Excess mileage charge

[R0b]

Re: Excess mileage charge

Hi Kreig, I suspect Tara might have made an offer of payment as she hasn't returned to us since.

The question you have to ask yourself is whether you are willing to call BMW's bluff and take it all the way to court. If you don't want to go to court or the thought of it scares you, pay up. Otherwise refuse to pay.

Excess mileage doesn't put the car in an unreasonable condition, at the very least driving ill cause fair wear and tear on the engine as thats what happens when goods are used over time.

[kreig]

Re: Excess mileage charge

Thanks Rob.

It's a small amount but will hurt so will give it some thought.

I may be back for more advise

[taraoscar08]

Re: Excess mileage charge

Hi everyone. Sorry for lack of response.
We are no further forward and my husband has buckled. We are paying them a little at a time in a payment plan. I have the money I just refuse to pay it in one lump sum. So they can have a little at a time !! Thanks for all your help tho I do really appreciate it. Would be good to see someone fall free of these money grabbing so and so's good luck.

[Aj2day]

Re: Excess mileage charge

Can i butt in here.. i have been in exactly the same situation here..
i am at a point now where the car has been handed back to bmw financial services for 6/7 month now,, i point blank refused to pay them an excess milage charge.. but!.. i have just discovered the lack of payment is now a red marker on my credit report, even though they are not hassling me for money..
this is a real pain as i have just been rejected a mortgage and only after searching for the reason for the rejection i have found out it was due to bmw finance! I am boiling! I just dont know what to do next !!

[R0b]

Re: Excess mileage charge

Can i butt in here.. i have been in exactly the same situation here..
i am at a point now where the car has been handed back to bmw financial services for 6/7 month now,, i point blank refused to pay them an excess milage charge.. but!.. i have just discovered the lack of payment is now a red marker on my credit report, even though they are not hassling me for money..
this is a real pain as i have just been rejected a mortgage and only after searching for the reason for the rejection i have found out it was due to bmw finance! I am boiling! I just dont know what to do next !!

Sorry to hear of your problems, the only way to get rid of the marker will be to either request them to remove it immediately and explain you have suffered loss and damage as a result, or the alternative would be to issue proceedings for the court to order BMW to remove it and obtain a little compensation as a result.

[Aj2day]

Re: Excess mileage charge

Thank you for the advice. I am very upset with them, is it best to call or write to them do you think?, i want to play my cards right on first contact, of course i would pay the 'excess mileage charge' in hindsight knowing it would cause credit problems further on.. the annoying thing is they did send me a reminder about an 'outstanding payment', but at the top of the letter it insisted it was not a red letter. My experian credit report suggests i have been in default with then for 6/7 months. Its really buggered things up !!

[R0b]

Re: Excess mileage charge

I always say that it is best to put everything in writing, that way you can keep a paper trail of what has been said. How you want to play this out depends on how far you are willing to go.

Option 1
You could write to them and explain that you have an adverse marker against your credit file having been rejected recently for a mortgage. You believe that the marker relates to an alleged outstanding payment for excess mileage but require clarification. Whilst you do not agree that the alleged balance is owed, you are prepared to make such payment on the basis that it is paid without admission of liability and that BMW undertake to remove the adverse marker upon full payment.

Option 2
This option is a bit more aggressive in that you state that the adverse marker has been applied unlawfully and as a result they are in breach of Principle 4 of the Data Protection Act (keeping data up to date and accurate). You can refer to your agreement if you have it and state that you terminated the agreement in accordance with the following clause (the following wording is a legal requirement for all HP/conditional sale agreements regulated by the CCA):

TERMINATION: YOUR RIGHTS
You have a right to end this agreement. To do so, you should write to the person you make your payments to. They will then be entitled to the return of the goods plus half the rest of the total amount payable under this agreement, that is £xxxx.xx. If you have already paid at least this amount plus any overdue instalments and have taken reasonable care of the goods, you will not have to pay any more.

An example of the above (although it probably requires updating to reflect the above) can be found here at post #27 http://www.legalbeagles.info/forums/showthread.php?78476-Voluntary-Termination-Replacement-wing-mirror-query&highlight=breach+of+data+protection

There is a likelihood that BMW will instruct a firm of solicitors to respond or defend the matter so I think you need to be prepared to take the matter to court as that is the only way I see it being resolved.

If you need help drafting something up, have a go at yourself and post up what you've written and I will be happy to assist

[Aj2day]

Re: Excess mileage charge

Rob thanks for your help, i will go for the easy option 1 as i am quite eager to buy a property asap. I will keep you posted. Thanks again

[kreig]

Re: Excess mileage charge

Rob thanks for your help, i will go for the easy option 1 as iAJ W am quite eager to buy a property asap. I will keep you posted. Thanks again

AJ What was the outcome?

I never paid my excess mileage charge and just found I have a big red marker on my credit report because of it. For the sake of the couple of hundred pound I would of paid it to avoid this risk. Did you manage to get the marker removed?

I'm reluctant to contact BMW incase they start chasing me for the money again if they have no intention of removing the marker.

[Dehaw]

Re: Excess mileage charge

I've been using LB and following the advice here for the past few months as I only learned about voluntary termination after contacting BMW to hand the car back as I didn't even know you could do it.

My story goes like this....

I've had a BMW direct from BMW financed by BMW and serviced by BMW for the past 8 years, I thought I was a great customer.

I visited my brother in Australia 2 1/2 years ago only to fall in love with it and decided to try and emigrate, fast forward 2 years and our visa was granted, yeehaa.

We were planning on leaving for Australia on September 11th 2017, which we did so I contacted BMW to ask about handing the car back, which I had been paying for the past 3 years as it only had 1 year left to go, they advised me that I was voluntarily terminating the contract so could hand it back.

They advised that I could hand it back provided I had paid 50% or more of the total cost, which I had and that I would be charged for excess mileage and any damage, which I thought should be fine as we always take our car out on a 25K per annum since we car share, they advised me that we agreed to 8K miles per year, I was gobsmacked but if this is the case then I must've signed that contract with those miles, I really need to read it through in detail and not expect them to know even though I've been buying a car every two years from them and expected them to know better based on my previous contracts.

Anyway, BMW sent an invoice for just under £300 for a few scratches and just over £4k for excess mileage, I couldn't believe it.

So I've been following the advice from R0b and others on this forum to get this sorted out but BMW simply sends their canned letters slightly modified for each customer.

This was no worry because I no longer reside in the UK but upon looking at my credit report what BMW has done is reduced the amount owing to them to the total cost of what they claim that I owe, surely that cannot be correct since that credit agreement was cancelled by me VT the car?

This is why people are now getting their credit file updated with marks on them but surely this cannot be right since the invoice they sent to me was done so after the fact of me VT the car and that they are separate liabilities, although BMW said they weren't?

Can I do anything about this? I assumed if I was VT the car that the agreement was null and void which would mean that the credit agreement in place would also be null and void and that any excess mileage charge would be a different thing?

I never signed any documents when VT the car, I simply handed it back.

Thanks, any help would be appreciated.