Finance company keeps switching off the Car, is that allowed?

fiona1125

Hi all, thanks for your replys

The usually switches off when the car is stationary, when we have pulled over at the lights or stuck in traffic. We do give them a heads up before payment date to say its going to be a few days late but they are not reasonable. They are like some dirty bailiff company that just don't help.

Anyways, i just wanted to know if it was allowed for them to switch off a car but obviously it is, i just wish they would have told us they could disable the car. Hopefully work picks up soon and it wont be an issue anymore.

Thanks everyone

P.S. Yes the small print really was on page 118 and the contract was 126 pages long and yes we have tried to get the device at accidently fall off but can find it.

honeybean

My daughter has this fitted on her car and she receives a code on payment date to keep it going .if she does not pay she won't get the code then the car does not start , am sure these sort of things do not just switch off but wait until the vehicles engine is switched off and then is not able to be restarted .

fiona1125

I get no code, probably because they never mentioned it was a payg car when we bought it. It was meant to be a straight and normal car finance, where we buy a car and pay monthly over 36 months. Thats what was talked about at the meeting. They switch the car off when its stationary but the engine doesnt seem to need to be off, it just dies completely. They also have loads of other data from the device, they know where we go, when any problems arise, how many miles we have done. When they switched us off last month they told us we need to get an oil service as there data notified them.
Yep, but no codes for me! and never any mention of pay as you go.

poppasmurf_bewdley

fiona1125 wrote: »

I get no code, probably because they never mentioned it was a payg car when we bought it. It was meant to be a straight and normal car finance, where we buy a car and pay monthly over 36 months. Thats what was talked about at the meeting. They switch the car off when its stationary but the engine doesnt seem to need to be off, it just dies completely. They also have loads of other data from the device, they know where we go, when any problems arise, how many miles we have done. When they switched us off last month they told us we need to get an oil service as there data notified them.
Yep, but no codes for me! and never any mention of pay as you go.

Except on the document you signed. Presumably, you did read what you were signing. Or is this another case of being in such a rush to get your hands on the car anything else didn't matter?

At least you now know the situation. If you haven't paid the monthly installment, you know not to drive the car.

gb12345

poppasmurf_bewdley wrote: »

Except on the document you signed. Presumably, you did read what you were signing. Or is this another case of being in such a rush to get your hands on the car anything else didn't matter?

Normally I would agree with you, but hiding an important part of the contract like that away in small print on page 118 of a 126 page contract could be deemed an unfair contract - what type of contract to take out a finance deal is made up of 126 pages, you normally get a few pages at most.

Unless this was just supporting documentation and the important terms were also clearly stated somewhere else (the main part of the contract) and the OP missed it.

fiona1125

No, i didn't read what i was signing! I read most of it but it was 126 pages long so didn't read the whole thing. We weren't overly desperate for a car as we had a van so if they would have told us it was pay as you go we would have walked away. Our fault i know but i feel like we were tricked.

Tixy

Presumably you now don't drive it on the 28th if you know you haven't paid?

In terms of the firm(s) you subcontract to who are paying you late and blaming a missing invoice - can you not contact them a few days before they are due to pay you and confirm with them that they do have a copy of your invoice and that you will be paid on time?

You mention handing back the vehicle in 5months time - if you are wanting to do this you really need to be paying for the vehicle on time every month - otherwise you may find that the extra interest the finance company will be charging you for paying late will further delay when you can hand it back.

Apples2

Is the 5 month handover at the half way point (is it a VT you are taking advantage of?)

If so, you should expect them to reject your VT application as the terms will state that all payments should have been made on time (failing to pay breaches the contract terms which is what you would be using to VT the car).

We have had a post on here where someone successfully challenged this in Court but it is not common.

pelirocco

fiona1125 wrote: »

Hi All


Our payment is due on the 28th of every month but trying to get paid is a nightmare from the companies we subcontract to, we have to constantly beg but they come the excuses we didn't receive an invoice so we have to wait another 60 days. So, every month our payment to the car is late, we can usually pay it within 7 days but we can never pay it on time.



A tip for dealing with customers

Send out invoice , then 2 weeks before payment is due check they have received it and that its ok for payment . a few days before the end of the month ring them asking for a payment date , never rely on them paying without prompting .

But probably most importantly never rely on the money being paid that quickly

Incidently , who is the finance with?

Building_Surveyor

Why not surrender the car if you can't afford it anymore? And as you mentioned, you have a van...?