Excessive repair costs and threats from the finance company

[ianrobertson01]

I returned my car under the TERMINATION OF AGREEMENT PURSUANT TO S.99
OF THE CONSUMER CREDIT ACT 1974. After the car was collected the finance company sent me a excessive bill for repair costs which I am disputing as fair wear and tear and have refused to pay it and have told them that I am going to take the matter further. They have now sent me a letter telling me that if I do not pay them the repair costs within 7 days that my account will be in arrears now of the sum of the £550 that they are claiming. They have said I need to pay for the repairs and that if I dont I will be in breach of contract. They also state that failure to make payment will result in them taking the necessary steps to protect there rights under the terms and conditions of the agreement. and that it could affect my future credit rating. Is this true or are they just trying to scare me into paying the full amount. I intend taking the matter to the financial ombudsman but will I be blacklisted before I get the chance to do that.

[R0b]

Hello

Depending on who the finance company is will determine whether or not your credit rating may be affected. I'm not sure what you mean by 'blacklisted' because they can't blacklist you from obtaining future credit (well they could if you tried to obtain credit from them but not other finance companies).

Many finance companies making threats like this are usually hollow ones though if the finance company is BMW then you should take that threat seriously as many have posted on here. Otherwise their other option is to take you to court over the alleged breach of contract.

The FCA Rules which finance companies are bound by, should cease all matters where a formal complaint is made and where the complaint is raised to the FOS.

[thedirtyhound]

I had an issue with Mercedes once. I returned a car in what I thought was pristine condition at the end of a three year lease, but they managed to send me a bill for just under £1,000 for things like stone chips that you could hardly see. In my view it was a complete joke. I told them to f*** off and refused to pay it. I think the problem they had in this scenario was that the lease had finished and I had paid every single payment due under it. Amounts at the end for body work and excess mileage are covered in the terms and conditions, but do not fall part of the actual credit agreement. In the same circumstances I would do exactly the same thing again. If they issue a claim against you, defend it. They cannot put a default against you simply because they are issuing a claim. If it proceeds to trial and you lose, then they will obtain a judgment. But if you pay up within 28 days the judgment will be removed from the register, so it won't affect you. Ultimately, it boils down to whether their claim against you is valid and whether you have the knowhow or the bottle to defend it. Remember that if they go to court with you, it will probably cost them a lot more in costs (of which they can only recover court fees, not legal representation) so even if they do issue and you put in a good defence, they may ultimately decide to drop it.

[KirstyK]

Hi, I hope you don’t mind me jumping on this post. We had car finance with bmw VT’d Jan 2015 dropped off at auction,no checks done. Got bill through for £750 for repairs,we disputed this and they halved the amount and we questioned this as well as it seemed they were just out for any sum. Few letters back n forth then we heard nothing until now. Went for car finance at the weekend, got declined checked Experian and bmw have marked account as still open and delinquent. They’ve only marked Experian,not Equifax (Equifax shows as still being paid every month!)
Called bmw they say outstanding final bill for repairs is £245 and they asked us to pay today.We have never agreed to the bill nor have never received any debt letters.
We have raised complaint to bmw and now need to wait 8 weeks for reply.

called financial ombudsmen and they said they tend to favour the car finance company so that doesn’t fill us with hope. We are willing to go to court, if that’s they only option open to us.

but can they report this debt to credit reference agency? They seem to have only reported within the last few months because we applied for a mortgage 2 years ago and it wasn’t reported there at that time

thank you
Kirsty