Close Premium Finance

TheOne

Now I know this is not a bank account or credit card, but it is a financial instituition, and about penalty charges so I thought this the best place to post. Just been on the phone to Close Premium Finance (CPF), who take my car insurance instalments. I got a letter saying a DD was missed and they say I now owe then £79.57. "This includes a charge of £40.00 to cover our administrative expenses". So I phoned them on a non 0870 number I found, and said I'd pay the £39.57 that I owe them. They said I actually owe them £79.57. I then asked them to explain the £40.00 admin expenses. The lady I spoke to told me it involved 2 "departments" (I work somewhere that involves paperwork going through several "departments" so I know that means 2 desks!) to print and post the letter. Somehow they couldn't give me an explaination how that costs £40.00 so again I offered to pay them there and then, the £39.57 that I owe them. They declined. SO, I will probably have to send them a cheque in the post or something. Sould I get on to the OFT or financial ombudsman? I'm thinking I should probably write a letter of complaint to CPF, to exhaust their complaints procedure. As I said I'm happy to pay the £39.57 that I owe them, so what do I do in the mean time?

TheOne

Phoning them again to speak to a supervisor to see if someone there is actually capable of taking a payment for £39.57. Been on hold for 3 minutes, listening to adverts for arts festivals (random!!), while they locate someone with a supervisor badge on! Eventually got to speak to a lady who said she was a supervisor, explained that I am willing to pay the £39.57 that I owe them, and I explained to her that I was told what the £40 was for, and she gave me different reasons for the £40 charge, but alas was also not capable of processing a payment of £39.57. So I might be sending them a cheque and then possibly relieving them of my custom.

TheOne

Hi can anyone help?

I am writing them a letter about this and would really appreciate advice on the wording of the letter and if there's anything else I need to add...

Dear Sir/Madam

Re: Insurance Premium – Close Premium Finance Account No: **********

I enclose a cheque for the amount that I am in arrears on the above account, which is £39.57.
In a letter dated 2nd June 2009 you asked me also to pay a fine for £40.00 for you not receiving this payment on the due date. As per telephone conversations with you I did offer to pay the amount that I owed.
In the letter it is stated that the £40.00 is to cover you administrative costs. I asked your staff what the administrative costs involved and I was informed that this was as follows: Printing the letter, someone putting the letter in the envelope, and posting the letter. Therefore I believe that £40.00 to cover your administrative costs does not represent a true cost to Close Premium Finance.
[Not sure what else to put here]

Yours Fathfully

inmypocketnottheirs

Try:

The £40 charge you mention is an ad terorem charge, a punitive fine that has been applied to my account due to breach of contract. Under contract law, you are only allowed to charge me for the liquidated damages: i.e. the actual cost that the breach has cost. I am therefore refusing to pay this charge until you provide me with a detailed statement as to how the charge has been calculated.

TheOne

Hows this now?

I enclose a cheque for the amount that I am in arrears on the above account, which is £39.57.
In a letter dated 2nd June 2009 you asked me also to pay a fine for £40.00 for you not receiving this payment on the due date. As per telephone conversations with you I did offer to pay the amount that I owed.
In the letter it is stated that the £40.00 is to cover you administrative costs. I asked your staff what the administrative costs involved were and I was informed that this was as follows: Printing the letter, someone putting the letter in the envelope, and posting the letter. Therefore I believe that the £40.00 charge is a punitive fine applied to my account due to breach of contract. Under contract law, you are only allowed to charge me for the liquidated damages: i.e. the actual cost of that breach to Close Premium Finance. I believe that the £40.00 charge does not represent a true cost to Close Premium Finance. If you would like to provide me with a detailed statement as how the charge of £40.00 has been calculated then we may be able to discuss this further.

inmypocketnottheirs

TheOne wrote: »

Hows this now?

No!

You have not mentioned ad terorem charge nor punitive fine. Without these words you will not be taken seriously.

Only trying to help!

TheOne

Yes I have...

Therefore I believe that the £40.00 charge is a punitive fine applied to my account

I have not written ad terorem... I don't know what it means, and I generally dont write or say anything that I dont know what it means.

Orford

ad terorem...

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=ad+terrorem...

TheOne

Yes I did google it thank you very much, which if you did also, you will see it links lots of pages containg those latin words. The top link was Wikipedia....

An appeal to fear (also called argumentum ad metum or argumentum in terrorem) is a fallacy in which a person attempts to create support for his or her idea by increasing fear and prejudice toward a competitor. The appeal to fear is extremely common in marketing and politics.

Wow! That's not exactly the intention of the letter!!

TheOne

Thanks for the help, have sent the letter