Voluntary termination - Black Horse Finance

[ScrewLoose]

Having spoken to them for over an hour they are refusing to admit accept that I am not liable for the £1500 (ish) and staying that I am required to pay that amount. Further they argue that I have not terminated the agreement as I have not paid that amount. I'm now very stressed! The customer representative made a statement that I "have signed the agreement and therefore the terms I have agreed to and the contract is a legally binding document inclusive of alterterations" said this on behalf of black horse finance. This was in response to me stating that they must copy legislation as written and without alteration.

Where do I go from here?*

[ScrewLoose]

R0b is there any chance you could help me with writing a bullet proof complaint to the financial services ombudsman as I'm conscious that I only have one shot at the complaint and I really can't be dealing with the credit report too. I now feel a little out of depth with it all but I'm still willing to fight my corner*

[ScrewLoose]

Just to add they also stated that the car has not been voluntary terminated at this stage due to the fact they claim there is a balance outstanding. What do I do with regard to their refusal to accept the termination?*

[R0b]

So what do you want to do from here? You have some options:

1. Claim repudiatory breach of contract and damages equivalent to the rental instalments for the remainder of the contract. Can't remember if I already mentioned this but termination of repudiatory breach allows you to accept the breach by giving them notice and terminating the contract. Future obligations are discharged and you can claim damages as if the contract had been performed but it does not affect any prior outstanding liability. It might be argued that going down this route because they have invoiced you £1,500 before you claimed repudiatory breach, this could be payable and offset against any damages that you may be claiming against.

2. Rely your statutory right and argue that you validly exercised the termination, and the £1,500 you don't believe is payable (what is the £1,500 for?)

3. Combined with 2, claim breach of the GDPR and negligence on the basis that the late payment is misleading because (1) the contract was terminated on X date prior to that amount becoming due and payable. BH should have marked the account as closed but haven't done so and (2) that amount does not relate to any credit instalments under the contract. The status code on (Experian for example) is being used to record a non-payment of a credit instalment and is therefore misleading because that is not true.

There is support for your claim of breach of data protection and you can rely on the Court of Appeal case, Grace v Blackhorse (link here) - funny, because they should already be aware of this case but hey ho they still insist on failing to comply. Anyway, the case related to a default placed by BH on a debtor's credit file where the agreement was irremediably unenforceable. There is a specific quote that you can use:

Para. 38: As for the second submission, I have not been persuaded that the shortcomings in the CRAs’ registration systems can excuse a registration which is in substance inaccurate because of an omission (namely that the ‘default’ related to an unenforceable agreement).* If an accurate registration cannot be accommodated, then the answer is for the industry to change its registration systems, and in the meantime for inaccurate registrations not to be made.

The point above is applicable to your case, in that BH cannot use a late payment marker which is used to record late credit repayments as a means to say you have not paid any contractual damages. In fact, you can even say that you were not late in any of your payments right up to the point of exercising your VT right and therefore what they have recorded is both inaccurate and misleading. I believe pt2537 was acting for Grace in that case so any specific questions about it, I'm sure he will be able to answer them better than me.

4. Make a complaint to the FOS, but if I recall there hasn't been much success in this specific area. If the amount involves excess mileage then expect a long delay - some complaints have been outstanding for over 12 months because the FOS have not yet issued a decision on these excess mileage charges.

If you aren't comfortable arguing option 1 and following it through, I reckon option 2/3 is going to be your best bet but again is probably going to lead to you having to issue legal proceedings to get anything substantive. However, it is entirely up to you on which route you prefer to proceed with, all I can do is offer you some options.

[pt2537]

Cheers Rob, yep happy to answer any Grave v Blackhorse queries

[ScrewLoose]

I've just had a phonecall and they are collecting the car on Tuesday!

Surely that must be acceptance of the termination in itself? They wouldn't collect a car which has not been terminated?

I'll write a letter with the above points. pt2537*thanks in advance, for any help you can provide! It's very stressful but will be worth it in the end if I win!*

[R0b]

Did you ask them why the sudden change of position? That still doesnt absolve them from their breach of the GDPR and your right to compensation.

someone needs to hit them where it hurts and continue doing that until the choose to change their internal policies.

[ScrewLoose]

Nope it was a third party company so nothing was said in relation to the change of stance.

How would I go about dealing with the breach of GDPR and subsequent compensation as a layperson?*

[ScrewLoose]

Today I've received two default notices, one for £49.83 and one for £225.68. Spoken to BHF who said they these are printed automatically and are an error.


I was then told he would make sure my credit file isn't impacted by them and that he would speak to someone with regards to removing this month's missed payment however we shall see!

My credit report refreshes in four days and is already telling me. I will be getting a negative hire purchase mark on my account.*

I definitely feel aggrieved, how do I go about claiming damages for the credit file being destroyed by their behaviour?*

[R0b]

Will respond later.

[R0b]

Hi, sorry for the late response.

You need to send a letter before action to Black Horse as the starting point. If they don't agree with you then the next step is to start legal proceedings and kick off from there.

I've cobbled together an example letter before action that you'll need to adapt to suit your current situation, but it's a starting point.

*

[ScrewLoose]

R0b*you are an absolute star, and I really appreciate all your help!

What is a reasonable figure to request for compensation? I would be happy for the matter to just be closed but now they've upped the ante with their tactics and I'm now not going to be able to secure a mortgage for the next six years, and any credit I do attempt to get will be considerably more expensive.*

Thanks again,*

[R0b]

£500 would be a starting point here and I think you could probably go as high as £1,000 based on their conduct which has been deliberate, not a mistake if you issued legal proceedings.

[ScrewLoose]

https://ibb.co/9gzcRmh https://ibb.co/vvD99br
https://ibb.co/wd2x0R4




Today's letters from BHF, the car was collected on Tuesday, how can they keep adding payments up when they've clearly taken note of the VT.*

Is the ombudsman my next step alongside my claim for the credit file?*

[R0b]

The Financial Ombudsman won't look at your complaint if you've issued legal proceedings. Having said that, if you do go down the FOS route, I wouldn't expect them to give you a good outcome because they only look at what's fair and reasonable and quite frankly this is a matter or interpreting the law, something they are keen to avoid.

So if you want to complain to the FOS, you do that first but expect to wait another 6-8 weeks or even longer as they are understaffed at the moment. If that doesn't go your way you can reject the FOS' decision and pursue a legal claim, but of course that means the late payment marker will continue to be on your credit file all that time.