VT Collection fee by Black Horse Finance.

[Aaron111]

@R0b Recently called up my finance company about VT my car, they sent me a letter where they state if I want my car collected I have to pay £75 fee that I must pay in advance.
My other option is to deliver the car to a BVC auction site ... the closed one to me is 90 miles away.

I have used the "Letter to lender disputing collection fees" and will be sending it back with there collection form with a few alterations of my own.
In the letter I have stated that if they wish for me to deliver the car 90 miles away it will be them who incur a fee of £260 that must be paid in advance. I noted the following charges on the letter:

My personal time driving to the auction site of over 3 hours -£95
Fuel (Unleaded) - £35
Taxi fare back home -£130

I have also made it clear on the phone to them that the return form and my letter will be send my special signed delivery. As such upon seeing the letter signed for on the Royal mail website a 14 day timer will begin for them to come and collect.
As they take payments from my account on the 27th of each month I have also informed them in the letter that failure to collect the vehicle by the 20th will result in termination of the direct debit. They should not need a month to collect my vehicle so prolonging it that long I can only consider it an act to gain unwarranted payments from me since I would have proof they accepted my VT form weeks ago.

[R0b]

Re: VT Collection fee by Black Horse Finance.

Hello, have you sent the letter or are you going to be sending it?

[Aaron111]

Re: VT Collection fee by Black Horse Finance.

@R0bAs I work nights and only getting there VT letter today I can't get it posted until Monday morning. The thing that annoys me the most if that they honestly think I am going to drive 90 miles to drop of the car, that distance is beyond unreasonable.

They sent me two forms in the letter containing the following (don't have it with me so can't scan them)

Form one - informing them if I will drop of the car or I wish them to collect it paying £75 in advance (I crossed the fee out as I am not paying it) Also they wish to know current miles on the car as well as when the Tax and MOT expire followed by my contact details.

Form Two - Seams this one need to be stamped by the agent upon collection along with most of the details they ask in form one :S This I need to post to them within 5 days of the car being collected.

[R0b]

Re: VT Collection fee by Black Horse Finance.

First of all, there's no need to tell them when you are cancelling the direct debit. If you are sending by signed delivery, then the termination would take effect from the date it was signed. If you specify a date then you are held to it but for this purpose I see no reason why. Also you don't need to tell them when the 14 day period starts e.g. by royal mail, just say within 14 days from receipt of the letter.

As for dropping the car off, a 180 mile round trip would more than likely be considered unreasonable but in any event you are not required to return the car at your expense. As your letter suggests, you can charge them for dropping it off but getting a taxi back may be considered unreasonable as the court would consider a general duty of mitigation i.e. not taking the most expensive option so if a train fare is £60 cheaper than taxi then a court might expect you to take the train instead.

I'd advise against signing any forms, as you are not obliged.

[Aaron111]

Re: VT Collection fee by Black Horse Finance.

@R0b Thanks for the advice I will make the changes and not bother sending back there form, as you said the agreement says nothing about signing anything extra.

Really a train would be no better for me as I would still need a taxi to actually get home, but again you are right. Honestly I wonder I am undervaluing my cost of my time, depending on the time I would end up wasting half a day.

I hope that Black Horse won't be that kind of company that try and get the most out of a customer, after reading the horrors others have been through. Will post again if / when they respond.

[Aaron111]

Re: VT Collection fee by Black Horse Finance.

I have decided to rewrite the entire thing as I can't be arsed to make my life harder. since Black Horse have already told me about a collection fee I have mixed together two templates, anything that looks wrong or could be changed any help would be appreciated.

30 January 2017

Dear Sir / Madam,

TERMINATION OF AGREEMENT PURSUANT TO S.99
OF THE CONSUMER CREDIT ACT 1974

Agreement number:
Registration:

I am writing to confirm that I wish to invoke my statutory right under section 99 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974 and hereby give you notice that the agreement is terminated effective immediately from the date of this letter.

The condition of the car is noted as being in a reasonable condition for its age and photographic evidence has been taken in the event of any future dispute as to the condition of the vehicle.

In your letter to me you have stated that a fee of £75 is to be paid in advance before the collection of the vehicle can take place. I regret to inform you that I am under no obligation to pay any fees for the collection.
The Consumer Credit Act 1974 explicitly states that, my liability under the agreement is limited to half the total amount payable and any terms under the agreement which imposes additional liability directly or indirectly is strictly prohibited by the Act. As such, I shall not be paying any collection fees.

The vehicle is now available for collection and I would be grateful if you could contact me on [NUMBER] to arrange a suitable time within the next 14 days.

Yours faithfully,

[NAME]

[R0b]

Re: VT Collection fee by Black Horse Finance.

Hi Aaron, that seems fine to me. You could further add the below in red if you wanted to.

In your letter to me you have stated that a fee of £75 is to be paid in advance before the collection of the vehicle can take place. I regret to inform you that I am under no obligation to pay any fees for the collection. However, I am prepared to return the car to a place of your choosing on the agreement that you shall reimburse me for any costs incurred in doing so.

[Aaron111]

Re: VT Collection fee by Black Horse Finance.

@R0b According to the Royal mail my letter was delivered and signed for on 31/01/2017 at 07.28 AM. I am hoping that they will actually respond within the next 14 days as I really need the car gone soon, although I so have some concerns.
Firstly I decided not to add to the letter that I would be happy to deliver the car, as besides work and other family commitments I really don't have the time.
My other concern is if the finance company does not respond to my letter by the 14/2/2017, besides the fact it would have been 14 days the other problem is that the cars current tax expires on the 01 March and the MOT 03 April.
Part of me wonders if the finance company would be so evil that they would drag this on so I would have to pay for the tax and mot before they would bother to collect it.

So I am wondering if no contact has been made by the 14th then should I send another letter to them explaining that if they do not reply before the end of the month I will cancel the remaining tax and insurance and return the V5C document to the DVLA informing them that they are now the registered keeper of the vehicle. And since the tax will run out by that time then the car cannot legally be on the road forcing me to have it moved to a storage area that my uncle own to which he insists on charging them a storage fee.

Finally I have personally canceled the direct debit myself since they have not bothered to do so even though they received and signed for the VT letter. I considered this a correct course of action as my termination rights states the following:
"You have the right to end this agreement. To do so you should write to the person you make your payments to. They will then be entitled to the return of the goods and to half the total amount payable under this agreement. That is £10.558.90. If you have already paid at least this amount plus any overdue instalments and have taken reasonable care of the good, you will not have to pay any more. "

As my rights state since I have sent a letter to the finance company and kept the vehicle in good condition including only doing 10k mile over 3 years, I see no reasons why a direct debit should be left active when all they can do it come and collect the vehicle.

[Aaron111]

Re: VT Collection fee by Black Horse Finance.

Hi Aaron, that seems fine to me. You could further add the below in red if you wanted to.

[MENTION=71570]R0b[/MENTION] Just a little update to what has been going on. Got a phone call today from Black horse, they have received my VT letter but wanted to confirm that the address on the letter is where the car is (obviously)and if the car still has a valid MOT (It does)

The woman I spoke to seemed to be reading my letter as we spoke, yet she never even mentioned my objection to paying a collection fee. Last thing she said to me is that she will send an E-mail with the updated information and I should get another phone call soon. I am hoping that this means the next call will be arranging a collection date, sooner the better for me.

[R0b]

Re: VT Collection fee by Black Horse Finance.

Fingers crossed, either way the contract is now terminated having received your letter to VT. If you don't hear back from them within the next 7 days I would chase it up.