Finest Dental - Finance Agreement

CJAVT

Hello everyone, 

I hope this is the correct forum to enter this, apologies if not!

Me and my partner are currently having an issue with a finance agreement we took out (a little on impulse) in November last year. We decided to get Invisalign treatment and found Finest Dental. Had a free consultation, they were really helpful at this point and we were talked through the various payment options. We decided on the finance option as it was best for us, over a 12 month period through Hitachi. The finance was agreed and Hitachi sent the funds directly to Finest Dental (almost £6,000), it didn't come to us first. 

After Finest Dental received the funds, they instantly stopped all communication with us. We'd email and phone them daily, but nobody was available to talk to us at all. This seemed all too suspicious to us, so we sent a cancellation request, this was within the 14 day cancellation period. They did respond to that, blaming Invisalign and saying they could offer us an alternative for the same price. We said we weren't interested as it was the trust in Finest Dental we had lost because of their ignorance. 

Since then, they have still not refunded Hitachi for the finance agreement and have now closed shop. Finest Dental now appear to be going into administration and we don't know where we stand. Hitachi have been reasonably helpful throughout the process as we notified them immediately when we requested cancellation with Finest Dental. They have delayed all repayments required by us so far. They have been contacting Finest Dental (apparently), but they are still waiting to find out what's going on too, but they also say they never received the cancellation request from Finest Dental direct which could cause issues. 

My main question is would we be liable to pay back the finance if Finest Dental enter administration, even though we never received any treatment and (as far as we are concerned, and can prove) we cancelled within the cancellation period? 
We have tried contacting the Financial Ombudsman but are still waiting for a response. 

Thank you for reading 
Chloe

[Deleted User]

No.  The credit is directly tied to the service, so at worst, section 75 would kick in.

CJAVT

Thank you for your reply. My understanding of all this is very slim, I'm a little confused with how section 75 would apply with a finance agreement. Would we need to make the claim directly to the finance company? As we wouldn't be requesting they reimburse us the money, rather that we don't want to owe them money (if that makes sense). 
Sorry if this is a silly question. 

[Deleted User]

You did everything correctly, hitatchi's problem now as they have become creditors of the failed company, their problem, just forget it and make sure you have cancelled a direct debit if there is one.

Terry_Towelling

It does sound like the sort of credit arrangement where S75 protection could apply.  That means you could indeed approach the lender directly for reimbursement of any losses should you be able to demonstrate a breach of contract by the supplier (regardless of whether the supplier is trading or not).

coachman12

It seems from the following link that Finest Dental may have just gone bust , and there is a lot of fuss across the country about the way customers have been ripped off. There is even a Facebook campaign underway. Could this shine some light on your recent experience ?
https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/midlands-news/patients-demand-money-back-after-17679686
Hope it helps and I hope you get your money back.