No service history charges

[noodles39]

Morning guys
i recently gave my car back to the finance company (voluntary termination). The guy collecting my car did an inspection on it, everything fine, no charges for wear and tear but said i will have to pay £170 as the car does not have a service history (done ny father in law - no proof). Where do i stand with this? Do i have to pay this charge?
Thanks in advance

[echat11]

Hi NOODLES39

I can't answer directly, here's some info -

https://legalbeagles.info/forums/for...tter-templates

@R0b

[noodles39]

Hi NOODLES39

I can't answer directly, here's some info -

https://legalbeagles.info/forums/for...tter-templates

@R0b

Thanks Rob for the guide, however it doesnt mention anything about no service charge so back to square one

[echat11]

R0b Can you please take a look and advise, many thanks.

I think you are going to be up against it, the whole point of a 'service history' is that it is verifiable (recorded) that it's been carried out. What does your father in law do for a living? Is he a member of a body / association (motor related)?

[R0b]

The guide isn't intended to catch every possible scenario so sometimes you may have to read between the lines but next time I update it, I will add some commentary around this question.

Short answer is that you have to show you have taken reasonable care of the care, which would include ensuring the car is regularly maintained and serviced. If your father in law is a qualified mechanic then you might have some persuasion on this if he is willing to back up your story but if he is not then you might struggle without more evidence.

Do you have any receipts related to the servicing such as oil changes or other common replacement parts that might be carried out under a service. Also, if he is a mechanic he could have marked the service book as evidence.

Unfortunately, the onus is on you prove that it had been done so I can see why they are trying to charge for missing service history. You can either continue to defend your position and worst case scenario (depending on who the finance co. is) they may try to negatively mark your credit file. In that case I've only seen successful cases where those markers have been removed if you commence legal proceedings.

The other option is to pay up and move on, though you might want to qualify any payment by putting in writing that the payment is not to be taken as an admission of liability - make sure to do this before you pay, not after.

Anyway, this is all hypothetical until the finance co. actually comes back to you with an invoice charging for that. The person doing the inspection has no authority, they are there just to do the inspection.