Voluntary Termination Advice

[Satele]

Hi all,

I have been reading through some previous posts on this and my situation is such that I now need some advice. Financially and otherwise, my situation has now changed significantly that I can no longer afford the monthly repayments of my car and do not require it for transport. I bought the car new in August 2014 with PCP from a Renault Dealer.

The financed amount was £11,650 and as of today, I owe £8298. The settlement figure I have asked for (out of interest is £7676).

I understand that to VT, I must have repaid 50%, which I work out to be £5825. Would I be correct in stating that I could make a lump sum to achieve this (i.e. I don't have to wait until I have paid 50% via monthly repayments)? Is it correct that I am therefore going to have to pay around £2473 to do this, or will I have a reduction in interest due to settling early?

My documentation does not provide any of this information and I have only managed to obtain the above figures by registering for Renault's online finance service which gives me some basic information about my agreement (nothing about VT).

Ultimately, can you advise if this is the best approach to hand the car back? I no longer need the car and know I can't maintain the monthly payments in future months, but may have some assistance just now to pay the lump sum to get to the 50% point for returning the car.

Thank you for your advice.

[R0b]

Re: Voluntary Termination Advice

The first red flag is that you have said there is nothing within your agreement that says you can terminate provided you have paid 50% of the total amount payable. That on the face of it would indicate you haven't got a PCP but some form of hire contract, perhaps a PCH.

If you can upload a copy of your documentation with your personal information redacted I should be able to tell you what your options are but without seeing it, I can only make assumptions.

[Satele]

Re: Voluntary Termination Advice

The first red flag is that you have said there is nothing within your agreement that says you can terminate provided you have paid 50% of the total amount payable. That on the face of it would indicate you haven't got a PCP but some form of hire contract, perhaps a PCH.

If you can upload a copy of your documentation with your personal information redacted I should be able to tell you what your options are but without seeing it, I can only make assumptions.

Yes, that seemed strange to me as well. Upon further searching the Renault online portal, it appears that the dealer scanned a copy of the agreement up there. Looking at this, there is a section on termination. This states

"You have a 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 £7071.66. If you have already paid sat least this amount plus any overdue instalments and have taken reasonable care of the goods, you will not have to pay any more."

On my agreement it says total amount of credit is £11650.44, over 48 months. On pre-contract information it states that the total amount to pay is £13964.32 but on page 1 of Hire Purchase Agreement it also states that the total amount payable is £14143.32

Thanks for your help.

[Satele]

Re: Voluntary Termination Advice

Would I be correct in stating that if my total amount payable was £14143.32, and I (according to Renault online portal) currently owe £8298.03 as the outstanding amount, that I have therefore repaid £5845.29, so simply have to pay £1226.37 to VT the car?

[R0b]

Re: Voluntary Termination Advice

The pre-contract information should match what the actual agreement says, if it doesn't why doesn't it? have they added something else as part of the total amount payable such as insurance products? Or have you looked at the wrong figure perhaps?

To clarify, you do not need to have paid 50% before you can terminate the agreement, you can do it before the 50% it just means you are liable to bring the amount up to date. Sometimes it is better to terminate before paying because some lenders might charge you a small amount for paying off more earlier than it is due.

But yes, if the total amount payable is £14143.32 and you have paid £5845.29 to date, then you only need to bring the account up to £7071.66 to extinguish any further liability for repayments.

[Satele]

Re: Voluntary Termination Advice

Hi Rob, thanks again for the information. I again wasn't sure why there was a difference between the pre-contract credit information and the Hire Purchase Agreement, but the difference is certainly there. I did not notice this at the time, or would have queried it.

The pre-contract credit information states:
Total amount of credit: £11650.44
Duration of agreement: 48 months
Total amount you will have to pay: £13964.32

The Hire Purchase Agreement states:
Amount of credit: £11650.44
plus
interest charge: £2065.91
finance facility fee: £99
option to purchase fee (inc VAT): £149.99

total charge for credit: £2313.91
total amount payable: £14143.32

I can't work out why the figures are different. Just to clarify, there are no other added products or services on the HP Agreement.

[Satele]

Re: Voluntary Termination Advice

I have taken good care of the car and barring some of the usual wear and tear to the car mats, a few paint chips from the road, and I think one of the alloys might have a scuff on it, it is in great condition. I have went over the agreed 5000 p.a. miles by quite some bit (around 30000 miles I think).

That said, two days ago, I opened one of the back doors and the handle appears to have a problem where it doesn't always connect with the locking mechanism and occasionally won't open correctly. The back doors have seen virtually no use so I believe this is a fault with the component and not through my handling. Should I get this addressed at the dealer beforehand or leave it be?

Thanks again.

[Satele]

Re: Voluntary Termination Advice

Hi all,

Just wondered if anyone was able to advise further on this one?
Thanks, David

[R0b]

Re: Voluntary Termination Advice

Hello,

I would need to see both documents to maybe try and understand your position. But if the pre-contract information doesn't marry up then you could have an argument but as to what remedy there is available, I am not sure and would need to look into it. If you can upload the documents with personal info redacted then I can take a look.

Unlikely that the agent inspecting the car would be checking the mechanics but rather the cosmetics of the car, though that is not to say they won't but it depends on the agent being instructed - You can plead ignorance and see what happens or get ti fixed.

[Satele]

Re: Voluntary Termination Advice

Thanks Rob. I can send this to you now. The situation has changed a little. I have paid for the repair work on door handle, got new tyres and brakes fitted at same time as per Renault service centre recommendations. The car is shortly due it's 3rd annual service and first MOT so if I am going to VT, I would like to do so before these are due next month.

Now I am at a loss with whether it is worth pursuing the VT or if I should instead just sell privately to a dealer and make up shortfall on PCP myself. My settlement figure on finance is around £1000-1500 less than car value at my estimates. I would have to pay around £1000 to VT the car (to get to the 50%) and then have the potential claims from Renault on mileage which I am over by 10,000 miles at least and anything else cosmetic that they find.

I don't know what to do?

[Satele]

Re: Voluntary Termination Advice

[MENTION=71570]R0b[/MENTION], can I send you my document? Sorry for the tag!

[R0b]

Re: Voluntary Termination Advice

Hi Satele,

If you email kati@legalbeagles.info she will be able to redact your personal info and upload the document - I've tagged her so she's aware! @Kati