vt - finance company demanding £1600

[chrisdoug]

Hi all, new to this but desperately need some help, my hubby handed his car back to finance company under the voluntary termination, all was fine he dropped it at the appointed garage, the person looked the vehicle over gave my hubby a written statement of some scrapes and bumps etc and made him sign it, which he was happy to do, so we knew there would be some come back from the finance company with regards to a repair bill but the fright i got when they sent a bill in for £1600, my hubby took pics of the vehicle before handing it back and nearly nothing matches his pics!!! he has since told them he is not paying and asked for receipt for the repairs and the really rude man on the phone told him there was no receipt because the vehicle has since been sold and nothing was repaired?????? how can they charge us a repair bill if they haven't spent any money repairing it??? we would really appreciate some help with this, many thanks in advance.

[Wombats]

Re: vt - finance company demanding £1600

What a shame you signed the piece of paper before you found this forum. It's good that you have photographs. Did you have a list of work they say needed carrying out - all the Act says is it must be in reasonable condition for its age or words to that effect.

If you have a copy of what you signed, could you post it up with ALL personal details / identifiers removed please so we can have a look at it - it would be useful to see exactly what commitment (if any) this ties you to.

Also when you say "nearly nothing matches his pics" what are you talking about which should match them? :beagle:

[chrisdoug]

Re: vt - finance company demanding £1600

Hi thanks for your reply sorry i cant get it posted as its a very faint copy but it simply states rear bumper, chipped / scratched, 2 front & o/s/r tyre near legal limit, stone chips & scratches but no major damage, most of the damage was on the car and it was a 56 reg so most def would not be scratch free, its infuriating that they can demand so much but without actually have repaired any damage and have sold the car on anyway!!! :tinysmile_cry_t:

[chrisdoug]

Re: vt - finance company demanding £1600

sorry my hubby took pics of all angles of the car inside & out before handing the vehicle back!!

[Wombats]

Re: vt - finance company demanding £1600

I would argue that what is listed above is fair wear and tear.

They use this to try to maximise profit, but their is nothing in the Act which states that under a VT you have to pay anything other than the 50% figure less any deposit paid or part ex allowance. If you were in arrears, you have to pay those up to the 50% mark - the figure will be listed on your original agreement.

Fair wear and tear is allowable. I know you say it's faint, but is there no way you can post up what you signed? A photo from a mobile is usually pretty good.

It's more the small print on the paper I'm interested in than the actual damage which sounds like it is just fair wear and tear, so you shouldn't have to pay for it.