Excess Mileage Charge - Reached Debt Collectors

Joe_Horner

Nodding_Donkey wrote: »

There is one sure fire way to deal with debt collectors.

Ignore them, they are powerless.

Not the best advice ever seeing as some DCAs will actually carry through with court action.

Write to them (proper stamp & all, preferably recorded delivery) stating that the debt is disputed. If you do so within 30 days of their initial demand then they must stop enforcement until the debt is confirmed.

Because only a court can give a binding decision on whether or not you owe the money, that effectively forces the finance company to file a claim and there are several good reasons why they might decide that's not worthwhile and choose to cancel the charges as a "goodwill" gesture.

Nodding_Donkey

Joe_Horner wrote: »

Not the best advice ever seeing as some DCAs will actually carry through with court action.

Write to them (proper stamp & all, preferably recorded delivery) stating that the debt is disputed. If you do so within 30 days of their initial demand then they must stop enforcement until the debt is confirmed.

Because only a court can give a binding decision on whether or not you owe the money, that effectively forces the finance company to file a claim and there are several good reasons why they might decide that's not worthwhile and choose to cancel the charges as a "goodwill" gesture.

They can't 'follow through'

It's not their debt to take to court. Talking to them only encourages them to keep pestering you.

Quentin

Joe_Horner wrote: »

Not the best advice ever seeing as some DCAs will actually carry through with court action.

Write to them (proper stamp & all, preferably recorded delivery) stating that the debt is disputed. .....

No.


Ignore this poor advice.


Debt collectors can safely be ignored. (And as already posted cannot take you to court - only the creditor can do that)


Never engage with a debt collector - it just lets them know they have hooked you on their line and encourage them to continue their bullying tactics


(And don't use recorded delivery (actually "signed for" service) for mail like this - the recipient can refuse to accept such an item and can then prove it was never delivered as the tracking will show it as undelivered. A waste of money too (costs an extra £1.10 - if you want to rove a letter was sent just get a free cert of posting from the post office- though DON'T write to debt collectors ever)

custardy

I would argue 'estimating' you would be over is unenforceable.
you may have renegotiated/renewed or simply parked the car up.
If its under the mileage as agreed then its under the mileage.
Unless theirs a contract term regarding early surrender and future mileage?

Joe_Horner

Some debt collectors buy the debt, and they can and will take court action to recover. We don't know if that's the case for the Op without seeing his paperwork so a blanket "ignore" is very poor advice.

If they refuse delivery of a signed for (apologies for using the colloquial term before) letter then you'll know as soon as you check delivery online. If it doesn't show as delivered then you can follow it up and will have proof if it ever does go further that you attempted to engage and they refused. That's very useful should it become a matter for the FOS or the courts. So, no, there isn't a risk there.

Assuming they haven't bought the debt then, by notifying them that it's disputed (you don't have to tell them why), you stop any enforcement action until the debt is verified. So the fact you've "confirmed" that you exist is neither here nor there.

Lucky_Duck_2

ScotsMan2017 wrote: »

I emailed them asking if they are able to settle contractual disputes.

To me if the condition to VT is 50% and good condition then to be charged for mileage after goes against the nature of VT. If you are VTing because you can't afford the item anymore then to be thrown an additional charge on top puts you into more financial difficulty. And in my case I would have been as well maintaining monthly payments for a period.

It's not a contractual dispute, at the point of VTing the contract falls away and this is why the consensus is that excess mileage charges are not recoverable

ScotsMan2017

I received this email from the finance company.

"Thank you for your recent email.

As advised by our client, your balance has been raised correctly in line with your agreement, even having voluntary terminated your agreement. If you remain dissatisfied with your balance, you will need to escalate this to the Financial Ombudsman Service within 6 months of your final complaint response issued by our client."

Nodding_Donkey

The point is that ending the contract by VT is outside the contract and the conditions of a VT are overridden by legislation. The only way you can be liable for the charges is if you agree to it after the VT.

As long as you didn't sign anything after telling them you wanted to VT you are safe. Which is why finance companies try it on with their 'VT Packs'

When it comes to VT you need to stop listening to the finance company, of course they will say it is correct, they want your money


ETA You didn't sign anything supplied by them after telling them you wanted to VT did you?

Lucky_Duck_2

Indeed, and I suspect all one can do is continue to deny the debt until it either becomes statute barred or they issue court proceedings

ScotsMan2017

I didn't sign anything saying I would pay for any excess Mileage.

Yeh the debt collectors have said that they will continue to pursue the claim.