Alphera car finance overpayments

mikeopvc

Hello and Happy New Year to all:)

I have a question about our car finance.

We changed our car recently and got a new finance deal with the new car, The finance is with Alphera. I want to make regular overpayments on the agreement and set up a standing order for a small amount to be paid every week or month but when I called to enquire I was told that it's not possible to do this, Our last agreement was with Black Horse and it was really easy to make payments etc. You could log in online and view all the info and request settlement figures etc. Alphera say I can only make lump sum payments and will need to ring up every time to get a quote and also to tell them where to allocate the payment.
I checked online and their website seems to contradict this, It says:

How can I make payments on my agreement?

Direct Debit: Please contact us on 0370 5050 125 and request a Direct Debit Mandate Form. Please be advised that we will need to ask for additional information if the bank account is not in your name.

Card Payment: We accept the following cards with no additional fee to you – Solo, Switch, Maestro, Visa Electron, Visa Debit, Visa, Mastercard, American Express. To make a payment, please call us on 0370 5050 125. You will need your finance agreement number to hand.

Bank Transfer: Please call us on 0370 5050 125 and we will provide you with the correct bank details to set up the transfer.

Standing Order: Please call us on 0370 5050 125 and we will provide you with our bank details and the instruction document you will need to complete and provide to your bank.

Cheque: Please make all cheques payable to ALPHERA Financial Services, quoting your agreement number on the back of the cheque. Cheques should be sent to ALPHERA Financial Services, The Accounts Department, Europa House, Bartley Way, Hook, Hampshire, RG27 9UF.


Should I just take her word for it or try ringing again and speaking to another person?

Thanks

foxy-stoat

Call them up again and quote the section to them about how to make regular over payments from their website. Ask to speak to their manager if they do not know their own terms and conditions, may be the manager will.

mikeopvc

Just did that, she said she wasn't aware it said that on the website so is going to pass on the information to someone, she was still adamant that what I was told by her colleague was right!

jimjames

mikeopvc wrote: »

Just did that, she said she wasn't aware it said that on the website so is going to pass on the information to someone, she was still adamant that what I was told by her colleague was right!

To be fair the website info is for making payments on your account, not for making overpayments. Their systems may not be able to cope with amounts that are greater than the required one each month.

bigjl

Why no just put your proposed overpayments in to a savings account.

Maybe every 12months transfer it over in a lump sum as you were told you could do.

Le_Kirk

^^^^ The absolute correct suggestion and that way you are gaining interest (pitiful though it is these days) not paying it out!

bowlhead99

Le_Kirk wrote: »

^^^^ The absolute correct suggestion and that way you are gaining interest (pitiful though it is these days) not paying it out!

In many / most cases the fact that you are only gaining interest income at pitiful rates, and then potentially having tax to pay on the interest income, will not be adequate to cover the amount of interest expense you are incurring by not paying off the loan more swiftly.

Of course if the car finance is only 3% and you are stoozing the cash in a 4% or 5% regular saver account, then well done.

Whether you can overpay the loan in small amounts here and there and have them be an immediate benefit by reducing the capital on which the interest is charged and thus the total interest you pay over the life of the loan, will be in the terms and conditions.

You are committed to make payments over the life of your loan and just because the website has a bit saying you can make your payments by bank transfer or credit card or direct debit or standing order, doesn't mean that early extra payments are accommodated in your agreement. My mortgage agreement is paid off by direct debit and from time to time I send them extra by standing order... but if I sent more than they wanted, I might incur early repayment charges of over ten thousand quid.