VT Hire Purchase less than 50% way through

[Brocka]

We have recently voluntary terminated our agreement which is currently less than half way through. Im aware we are.expected to pay the shortfall but would.like to know.a few things.

1. We have already paid just short of £2000 and never missed a payment, and the 50% cost is quotes as approximately £4800. The finance company never answer questions we are currently awaiting the bill as the car has gone straight to auctions. Does the amount we have already paid have to be taken off the 50% cost before any damage etc is taken into conaideration or are the firm entitled to refuse to.accept what has been.paid as they inform us. they have stated they intend to bill us for the £4800 as well as any damages they may find.

2. They have also stated if they sell it at auction for less than its worth, regardless of natural depreciation they can bill us the shortfall. Although the car was advertised at £4800 at point of sale we checked the RRP price two days after receiving it and this was only £3500. So the car was sold for more than its worth even before interest etc was added.

3. They claim the can.bill.us for missing documents, we were.never given the paper MOT and they have marked this down as no documentation returned. We only obtained an online MOT check which we offered the printout and he refused. Their recovery guy says they can.£50 for missing documentation. We returned log book, service history etc.

4. There has been.an ongoing complaint with Financial Ombudsman regarding the state the vehicle was in at time of sale, corrosion underneath in particular this was discovered weeks into the contract and an independent report showed that they were at fault. They are currently appealing thia but we have got sick of the sight of the car as it doesn't feel safe (anti roll bar is corroded and about to fall off. As well as petrol smell and fuel filling problems. Among other problems. They disputing the findings due to the fact they claim we did 9000 miles not 2990 as the independent inspector stated. The mileage is also disputable, and doesn't tally up between MOT and service and contract. (We have evidence ). As the complaint is still ongoing can they charge us for anything been covered under this complaint. as not looking after the vehicle. The recovery guy has stated it is going straight to auction without another inspection so.ours will be the only one.

5. If the car is sold at auction.is.the sale price deducted from our outstanding debt or does thia go straight to them. The paperwork we signed from Recovery say this would be credited to our account and the outstanding balance calculated but Finance company say this is wrong and because we VT'd before 50% it doesn't apply.

[R0b]

Re: VT Hire Purchase less than 50% way through

Hello, first of all who is the lender?

If you have voluntarily terminated the agreement and not voluntarily surrendered the car then your liability is 50% of the total price under the agreement, plus additional damage beyond a reasonable condition whilst it was in your possession. The amount you have already paid is offset against the 50% balance and you make up the shortfall. If they bill you for 4800 and you have already paid 2000, thhat means you will have paid more than 50% which they are not allowed to do. Let them bill you for it then you can simply dispute it and offer to pay the difference once they have sent out the correct invoice.

2. As above, your liability is capped at 50% so they can't charge you the shortfall between what it was sold at and the valuation. We all know auctions don't fetch the price expected and if they choose to go down that pay instead of trying to sell it privately that's their prerogative. They might however try to claim that the difference in shortfall was because of the damage sustained but from the sounds of it, they will be trying to wing this one.

3. The think they can charge for an MOT copy but in my opinion they can't. Your only liability beyond the 50% is the car not being in a reasonable condition on return. That doesn't extend to missing paperwork though it could be argued no MOT = unroadworthy = unreasonable condition. However if you can supply them with a copy of the current MOT online or otherwise, they have no leg to stand on.

4. When you say they are currently appealing the Ombudsman's decision, they have initially found in your favour? if so what was the outcome was there any money award given in your favour? And do you know when you expect an outcome in the appeal? I'm curious why they are disputing you did 9000 miles instead of much less and what evidence do they have to back that up? The fact that you have an independent report helps your case so hopefully they will uphold your complaint. They can try to charge you but it's subject to the complaint so I suggest you resist pending the outcome of it.

5. The money goes straight to the lender because the cause was not legally yours in the first place. Why did they say it would go to your account, have you given them bank details to pay the funds to you? The lender is correct it would go to them but should t be deducted from the 50% any losses they have to take the hit themselves and you simply have to repay the shortfall of the 50%.

[Brocka]

Re: VT Hire Purchase less than 50% way through

Sorry I have probably worded it a little confusing.

Firstly we have voluntary surrendered the car. They already have it on thier possession.

Basically the car cost £4800 or round about, the credit was nearly twice that amount, so the amount quoted for 50% was about £4800 (not exact) so we have paid £2000 to date and not got to the £4800 threshold as required.

What I meant by crediting to my account was the outstanding debt, the recovery guy seemed to think whatever it was sold at would be credited to my outstanding bill, before any damage was taken into consideration. I never heard this before and it does state this on.his paperwork receipt for collecting the car.

The onbudsman awarded us conpensation of £150 and ordered that they do all the work for the vehicle to make it roadworthy, or reject the vehicle and clear the credit and refund payments. But the work is expected to outvalue the car itself and they appeal against it to hold off and hopefully try to convince them its wrong. They quoted a milrage they informed the ombudsman by word of mouth that they claim they obtained from the tracker. No evidence was submitted till after the ombudsmans decision and even after that they provided a basic word table they had wrote up, which actually had soneone elses details on.including a phone number, when we rang this guy confirmed he is in finance with them and the mileage is about right for his vehicle.

We have already attempted to.give them the printed copy of the online MOT but they refused.

[R0b]

Re: VT Hire Purchase less than 50% way through

Well if you voluntarily surrendered the vehicle then your liability is not capped at 50%. The car is sold and then whatever it fetches at auction you pay the remaining balance left in the agreement. This is why you need to be extremely careful in whether you VT or VS as the liability could be substantial.

As for the ombudsman complaint. The problem is that you have given the car back so how are they supposed to repair it and put it in a roadworth condition? The only other option would be to refund you but because you have taken that decision and not the lender I'm not sure how the ombudsmans decision can really apply. As for the mileage, it sounds like they are trying to be underhand and that amounts to fraud in my eyes especially if all of the details are incorrect. Not sure how they can appeal it either, if the decision was made by an initial investigator they can have an ombudsman to review the decision and that decision is final and binding if accepted. If it was a final decision then you can enforce that decision through the courts and the lender must comply.

As I said however, not sure how much that decision stands because you have done something else which could be seen as non acceptance of that decision.

[Brocka]

Re: VT Hire Purchase less than 50% way through

It was an adjudicators decision that was made by The Ombudsman, they are now asking the ombudsman to reconsider it.

[Brocka]

Re: VT Hire Purchase less than 50% way through

sorry by volutary surrendering I mrant the agreement, the agreement insists that the car is returned as part of the VT as standard. So really we havnt surrendered the car, they take it as standard when you VT and that was written into the agreement.

[R0b]

Re: VT Hire Purchase less than 50% way through

sorry by volutary surrendering I mrant the agreement, the agreement insists that the car is returned as part of the VT as standard. So really we havnt surrendered the car, they take it as standard when you VT and that was written into the agreement.

That's fine if you VT'd but just because it is written in the contract that you can VT does not mean it is always taken that way. If you wrote to them saying that you want to voluntarily surrender the car, that could be construed as something entirely different to a voluntary termination. The choice of words makes all the difference, but lets assume as you say you are going on the basis of VT.

Did you write to the Ombudsman to accept the decision? If you did then it is legally binding on both parties and you can apply to the court to have it enforced.