Private Lease Car Nightmare

Ecogirl

Hi, sorry this is a bit long but...
I recently terminated my agreement on a private lease car early due to redundancy and having to re-jig finances. I was given an estimate of about £800 plus vat to get out of this contract. When it came to the car being sold, the company made more money on it than they anticipated and I was then told my account was actually in credit. Turns out by £1000. I was surprised (these things never usually turn out like that in my experience!) and the woman dealing with my account said it was unusual so she'd check with various departments. It was confirmed that I was in credit. Fantastic news. They gave me the money a couple of months ago. All done and dusted.
Today I get another credit note advice letter from them so I called them. Only to be told that they are trying to sort out my account using various credits and invoices, I shouldn't have received that letter, there is still money owing on my account. A manager will be in touch to let me know what happens next.
Just wondered what the general consensus would be: do they have a right to now demand payment after they made a mistake? Any thoughts appreciated!

Foxy-Stoat_3

If you get any further invoices I would ask for chapter and verse and a full explanation as to what the charge/invoice is for. Keep all your contracts, letters, invoices/credit notes and payments so you can check how much is owed and how much you have paid them.

If they have made a mistake in paying you back money, then they have a right to ask for it back. You can either pay them back or refuse. If they have a right to the money then they would need to go to a small claims court if your still not going to to pay them.

If you saw £1000 extra in your bank account that wasn't yours and queried it, person behind the desk said it looks fine, they are well within their rights to debit your account for their mistake.

This doesn't sound like a nightmare tho !!

Ecogirl

Thank you for that info.
It just seems a bit unfair when I queried the credit, they said it was correct and now they're back-tracking! How long into the future are we safe from companies getting in touch and saying "oops" - luckily I have saved it, not spent it!

Yes, if a random amount turned up in my bank account I'd report it and they could have it back. It wouldn't have been mine. This feels different as there was a settlement in progress, they just calculated it wrong...in July!