LeasePlan Contract - Best Course Of Action

Know

My partner has a car on lease from Leaseplan and a few months ago ran into a couple of issues as she was abroad and I was trying to deal with them. She sent in a letter agreeing I could talk to them but they said it never arrived and she missed a couple of payments.

A collection agent visited my house and I explained the situation, he said its common and gave me an account password to call in with which I did and they suggested I was playing games as they dont "do that"

The same chap visited again and confirmed that he had made a mistake and this time managed to get someone on the phone (it can be a 30 minute wait). He managed to get enough info for me to make an online payment for what was "on the screen"

He then called me and said they had used those funds to cover fees and more was due, again he said call and as usual i was told nothing.

He then called me to say he was off the case and to await a letter from leaseplan.

A couple of weeks ago another chap turns up wanting to take the car, thankfully at this point my partner is back in the UK and he says they are now dealing with it but to call in.

We call in and now have another £300 fee when we were told by the other guy to await the update.

We now have over £1000 of fees from visits which I am very unhappy about as we only followed the advice given. The call centre people are useless and can't seem to come up with a figure.

If I offer to hand the car back right now would it show up as a reposition on her credit file? Im happy to pay them what owed but have never had experience like this from any other finance company

AdrianC

Know wrote: »

My partner has a car on lease from Leaseplan and a few months ago ran into a couple of issues as she was abroad and I was trying to deal with them. She sent in a letter agreeing I could talk to them but they said it never arrived and she missed a couple of payments.

Whether your partner was out of the country or not does not give carte blanche to miss payments due under the terms of the lease.

The finance house are under no obligation whatsoever to deal with you on the back of "a letter".

We now have over £1000 of fees

Are you surprised that there are fees arising from the missed payments?
Has your partner been paying just the monthly lease payments, or have they paid the various late fees and legal/collection agent fees?

The call centre people are useless and can't seem to come up with a figure.

All the time your partner is in arrears, the debt will be increasing.

If I offer to hand the car back right now would it show up as a reposition on her credit file?

Of course. And you can't "offer to hand the car back". You have no contract with them. They do not have to deal with you, and there may well be legal issues in them doing so, depending on how permission to deal with your partner's account has been handled. Your partner has been remiss in handling their finances properly, and left you to clean their mess up. Why aren't they doing this themselves?

Im happy to pay them what owed but have never had experience like this from any other finance company

Have you/your partner been this far into debt with other finance companies? Far enough that they're taking steps to repossess their property? If not, then it's not really comparable.