience following LegalBeagles' VT pack.

U.