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Hi All
This is my first time positing, so apologises if I do anything wrong.
My partner had a car on finance with Startline Motor Finance, after paying more than 70% of what was owed, he decided to voluntary terminate the car. We took all the photo's needed/used the template off here to send the letter/email off to Startline, to which they confirmed the next day that they had received his request, accepted it & processed it. They collected the car F.O.C and the only thing he signed was to say he DID NOT agree with the damages noted by the collector. (two scuffed alloy wheels). This all happened at the start of March (VT sent & car collected). It was then sent to Manheim, and graded etc. The car was SOLD at auction. Now, since the car was collected, my partner received multiple text messages every day to call Startline to "pay his monthly amount". We sent an email to confirm he owed no more, and to stop harassing him. An employee responded, apologising for the contact as it was "automated". He was told he had been taken off the list and we thought that was the end of it. A few weeks later (mid April) he received two letters detailing he owed two months of instalments. He called up to explain he'd already settled this query (he owed no money). He had to forward on his correspondence with the employee on email, to the employee he was on the phone too. They said they would forward it across to their manager to "sort it out". NOW, two weeks after that (towards the end of April) someone from Startline rang my partner at work, to discuss the "money for damages he owed" and that on their system, an employee had ALREADY spoken to him about this (not the case at all). They said they had found damages in the access of £3000 (roughly) but had taken away the "wear and tear" and found he owed them £300/£350.00. My partner has not seen the damage report and/or the pricing breakdown for the damages they are claiming for. They have sent him no emails/letters chasing this money whatsoever.
After reading how other peoples proceedings have gone, I was quite surprised they had already lowered his damage cost (without speaking to him in the first place). However, my partner is very stubborn, and believes he doesn't owe a penny, which I agree, as there is truly no damage to the car, except for two scuffs on two alloy wheels (nothing major at all). During the phone conversation, he told them he wouldn't be paying a penny, as he did not believe the damage cost was justified, and that's how the conversation was left, with the employee saying they would assess it again and get back to him. No one from Startline has been in touch with him since, however the day after that phone call, he received an email from them, saying his "complaint had been processed". He never asked them to process or make a complaint, so it took us both by surprise. Due to a large proportion of the employees currently working from home, he hasn't bothered to call them to understand where this complaint has been issued from (as they are making out he has requested it, when he did not), as in past conversations not many of the staff are helpful as their "manager" isn't there.
My question is - should we be writing to Startline to demand what's going on? Should we allow this complaint process to play out? I'm very confused, and can't find any similar situations on here, so I feel as though we're going into this rather blindly. Any help would truly be appreciated. I am happy to answer any further questions/send over copies of emails/letters.
R0b* if you could help in any way that would be great
*
This is my first time positing, so apologises if I do anything wrong.
My partner had a car on finance with Startline Motor Finance, after paying more than 70% of what was owed, he decided to voluntary terminate the car. We took all the photo's needed/used the template off here to send the letter/email off to Startline, to which they confirmed the next day that they had received his request, accepted it & processed it. They collected the car F.O.C and the only thing he signed was to say he DID NOT agree with the damages noted by the collector. (two scuffed alloy wheels). This all happened at the start of March (VT sent & car collected). It was then sent to Manheim, and graded etc. The car was SOLD at auction. Now, since the car was collected, my partner received multiple text messages every day to call Startline to "pay his monthly amount". We sent an email to confirm he owed no more, and to stop harassing him. An employee responded, apologising for the contact as it was "automated". He was told he had been taken off the list and we thought that was the end of it. A few weeks later (mid April) he received two letters detailing he owed two months of instalments. He called up to explain he'd already settled this query (he owed no money). He had to forward on his correspondence with the employee on email, to the employee he was on the phone too. They said they would forward it across to their manager to "sort it out". NOW, two weeks after that (towards the end of April) someone from Startline rang my partner at work, to discuss the "money for damages he owed" and that on their system, an employee had ALREADY spoken to him about this (not the case at all). They said they had found damages in the access of £3000 (roughly) but had taken away the "wear and tear" and found he owed them £300/£350.00. My partner has not seen the damage report and/or the pricing breakdown for the damages they are claiming for. They have sent him no emails/letters chasing this money whatsoever.
After reading how other peoples proceedings have gone, I was quite surprised they had already lowered his damage cost (without speaking to him in the first place). However, my partner is very stubborn, and believes he doesn't owe a penny, which I agree, as there is truly no damage to the car, except for two scuffs on two alloy wheels (nothing major at all). During the phone conversation, he told them he wouldn't be paying a penny, as he did not believe the damage cost was justified, and that's how the conversation was left, with the employee saying they would assess it again and get back to him. No one from Startline has been in touch with him since, however the day after that phone call, he received an email from them, saying his "complaint had been processed". He never asked them to process or make a complaint, so it took us both by surprise. Due to a large proportion of the employees currently working from home, he hasn't bothered to call them to understand where this complaint has been issued from (as they are making out he has requested it, when he did not), as in past conversations not many of the staff are helpful as their "manager" isn't there.
My question is - should we be writing to Startline to demand what's going on? Should we allow this complaint process to play out? I'm very confused, and can't find any similar situations on here, so I feel as though we're going into this rather blindly. Any help would truly be appreciated. I am happy to answer any further questions/send over copies of emails/letters.
R0b* if you could help in any way that would be great
*
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