Hello......and a plea for assistance

[Keithe46]

Good afternoon folks

Just joined up following a Google search led me here.

My father in law passed away last week and unfortunately had a vehicle on PCP. Having assessed his situation he was over the 50% payment level and as such I read on his documentation that he was eligible for Voluntary Termination.

i contacted the finance company who advised this is not an option as he is now deceased? This does not sit well with me and I was wondering if anyone had any prior knowledge of this situation?

Any help/advice would be appreciated.

thanks

Keith

[des8]

If that was the advice I believe it to be incorrect.
Whoever is dealing with the deceased's estate, executor/administrator can enact a voluntary termination of the agreement if more than 50% of the total amount has been paid.
The car is collected by the finance company with nothing further to pay, assuming you have complied with the normal conditions of voluntary termination.

Tagging R0b for confirmation

[Keithe46]

des8 Thanks very much for the prompt response mate. That was my hope/feeling but can’t find anything definitive online to respond to them with.

[Keithe46]

des8 I presume when you mention the normal conditions of VT you mean the mileage and vehicle damage? Excuse my ignorance, I haven’t had involvement with car finance previous to this. Thanks

[des8]

des8 I presume when you mention the normal conditions of VT you mean the mileage and vehicle damage? Excuse my ignorance, I haven’t had involvement with car finance previous to this. Thanks

Nor have I, that's why I tagged R0b!
One of the duties pertaining to an executor is the payment or release of debt, which includes hire purchase etc.

[Keithe46]

des8 Thanks very much. Hopefully Rob see’s this and can provide an opinion!!

[R0b]

Wills and trusts isn't my speciality, hated doing that subject so questions on that side I think Des is probably the better person to answer. Anyhow, the general rule is that contracts survive death and personal representatives effectively step in to the shoes of the deceased (keep me right here Des).

So the starting point in my view, is that you would be able to exercise the right to VT on the basis of the above. There might, however, be an exception to this and it will depend on the terms of the contract. The HP contract may have a term that says on death of the individual, the contract shall automatically terminate, in which case you can't do anything except pay the debt as Des suggests. It may also say that on death, the creditor may terminate by giving notice.

So, without seeing the contract and what the terms contain, it's a little difficult to know whether you can or cannot exercise the VT right. If you have a copy of the terms I would suggest you post them up here and we can take a look - any personal information should be redacted.

If you don't have the contract terms, then you may want to preserve the position and give notice in writing exercising the VT right and then disputing it afterwards once you have a copy. The problem is that you have put the finance company on notice that your father in law has passed away and so if there is a right for them to give notice to terminate, then they might get in there quicker than you.

One other thing I have just thought about is that you may be able to terminate the contract based on frustration. A frustrating event occurs (i) after the contract, (ii) goes to the root of the contract i.e. the right and possession to use the car, (iii) there was no fault on either party and (iv) performance is rendered impossible or radically different to what was expected. The effects of frustration of contract is that it is terminated and all parties walk away without further payment. As this argument might be a grey area, I think exercising the VT right would be preferred and this second.

Obviously th e HP contract is subject to the Consumer Credit Act 1974, I don't think there's anything in thee that automatically terminates the contract on death, but the creditor is still entitled to ask for payments due whilst the contract continues so you really want to deal with this before the next payment date.

[Keithe46]

R0b That’s brilliant thanks very much for the reply. The only paperwork I have found is the hire purchase agreement. There is no mention on there regarding what occurs should the contract holder die. I had submitted my VT request via email however will now submit it in hard copy also. They have chosen to freeze payments due to the death so hopefully they will be keen to resolve.

[R0b]

Would you mind posting up a copy of the agreement and the terms? They might not explicitly state that the contract terminates on death, it could be worded in a different way. Also, if you have sent the VT notice by email, then you don't need to send a hard copy either, as long as you have authority to act then email should be fine.

I think the next step would be to challenge their view that you can't exercise the VT right and ask them to explain the legal basis as to why that right cannot be exercised. Of course you will be speaking to a relatively low level employee so they probably don't have a clue, but it is of course best to keep all future correspondence in writing as you need a paper trail in case things go south and they suddenly start saying something else.

Who is the finance company by the way?

[Keithe46]

Rob sorry I was backshift last night so only just getting a chance to reply.
Thanks again for the excellent assistance. That was my very reason for using emails as a means of communication, so I had an audit trail should it be required.

i have sent them an email in response requesting specific documentation detailing why I no longer have the right to VT.

I will try and get the agreement uploaded. The finance is through Toyota, having spoken to a friend who is in the Car Trade he advises they have a reputation for being especially awkward.