The Car Finance Company Default Charge

tonythetigeruk78

Hi All,

I am about to send a letter to The Car Finance Company and just wanted some help in writing it.

Basically, I've had the agreement with them since about June 2013. Everything has been fine, I am up to date and I can afford the payments no problem.

However, a couple of months ago there was an issue with my wages and I was paid late. Normal payments to The Car Finance Company are made by standing order on 1st of each month. I paid the installment via debit card this particular month approximately 10 days later. I was charged a £12 admin charge (which I expected and am ok with), but I was also charged a £50 default fee and was sent a letter threatening me with repossession of the car and all the other threatening debt collection tactics. This I was gobsmacked with as I was only a few days late. When I spoke to them I was met my the most arrogant and rude advisor I have ever come across. He proudly told me that there phone calls are not recorded, that they were not yet regulated and they charged the default fee as a deterrent to stop people missing payments. I was also told that they would not give me the code for the cars immobiliser unless the default fee was paid. This despite paying my normal installment as well as the admin charge.

Anyway, I want to complain to them regarding this default fee as I am sure it would not be legal if challenged in a court. I am basing this on the court cases where banks were told to lower there charges to £12. I know they are not covered by the outcome of this case but it is a similar area. As they say they are not regulated yet, do I complain to them, citing laws,etc and give them chance to reply and do I then send the complaint to the FOS or go to court?

All help will be greatly appreciated.

Thank You

Tony

jonesMUFCforever

Forget the letter and concentrate on building up a fund in your account so if this happens again you will have the money to pay the standing order.

tonythetigeruk78

What great advice. What a relief you posted a reply. If only I had that much surplus each month I could build a fund up eh!

HHarry

In all honesty, just about the only way you'll get the £50 waived / refunded is if the company offers it as a goodwill gesture. It sounds unlikely that they're willing to do that, but if you make enough of a nuisance of yourself it might just happen.
Otherwise, I'm sure that the fee is detailed in the T&C's that came with the original agreement, and no amount of law is going to change it in this individual instance.

And Jones' advice is spot on.........

lynz68

Before you do anything read the T&C of your finance to see if it says anything about default charges.

Did you contact them immediately once you realised you were getting paid late to explain the situation?

I would be more inclined to write a very nice letter explaining the situation and mention the attitude of staff but remain polite. Once you loose your temper you loose the moral high ground. Rather than going all guns blazing and threatening Court action over £50.

Reality is it's your employers fault for paying you late and I would be raising the issue of any charges incurred with them as they are the ones who are at fault.

AndyT678

tonythetigeruk78 wrote: »

What great advice. What a relief you posted a reply. If only I had that much surplus each month I could build a fund up eh!

If you can't possibly build up enough savings to cover a single loan payment perhaps that's a strong indication that you can't really afford the car you've bought.

BillJones

tonythetigeruk78 wrote: »

What great advice. What a relief you posted a reply. If only I had that much surplus each month I could build a fund up eh!

If you don't, I am afraid that you are risk of this happening again. I understand that it's not ideal, but these deals are set out the way they are precisely because they know that they are lending to people who are likely to be unreliable.

As above, it sounds like you have overspent, and are choosing to live right on the edge of financial disaster. As you've seen, if you do this you run the risk of getting into trouble over the slightest delay or unexpected expense.

Do you honestly have zero things that you could cut back for a while? Do you smoke, go out, have a drink, have a takeaway, etc? If so, you may have to cut these out for a few months until at the very least you've a few hundred pounds buffer.

Edited to add, I've just seen that you posted the below;

I have had my Samsung S4 from Virgin Mobile since about June 2013.

Wich rather suggests that you need to take a long hard look in the mirror, and perhaps take some responsibility for your actions.

I'm out, I'll leave you to it.