Vt damage charges

[Lisak22]

I have done a vt on my car finance i took the car back they sold it at auction, i have now had a letter telling me i owe £188 because of some scratches and a small dent, these are minor and they never repaired before selling the car, do i have to pay this? If i contest these charges will there be a mark on my credit file? Also my mum is a co signer on this agreement will there be a mark on her file? If it will cause any issue on my mums credit file then i will just pay it although i really dont see how they can charge it when the car was in reasonable condition for age and milage, please help! Thanks

[Lisak22]

Re: Vt damage charges

Can anyone help?

[Lisak22]

Re: Vt damage charges

[MENTION=23709]rob[/MENTION] can you help me on this? I have now paid the requested £188 to avoid any defaults being registered on my credit file and more importantly my mums credit file can i do anything about it now can i still contest the charges and request they refund me?

[R0b]

Re: Vt damage charges

Hello,

I will get back to you but the usual position is that once you have made the payment, it is very difficult to get it back.

[Lisak22]

Re: Vt damage charges

Ok thanks rob

[R0b]

Re: Vt damage charges

@Lisak22

Going back to your original post, I have a few questions

1. Who is the lender?

2. Did you receive a damage report from the lender?

3. Was the dents and scratches caused whilst the car was in your possession? Were they unavoidable e.g. stone chips when driving on the motorway?

Now that you've paid there's not much point in answering your question about defaults on yours and your mum's credit file but as a brief answer for future reference, it's possible the lender would as a coercion for you to pay up but if it's a genuine dispute then under the guidance by the Information Commissioner's Office, they should not be applying a default for genuine disputes and/or if the dispute amount is solely related to charges or fees.

As I also said briefly, the difficulty you now have is that you have paid them the amount and so it can be argued that you accepted the damages. The only real way of trying to obtain the money back is by going through the courts though you will find it difficult for a court to side with you unless you can prove that you were coerced into making the payment and perhaps they weren't entitled to it.

I believe there was a case a number of years ago that said something along the lines of when a person has doubts as to whether the payment is owed (whether factually or by law) but nonetheless pays that sum of money without investigating that doubt, then he or she takes the risk that they may be wrong. The bigger the doubt the less likely of successful recovery and in your case, I do not think that the payment can be recovered. This is especially the case if there is a threat to sue by the lender and you subsequently pay the money.

However, this is of course my opinion and no doubt someone else may take a different view.