PCP Voluntary Termination with RCI (Renault) - Not acknowledging letter and emails

[robertojones]

Hi All, (@R0b;),

Apologies for raising this issue yet again, I have read through other people's experiences in this situation and I understand that I should expect RCI to be awkward but I am getting increasingly stressed about this and don't know what to do next. For background I am attempting to VT my Renault Zoe, financed through Renault's own PCP scheme.

Rough timeline of events:

25th September: Sent letter based on template found on this forum, informing RCI that I was terminating the agreement, effective immediately, having paid at that point more than half the total amount payable.

27th September: Letter signed for (by Nissan although addressed to Renault - not sure this matters as they are the same group)

29th September: Phoned Renault Finance asking if there was any progress on termination. Informed that my letter was still being processed, 'high volume of enquiries' or somesuch and that as part of the termination process I would be sent a termination pack to clarify some details. Said OK.

5th October: Received 'termination pack' from Renault Finance. As expected this included a slip for me to return, asking me to sign against the following statement: "I am exercising my right to voluntary terminate the above Agreement. I understand how any liability amount will be calculated and the process for returning the car has been fully explained to me. I agree that I will settle any charges for collection of the vehicle (where this option has been ticked below), damage, missing items and/or excess mileage charges as invoiced by you."
Based on all the advice I've read, did not sign this slip, instead sent email to address supplied on letter stating that I would not sign this form and that as far as I was concerned the termination had already begun as of their receipt of my letter. Attached a copy of my letter (unsigned).

14th October: Having received no reply to my email or any acknowledgement of my letter, phoned Renault Finance again asking for update. Stated that I was not willing to expose myself to any extra liability and that I believed the termination had already begun. Gentleman on phone told me they would send me a pack by email and I would 'just need to confirm some details'.
Received by email same letter and slip as received by post.
Forwarded email to address given in 'pack' reiterating that I would not be signing anything exposing me to greater liability, and that they had received my notice of termination more than two weeks previous. Attached additional signed copy of my original letter with original dates and screenshot from Royal Mail showing proof of receipt.

As of today (17th October) I have had no reply to my either of my emails or my original letter, unless you count the 'termination pack' which does not reference either in any way.

I am getting a little concerned here, as far as I can tell they are doing nothing at all. I have already replaced the car so I am now paying to run the 'new' car, insure both and as far as I am aware Renault will continue taking finance payments from me unless I sign their slip. Based on what I have read so far I opinions vary on whether to cancel the Direct Debit but I cannot afford to be charged £211 a month for a car I am not using, and I do not at this point trust Renault to return any overpayments if there is any way they can keep them. I will phone them again but I do not expect to get anywhere, I imagine they will just send me the same form again.

Could anyone suggest what my next step would be?

Thank you in advance.

[robertojones]

Re: PCP Voluntary Termination with RCI (Renault) - Not acknowledging letter and email

Quick update on events since my previous post:

18th October: Sent email to Renault informing them that it was over 3 weeks since they received my original letter. Reiterated that I would not sign the slip and informed them that I would be doing the following:
- Informing the DVLA that the car was no longer in my possession
- Removing my insurance cover from the car
- Charging £10 per day for storage of the car on my drive.

21st October: Received a call from Renault Finance. Lady on the phone was quite apologetic, said there had been a 'communications issue' but that they had accepted my termination. I asked about the direct debit and was told that it had been cancelled but that I could also cancel it from my end if I wished. I was told that the collection agency (Mannheim) would contact me the following Tuesday (24th) to arrange collection of the vehicle.

27th October: No call received since last call from Renault. Phoned Renault Finance in the morning to see what progress there was, lady on the phone told me that they were already chasing Mannheim on this and would contact them again later in the day. Told to call back before 4.30pm if I had not heard anything. Called Renault again around 4.40pm (my error), no answer.

30th October: Received call from Mannheim arranging collection for 9th November. Also received follow-up email confirming details.

I will report back on or shortly after the 9th, hopefully the collection goes ahead as planned. I will if at all possible avoid signing anything on collection.

[R0b]

Re: PCP Voluntary Termination with RCI (Renault) - Not acknowledging letter and email

Hello

Sorry I missed you first time around, just make sure to take plenty of photos on the day or the day before incase you need to dispute the evidence from Manheim at a later date.

[robertojones]

Re: PCP Voluntary Termination with RCI (Renault) - Not acknowledging letter and email

Thanks R0b, I'll make sure I do that. There a couple of scratches on the car that may fall outside of what the BVRLA considers 'wear and tear' and I am happy to pay a reasonable price to fix this, however RCI have taken one finance payment of £211 from me since they received my termination letter so I believe this would more than cover it.

[R0b]

Re: PCP Voluntary Termination with RCI (Renault) - Not acknowledging letter and email

If you haven't done so already you may wish to cancel that DD or they might continue to take more payments.

If the agreement terminated before the payment then they have unlawfully taken that payment and you may wish to dispute that or as you say, point them to the fact they have taken a payment without authorisation but as a gesture of goodwill they can use that money to offset those charges which you consider the matter closed.