Unfair Fees on Car HP

ellemarie

Hi all 
In September 2017, my partner and I took a Hire Purchase out, with 36 months of repayments to make. There were some issues in 2018-9 where I couldn't amend the direct debit, this resulted in some missed payments, which were paid within days.. Except for one payment in January 2019 which somehow was missed. To remedy this, the lender and I mutually agreed to set up a Standing Order for the remainder of the agreement. For the last 12 months, we have been making overpayments to hopefully clear the debt quicker. Recently, we received letters implying that payments for April, May and June 2020 had not been paid. I went on to make phone calls, emails, etc to clear up the situation, as the payments had left my bank. After a couple of weeks and a complaint later, they finally allocated the payments they had previously mis-allocated. They upheld my complaint and removed all defaults, missed payments flags and fees for April, May & June, so the remaining balance is now £39.40. In the same breath, they brought up that there were multiple missed payments throughout 2018 and 2019 and that there were seperate fees of over £400! I enquired what they comprised of, as an example they claimed that missed payment letters (I don't recall seeing) were £15 a go. TLDR; is £400 for one missed payment and a few letters really fair/just? Do I have any standing to complain about this?

Grumpy_chap

What fees are listed in the finance agreement?

jonesMUFCforever

Have you not been receiving an annual statement?
Making up a missed payment even with overpayments does not stop them from charging you whatever fee you signed up for in your HP contract.
IMO £400 for one missed payment is incorrect - it is a culmination of what seems to be a lot of missed/late payments.