Lease car written off by Waitrose delivery van

SimonG_UK

Hi all

In December 2017 I took out a personal lease on my dream car (a beautiful Alfa Romeo Giulia Veloce) for 2 years, paying an initial payment of £2,700 and then £295 each month - GAP waiver was included in the agreement.

3 weeks ago my car was rear-ended by a Waitrose delivery van who’s brakes had failed and the car has now been written off 😢

I was contacted by a Third Party Intervention company acting on behalf of John Lewis who offered to pay for the repairs without going through my insurance company, and as my insurance company were almost impossible to get hold of by phone I took them up on their offer and they provided me with a loan vehicle within 24 hours for which I was very grateful as my job (sales) requires me to be on the road seeing customers most days.

As the car has been written off JL will be settling with the lease company (Leasys) and they have advised me that once this has been done my lease will be cancelled, I will not get any pro-rata refund from the lease company, and I will need to arrange a new vehicle lease and this is where I require some advice ......

My original lease was apparently heavily subsidised by Alfa Romeo as the car I chose was new to the market and they were keen to get as many as possible on the road. Unfortunately, Alfa are no longer subsidising new leases agreements so in order to get my car replaced with the same model and spec I now need to put down an initial £4,700 and the monthly payments have increased to £482, so over th next 2 years I calculate that I’ll be almost £9k out of pocket for an accident caused not of my making.

On top of this, once settled John Lewis will wantvtheirnloan vehicle returned leaving with with no vehicle until I’ve managed to source a replacement so I’ll probably end up having to rent a temporary vehicle.

Initial discussions with someone at the Third Party Intervention company were encouraging as they said they would ensure I was not out of pocket, but the last update I had from them was that they would not offer any assistance with the additional cost associated with replacing my vehicle.

I have also contacted John Lewis and Waitrose “customer care” and both organisations have declined to help and did not even have the courtesy to call me to discuss. I get the impression that they believe I’m being unreasonable in asking them to help with these additional costs.

Im seeking legal advice on this next week, but am I wrong in my belief that as John Lewis admitted liability for the accident that I should not be out of pocket, even though the vehicle was a lease car and not personally owned by me?

Many thanks

bengalknights

As its a lease vehicle you arent actually out of pocket as the vehicle was never yours to make a loss on.

What has happened is that the replacement lease is now higher than your original deal, for this situtation i would suggest talking to the lease company to see what they can do for you to arrange a like for like.However the chances are they will only offer a vehicle within that pricing range.

SimonG_UK

Thanks for the reply.

The lease company’s not willing to help and I can’t really blame them as they’ll probably get fully compensated for the loss of the vehicle and sell someone a more profitable lease.

I still ant help feeling it’s not right that I should be inconvenienced and financially out of pocket for an accident that they admitted liability for.

m0bov

Do you have legal cover? Have you informed your insurance company?

Penelopa.Pitstop

Tough luck! Just look for another deal or different car. No one is going to compensate you for anything.

There are decent prices on cheaper model:
https://leasing.com/independent-brokers/applied-leasing-limited/alfa-romeo/giulia/332281184/

or another Veloce which will be a bit more expensive than the last you had:
https://leasing.com/main-dealers/mangoletsi-alfa-romeo-knutsford/alfa-romeo/giulia/329774332/

I suggest to check on leasing.com or whatcar.com and see what's available now.

Your previous deal was £9,485 total for 2 years. Car advertised by Mangoletsi is £10,556.16 total, however it's possible it has some extras and price is higher. You can try Beechdale Alfa, they offered good prices in past.

SimonG_UK

Penelopa.Pitstop wrote: »

Tough luck! Just look for another deal or different car. No one is going to compensate you for anything.

There are decent prices on cheaper models

Thanks, but I have spent hours shopping around and speaking with Beechdale, Mangoletsi and Unity. The deals you’re referencing are Based on 8k miles per annum but the figures I quoted above were from Mangoletsi based on 15k to match my existing lease, so it’s a significant increase

Three legal sources I’ve spoken to today believe I have a case so fingers crossed.

Mercdriver

SimonG_UK wrote: »

Three legal sources I’ve spoken to today believe I have a case so fingers crossed.

Great if true, but remember that lawyers get paid win or lose...

dacouch

Who are your Insurers?

Do they include New Car replacement if the car is written off in the first twelve months? (A lease car may not qualify for this)

Penelopa.Pitstop

Lease car won't qualify for new car replacement. You have to be registered keeper from new and only a few companies offer car replacement.

OK, so let us know how it goes and how you get extra money back. I haven't seen single post of similar nature in leasing forum.

The_Big_Seedy_Bun

SimonG_UK wrote: »

Thanks, but I have spent hours shopping around and speaking with Beechdale, Mangoletsi and Unity. The deals you’re referencing are Based on 8k miles per annum but the figures I quoted above were from Mangoletsi based on 15k to match my existing lease, so it’s a significant increase

Three legal sources I’ve spoken to today believe I have a case so fingers crossed.[/QUOTE]

Oh dear...

Jonesya

Purely personal opinion, but I assume the insurer is only going to pay out the market value of the car and no more - it doesn't matter what the manufacturer now charges for the equivalent car today, its the market value of your car they will consider.

We don't know how much the lease company had owing against the car and hence whether that insurance pay out will cover all of the remaining debt, or whether it leaves a surplus. And it doesn't help that the discussions are directly between them so you might not see any of this info.

Whilst I can't see the insurer compensating you because Alfa have raised their prices (that's nothing to do with the insurer), I'd would want to know from the lease company whether I'd be getting a partial refund of the initial deposit.