Voluntary Termination - excess mileage and debt collector

prettywowers

Just looking for a bit of advice on this one:

Have VT'd my car due to no longer needing it. All has been arranged through the finance company, and I'm now waiting for the vehicle to be collected & inspected.

I've been told that any excess mileage charge would be passed immediately to a debt collector (!), and I will have no option to pay the finance company directly.

Can anyone advise if this is correct? I am aware that VT'ing a vehicle should mean no excess mileage charges are payable, but also that finance companies are playing hardball on this. I'd be quite happy to pay a few hundred quid to make them go away.

I've calculated that I'm around 6000miles over where I should be. 
 Surely, they need to establish if I'm going to pay the debt first, before passing it to a collector? 

Thanks for any help.

AdrianC

VT allows costs above fair wear and tear to be collected.

Does excess mileage (especially substantial - 6k... at how much per mile?) fall into that? Only a court can decide. And, so far, there hasn't been any legally binding precedent - certainly not in your favour.

Yes, they would need to take you to court first to establish your liability. If you lose, and do not pay, then they can seek to enforce the debt.

neilmcl

prettywowers said:

Just looking for a bit of advice on this one:

Have VT'd my car due to no longer needing it. All has been arranged through the finance company, and I'm now waiting for the vehicle to be collected & inspected.

I've been told that any excess mileage charge would be passed immediately to a debt collector (!), and I will have no option to pay the finance company directly.

Can anyone advise if this is correct? I am aware that VT'ing a vehicle should mean no excess mileage charges are payable, but also that finance companies are playing hardball on this. I'd be quite happy to pay a few hundred quid to make them go away.

I've calculated that I'm around 6000miles over where I should be. 
 Surely, they need to establish if I'm going to pay the debt first, before passing it to a collector? 

Thanks for any help.

Told by whom?

In most cases you'll get a letter asking for payment from your finance provider. I've never heard it going straight to a debt collector first. After all it's not a debt until your finance provider tells you it is.

neilmcl

AdrianC said:

VT allows costs above fair wear and tear to be collected.

Does excess mileage (especially substantial - 6k... at how much per mile?) fall into that? Only a court can decide. And, so far, there hasn't been any legally binding precedent - certainly not in your favour.

Yes, they would need to take you to court first to establish your liability. If you lose, and do not pay, then they can seek to enforce the debt.

Nothing has to go to court before debt collectors can be instructed, however their powers are minimal.

prettywowers

neilmcl said:

prettywowers said:

Just looking for a bit of advice on this one:

Have VT'd my car due to no longer needing it. All has been arranged through the finance company, and I'm now waiting for the vehicle to be collected & inspected.

I've been told that any excess mileage charge would be passed immediately to a debt collector (!), and I will have no option to pay the finance company directly.

Can anyone advise if this is correct? I am aware that VT'ing a vehicle should mean no excess mileage charges are payable, but also that finance companies are playing hardball on this. I'd be quite happy to pay a few hundred quid to make them go away.

I've calculated that I'm around 6000miles over where I should be. 
 Surely, they need to establish if I'm going to pay the debt first, before passing it to a collector? 

Thanks for any help.

Told by whom?

In most cases you'll get a letter asking for payment from your finance provider. I've never heard it going straight to a debt collector first. After all it's not a debt until your finance provider tells you it is.

Told by the finance company. Spoke to them today as they weren't replying to emails.
They told me that collection and inspection not the vehicle would be arranged within 7 days, and that I would be billed for any excessive wear and tear. Any excess mileage charges would be passed to a debt collector. I questioned this at the time, but it was reiterated that their process was excess mileage went straight to their debt collector. For info, 10.9p per mile (Inc VAT).

As to whether they can legally claim excess mileage under a VT, some have had success in defending their position:

https://legalbeagles.info/forums/forum/legal-forums/motoring-parking/vehicle-finance-and-issues/97275-won-vt-excess-mileage-mbfs-county-court-claim-mortimer-clarke-pls-help

The_Rainmaker

So you took out a PCP contract with a set number of miles per annum which you have exceeded  and now want to wriggle out of your contractual obligations?  Is that is it in a nutshell?

You could always advise the finance company of your excess mileage to avoid it going straight to the debt collectors.

MinuteNoodles

prettywowers said:

I am aware that VT'ing a vehicle should mean no excess mileage charges are payable

There's already been multiple Financial Ombudsman Service rulings where they've ruled that excess mileage charges are payable if you VT, the excess mileage falling under the excess wear and tear clauses. Whether or not you're successful in getting the charge cancelled depends on how the ombudsman dealing with the case rules and there's rulings both for and against.

macman

A 'debt collector' has no power to enter your property or remove goods. All they can do is ring your doorbell and ask for payment. And you can reply as you see fit. Arkell vs Pressdram, possibly?

prettywowers

The_Rainmaker said:

So you took out a PCP contract with a set number of miles per annum which you have exceeded  and now want to wriggle out of your contractual obligations?  Is that is it in a nutshell?

You could always advise the finance company of your excess mileage to avoid it going straight to the debt collectors.

Correct. I'm exercising my right as a consumer to end the agreement early as stipulated under the terms in the consumer credit act (that may or may not involve "wriggling").
Regardless, the finance company are not willing to enter into any discussion regarding payment for the excess mileage. 
I'm simply asking for advice, as other posters have also said, this is unusual as I am not being afforded the opportunity to simply pay the extra charges outstanding.

prettywowers

MinuteNoodles said:

prettywowers said:

I am aware that VT'ing a vehicle should mean no excess mileage charges are payable

There's already been multiple Financial Ombudsman Service rulings where they've ruled that excess mileage charges are payable if you VT, the excess mileage falling under the excess wear and tear clauses. Whether or not you're successful in getting the charge cancelled depends on how the ombudsman dealing with the case rules and there's rulings both for and against.

As you said, there are rulings for this, and against. Generally, one could argue that excess miles do not, in and of themselves, indicate excessive wear and tear. 
Regardless, as I said earlier, I'd be happy to pay them to make them go away (assuming they're not looking for a silly amount), but it appears that they aren't willing to enter into that conversation.

Scrapit

prettywowers said:

The_Rainmaker said:

So you took out a PCP contract with a set number of miles per annum which you have exceeded  and now want to wriggle out of your contractual obligations?  Is that is it in a nutshell?

You could always advise the finance company of your excess mileage to avoid it going straight to the debt collectors.

Correct. I'm exercising my right as a consumer to end the agreement early as stipulated under the terms in the consumer credit act (that may or may not involve "wriggling").
Regardless, the finance company are not willing to enter into any discussion regarding payment for the excess mileage. 
I'm simply asking for advice, as other posters have also said, this is unusual as I am not being afforded the opportunity to simply pay the extra charges outstanding.

So they won't let you pay the 6oo odd quid? That seems strange.