VT - Black Horse Mileage Clause

[JBeale96]

Hi guys,

I currently have a PCP agreement with Black Horse. For a number of reasons I am looking to change vehicles and have found a new car which has a significant deposit contribution. The dealer is willing to put this contribution towards paying the amount required to VT my agreement (it's in too much negative equity to part exchange). My main concern at the moment is that at the excess mileage rate shown I would be looking at a charge of roughly £900.

Clause 9 of my agreement notes my right to termination but it also states that I must make all payments stipulated in clause 11.

Clause 11 references a number of other clauses which could bring charges (serviced incorrectly, written off etc) however it also references the excess mileage clause, stating that I have to pay for the excess mileage.

This implies to me that I would be required to pay the excess mileage charge if I were to invoke clause 9 of the agreement by voluntarily terminating the contract.

I saw on the VT topic on here that the CCA effectively trumps the agreement terms however I'm confused as to whether that applies when the terms directly relate voluntary termination with an excess mileage charge.

Am I OK or am I screwed?

[xs2man]

Re: VT - Black Horse Mileage Clause

The CCA provides that your liability is limited to the 50% mark. So you can fight it on that basis. However, the finance company may put a marker against your credit file for doing so. And if that happens, the only way to remove it would be through court action, taken by yourself.

Have a read of some of the threads on here. Mine (against BMWFS) is still ongoing. And is now at the point, around 10 months after VT, that I need to decide to take BMWFS to court to remove the marker. I followed the excellent advice on here from the likes of @R0b. (Don't know if that worked linking him to the thread, but I am sure he will respond soon enough). But this is not yet concluded. I have had a response to my solicitors letter, and it wasn't great news, but I haven't spoken to him (my solicitor) yet about it, so wont go any more into details. And also, Photobucket have ruined their service, so I will have to re-host all my pictures for my thread to make sense again unfortunately. I will do this when I get time.

Basically, it comes down to how you feel about fighting over this £900. You could approach them asking for a reduction (after the VT has gone through, else they might be able to bill you for the miles as accrued before termination), and maybe they will consider it. Or else you can go down the long, drawn out road of back and forth letters, Financial Ombudsman (who will inevitably side with the finance company anyway), then taking them to court anyway. Or they may not put a marker against your credit file, and you can get on with your life. Or just pay it.

At the end of the day, £900 isn't an insignificant amount of money. But you have to decide if it's worth possibly risking your financial status, for many, many months, against the prospect of just paying it and drawing a line under it.