BMW Financial Services - Voluntary Termination/Excess Mileage

[stuckcluckets]

Apologies that it's been a long time since my last update folks, had some other priorities of late!

The missed payment entries are continuing to appear on my credit file on a monthly basis without fail. It's reached a silly amount now, nearing a whole year's worth.

I'm currently exploring the possibility of a new car from BMW at the moment, so my next plan of action is to tell the dealership with whom I'm going through that I'll "sign on the dotted line today" on the condition that the old account be marked as closed/satisfied and all missed payment entries be removed first. Since BMW UK and BMW Financial Services are directly affiliated, I'm hopeful that this plan might just work!

I've looked into the Small Claims Court route, but its all focussed around situations whereby an organisation owes an individual a sum of money, not the other way around. Essentially I'd need to issue a claim against BMW Financial Services for a sum of money to get the ball rolling, and I'm not sure how I'd pick out a value, let alone justify it. I suppose I could argue that I'm owed damages, but I have a feeling it'd end up being a non-starter.

If my "new car sale bait" method falls flat, then I think its time to consider a without prejudice letter to BMW Financial Services making them an offer. I'm loathed to do it, but frankly, my credit history has to come before my pride.

[stuckcluckets]

The threatening letters have started to arrive , even although I did write to BMW to state that I was not due to pay any money as this was my right under the Consumer Credit Act (Section 100). I even suggested that I will take legal action if my credit rating is affected and/or the letters continue. A route I may have to go down in the future. It would be good to see the evidence of the winning case against MBFS to add some fuel to the fire against them.

The threatening letters won't last, they haven't for me at least. They just keep crushing your credit file by adding continual missed payment entries until you eventually give in. It's unjust, but it's what they do.

Unfortunately they'll ignore your letters. They shouldn't, but they do. In my case, they emailed me telling me to stop writing to them, informing me that all future correspondance from myself will be ignored. Clearly I annoyed them with all my legally and factually accurate letters. Boo hoo.

[Grahammcm1888]

The threatening letters have started to arrive , even although I did write to BMW to state that I was not due to pay any money as this was my right under the Consumer Credit Act (Section 100). I even suggested that I will take legal action if my credit rating is affected and/or the letters continue. A route I may have to go down in the future. It would be good to see the evidence of the winning case against MBFS to add some fuel to the fire against them.

[stuckcluckets]

I have just received a letter from BMW claiming I owe them money for excess mileage after a VT. I never signed their ‘“VT Pack” but admittedly was over in mileage. I don’t intend to pay this obviously beacause I now no longer have an agreement with them. I paid 50% and the car was in great condition. Here is what I believe my options are

1. Pay
2. Ignore
3. Write a letter protesting their charge.

I am looking for a bit of advice.

Hi there, I highly reccomend reading back through all of the previous posts in my thread which will hopefully provide you with some more information.

The upshot is that BMW Financial Services have no legal right to charge you for excess mileage in a VT scenario, but that won't stop them trying, as they're attempting to do with yourself. If you ignore it, they will report your credit account to credit reference agencies (CRAs) as still being open with the alleged balance outstanding (despite your recent VT) and will report a missed/late payment entry for every month until such time as you pay them. This is an underhanded attempt on BMW Financial Services' part to try and bully the likes of both you and I into paying what they allege is owed. If you write to them, they will likely at first send you a load of waffle trying to justify their attempts to manipulate the Consumer Credit Act into their favour, before then ignoring any further correspondence from yourself.

I've tried to fight BMW Financial Services in the following ways so far:
- Writing to them
- Financial Ombudsman
- Information Comissioner's Office (ICO)

So far, I've had no joy. There is a contributor to this thread who has recently won a legal case against Mercedes Benz Financial Services for this exact same scenario, and we are waiting on them uploading the court judgement details at the moment.

My only realistic remaining option is to issue court proceedings against BMW Financial Services, as I'm not willing to pay an amount that simply isn't due.

[kreig]

I have just received a letter from BMW claiming I owe them money for excess mileage after a VT. I never signed their ‘“VT Pack” but admittedly was over in mileage. I don’t intend to pay this obviously beacause I now no longer have an agreement with them. I paid 50% and the car was in great condition. Here is what I believe my options are

1. Pay
2. Ignore
3. Write a letter protesting their charge.

I am looking for a bit of advice.

Hi Graham,

I suggest you read through this thread and the others on the forum to hear other stories.

R0b in particular has some excellent posts and templates.

Chances are BMW will insist the payment is owed, the FO will find in their favour, the ICO will do nothing and BMW won't take you to court through fear of losing. As you will see there has been a recent court success which is fantastic, however this was where Mercedes brought the case to court. BMW do not seem to be keen on pursuing this route so if you wished to have your day in court you would have to bring the case against them at your cost & time.

If you don't pay what likely happens is that balance will sit on your account as owed, they will periodically chase you (Via an annual statement) for it but most damaging of all they will leave a late payment marker on your credit report. This took my 980+ score down to around 500. So the course of action you take I suggest you consider the likelihood of you needing to borrow money any time soon / take out a phone contract / get a new credit card or remortgage your house as that may have an impact.

Hope that helps.

[Grahammcm1888]

I have just received a letter from BMW claiming I owe them money for excess mileage after a VT. I never signed their ‘“VT Pack” but admittedly was over in mileage. I don’t intend to pay this obviously beacause I now no longer have an agreement with them. I paid 50% and the car was in great condition. Here is what I believe my options are

1. Pay
2. Ignore
3. Write a letter protesting their charge.

I am looking for a bit of advice.

[RachRad]

Hi all. Thank you! The VT was noted on the credit file but not as defaulted and the credit score was unaffected.

[stuckcluckets]

KurtCrisco - RachRad's case is a good start on the road to getting BMWFS to stop acting outside the law and bullying consumers with illegal and malicious markers on our credit files. I, too, am willing to stand against them and there must be a way of challenging them in court without incurring prohibitive legal expenses. Happy to discuss further.

Indeed it is, and I will absolutely be communicating with them about it following the posting of RachRad's court ruling documentation. For those who're interested such as yourself, we could potentially setup a Slack group or something to discuss things and plan our approach?

Awesome news, great win RachRad. I've just got the late payment markers removed from my file by agreeing on a without prejudice offer with BMW but loved reading about that court success.

Kreig, well done! I'm VERY interested to hear more about what BMW's response was when you made a without prejudice offer. How did you go about making the offer? Are you talking over 50% of the alleged value or less? If you do not wish to disclose publicly then please feel free to private message me.

I can't say at the moment whether or not I intend to follow suit, but the thought of making a without prejudice offer has crossed my mind. Furthermore, despite the fact that your offer was without prejudice, BMW's choice to accept it and accept your terms r.e. your credit file corrections suggests that they are VERY aware of how little evidence there is in support of their attempts to charge for excess mileage in VT situations - essentially, it's a sign that they're clearly aware of the risk they're taking!

[kreig]

Awesome news, great win RachRad. I've just got the late payment markers removed from my file by agreeing on a without prejudice offer with BMW but loved reading about that court success.

[jezza2016]

KurtCrisco - RachRad's case is a good start on the road to getting BMWFS to stop acting outside the law and bullying consumers with illegal and malicious markers on our credit files. I, too, am willing to stand against them and there must be a way of challenging them in court without incurring prohibitive legal expenses. Happy to discuss further.

[stuckcluckets]

Phaeton Yes, I have just received the official judgement from the court in the post so will email the court to ask for a transcript. I assumed I would just be able to get a transcript of the Judge's final judgement rather than the whole thing, but I will ask for both.

I will post the documents up here as soon as i receive them

Many thanks RachRad, really appreciate your input here. Will look forward to seeing the judgement documents!

[RachRad]

Phaeton Yes, I have just received the official judgement from the court in the post so will email the court to ask for a transcript. I assumed I would just be able to get a transcript of the Judge's final judgement rather than the whole thing, but I will ask for both.

I will post the documents up here as soon as i receive them

[Phaeton]

Brilliant news Phaeton, thank you for sharing.

Don't give me any credit, nothing to do with me, just a brave young lady who stared the beast in the eyes & refused to back down. RachRad I presume at some point the case will be available to review, I don't actually know how these things work

[stuckcluckets]

KurtCrisco it might be worth reading http://legalbeagles.info/forums/foru...larke-pls-help

Brilliant news Phaeton, thank you for sharing. Let's hope this is the start of the tables turning in favour of the consumer, and not these disgraceful lenders.

The example you shared however is of a result following court proceedings that were issued by the lender (in that instance, Mercedes Benz Financial Services), not by the consumer. The problem that I as well as many others still face however, is the fact that BMW Financial Services are refusing to issue court proceedings, and instead using underhand tactics to try and bully us into paying alleged sums (referring to their falsified reports to credit reference agencies). Court successes like the example you shared of course help to prove that lenders should not be attempting to charge consumers excess mileage fees in voluntary termination scenarios, however they also demonstrate exactly why BMW Financial Services are behaving so deceitfully - because they know there is a high risk that they'll lose in court.

It would be very interesting indeed if we're able to obtain the full court transcript and ruling documents from the case that you shared, and share these with BMW Financial Services. I wonder what their response would be? What we really need now though, is a positive ruling example whereby someone has taken BMW Financial Services to court specifically to challenge their abuse of the credit reporting system in the UK. I am without doubt willing to be that person, but I'm unsure of how to go about moving forward, for fear of staggering court costs.

[vipvipvip]

KurtCrisco it might be worth reading http://legalbeagles.info/forums/foru...larke-pls-help

Thanks Phaeton, this is excellent news.