Hire agreement mis-sold under CCA with 45% Interest

LovelyLeeds

middleman31 wrote: »

I have been mis-sold a Commercial Lease Finance deal at 45% interest under the Consumer Credit Act.

I have no breakdown of how the final figure was calculated.

How, precisely, have you been mis-sold? You've listed all the things they haven't done - are they in the contract that you have signed then?

middleman31

Ha ha. Thank-you.

I signed a contract headed up Regulated under the Consumer Credit Act 19xx.

In my niavity, I assumed that the contents and calculations would be above board, especially not stealing £10K of mine which I had already paid to another company and being charged interest for it.

The CCA heading sets the scene and that is the confidence under which I signed. Regulation not self-regulation,

middleman31

I think this is a massive loophole these finance companies are exploiting at the cost of many businesses who can ill afford to loose the money.

ILW

middleman31 wrote: »

I think this is a massive loophole these finance companies are exploiting at the cost of many businesses who can ill afford to loose the money.

Is the number and the amount of the payments what you agreed to?

LovelyLeeds

middleman31 wrote: »

I think this is a massive loophole these finance companies are exploiting at the cost of many businesses who can ill afford to loose the money.

Sounds very complex, can you afford to pay your tax accountant to look into this for you?

middleman31

I have a solicitor who has just started looking at it.

The number and amount of payments are correct but that includes the £10K deposit which I had already paid. If I am entitled to my £10K deposit back then surely the contract was mis-sold in its entirity and not enforeable. They cannot be forced to pay back my deposit and interest on that deposit but be allowed to enfore the remainder of the contract as it still stand. If the contract stands then should not be allowed my deposit back, and if that is the case then they have committed fraud by false mis-representation, etc, etc.

I know this is highly litigious and very difficuly to comment on but it seems to me that the law is not black and white and this contract is already grey in colour and arguable strongly on either side depending on how expensive your solicitors are.

Any thoughts on where I may stand and what avenues to investigate would be good. The more work I do the less I pay a solicitor for.

ILW

This does sound like a rental contract with an option to purchase and as such would not have an APR.

If the contract states 10k upfront and then £X per month over a fixed rental period it is probably perfectly above board. Why do you think your deposit should be returned?

Not all rental agreements include maintenance.

middleman31

The 10K was paid to the original company who were paid by the finance company. I've paid the 10K again due to the finance company adding into their costings.

So I'm due back the 10K plus interest and any damages due from the finance company to start with, without evern starting on the fact that a company in their position should never have made a mistake of such magnitude. It's reekes of negligence and the 'shafting' attitude these companies have.

Who would be the governing body who would deal with this? If it's not a CCA then does that mean it is unregulated? Or if it was sold under the CCA would I need to speak to the relevant Ombudsman or FSA before legal action? Or should I go straight to court?

Common_Sense_2

I agree with ILW - this does sound like a rental contract. Without view of the documents it is difficult to comment on the minutiae of the regulations in force at the time (as not only do you need to consider the CCA74, but also CCA06 and CC (agreements) Regs 1983) which are complex.

The 10k probably is shown as a "deposit" or "advance rental" which means you aren't being charged it twice, but if it wasn't there on the documents, most people would question why it wasn't there as you've paid it to the dealer.

You also seem to be mistakenly thinking that this is like hiring a car from a car hire company - it is not. the two things are completely separate and any analogies that you may create are wrong (sorry!)

Yes it could be a non-cancellable agreement - it depends on where you signed the documents.

As a sole trader, you can be classed as a consumer for the Consumer Credit Act (and amendments) to apply

middleman31

Thank-you for replies.

Could yout outline the scope of the CCA74, CCA06 and CC83 for me please?

I don't think I have made myself clear on the 10K issues. The situation is that the copany (company A) from which the equipment was purchased created an invoice for 45K. They then wanted 10K deposit which is standard practice. I paid the deposit of 10K to company A. Company A then issued an invoice to the finance company for the balance, i.e. 35K. The finance company then charged me 10K as payment 1 and then 60 payments of a regular monthly amount.

Basically, the finance company did not take into account that I had already paid the 10K to company A and charged me again for the 10K. The contract with the finance company stated that the agreement was for 45K and not 35K so all the 'affordability' on which the CCA contract is based is totally out in line with the original invoice from company A.

How does it make a difference whether I signed the documents in an office, via post or over the internet? Is it due to advice given at the time?

If, as you have stated, that being a Sole Trader I am classed as a consumer for the CCA, then why does the finance company see fit to calculate my payments based on affordability and not interest?

If the contract is classsed as under the CCA, then why did the contract not list my interest figure as required by the CCA? Surely it cannot be classed as 'under the CCA' with an 'affordability' APR of 45%, which is not stated. Is this not a crazy contradiction of the entire CCA. After all, the contract was headed as 'HIRE AGREEMENT REGULATED UNDER THE CONSUMER CREDIT ACT 1974', does this not suggest my protection under the act and my above comments illustrate a gross mis-selling under the CCA?

Should a CCA contract be cancellable to meet the act?