Voluntary Surrender - Damages

[rawl76]

Hi

I am helping a friend with voluntary surrender of their vehicle. The finance company are saying he has to pay damages to return the vehicle to its trade value. I thought it would be sold at auction and any value deducted from the amount owed. They have said they sell it internally at trade value and it hasn't been maintained to a high enough standard. Surely this just means its trade value is less and the amount they deduct will be less?

Many thanks

[R0b]

You are correct. For voluntary surrender, car is sold whatever condition, that value is deducted from the remaining balance outstanding under the contract and the debtor pays the difference. The condition of the car is irrelevant, because the maximum they're entitled to is the total amount payable under the contract. Anything more is putting them in a better position, so really they could ask for that, but whatever that amount is, it will need to be deduction from the outstanding balance and the remainder is owed - they can't claim that in addition to the outstanding sum.


Have they actually said that in writing or was it over the phone? I suspect the latter to avoid a paper trail because it's wrong.