Getting out of Hire agreement contract- help!!!

ilovebanksMCMLXXXI

Hi

If the comapny has lost the agreement you should be home and dry - if they haven't got a copy what are they going to do exactly?

That to oneside and let's assume a copy turns up:

Lease Purchase and Finance Lease are different; the word 'purchase' is key.

If you have a Finance Lease then your husband cannot own the vehicle at the end - he must sell it to a third party (that third party could be you).

Van Direct loved Finance Lease and that's how their rates were so good. It was good in the early days but as the vans started coming back and the customers got more and more angry it all went down the pan - for want of a better phrase.

Finance Lease figures (i.e. your monthly repayment) is based upon the residual value (i.e. how much the van will be worth at the end of the agreement).

Van Direct had a habit of 'bumping up' the residual values to make it look like they would be worth more at the end that they actually were. Doing this meant you didn't have to repay as much in rentals because the vans were worth so much at the end.

The catch was.............. when the agreement ends on a Finance Lease YOU are left holding the baby because it is YOU who has to sell it and cover any shortfall.

It is for that reason alone that the Van Direct business model was floored.

Finance Lease is a brilliant product when setup correctly but it is open to abuse as sadly you have found out.

Vans Direct were supposed to be the 'experts' and you as the customer trust that they are setting the residual values correctly but as you can see, they weren't and now they've gone under.

I'm sorry for the position you find yourself in, I work in the vehicle leasing and acquisition business and I hear about this situation on almost a daily basis.

If I was you, I'd push for the original agreement (request it in writing by Recorded Delivery) - if it cannot be produced, it cannot go to court and you could then just throw the van back and tell them to stick it!

Best of luck