Pro rata millage on pcp VT

Unknown2021

I have recently gave back my car to alphera finance after paying 50%. full term millage would of take it to 70000 but I handed back on 58000 they are now trying to contact me for a payment of £236 for pro rata miles. Do I have to pay this legally? Do I contact them or simply ignore all letters and emails? 
Thanks in advance 

AdrianC

VT legislation allows for charges for the condition of the car being below reasonable wear and tear. Does that include excess mileage over the contract...? Not explicitly. But it's a stretch to say no, really, isn't it?

There has been no legal precedent set. Some courts have upheld it, some have not.

Whatever you do, do NOT ignore communication. Reply and say that you don't think you should have to pay, and you'll see them in court, if you wish... But be prepared to lose.

Grumpy_chap

Is the OP actually over mileage? 
Paid 50% on PCP is normally very near the end of term. 
How long was the original term?
How far in was the VT?

AdrianC

£236 at (let's say) 12p/mile is about 2k over.
56k pro-rata'd against 70k would be 80% of term - 9 months early on a 4yr.

dogshome

Say the contract is for 70,000 miles over 4 years, (17,500 a year) - If you hand it back after three years with a mileage of 58,000 when the agreement is for up to 52,000 miles at 3 years, the car is worth less than it's anticipated re-sale value and the lease Co is entitled to charge for that  - Divide the extra cost by the extra miles to establish what they are charging per mile. 

Unknown2021

Grumpy_chap said:

Is the OP actually over mileage? 
Paid 50% on PCP is normally very near the end of term. 
How long was the original term?
How far in was the VT?

I give the car back about 20 months early and had to pay them just over 2k to make it up to 50% the term was over 4 years at 10k a year got car with 30000 miles on clock 

Unknown2021

AdrianC said:

£236 at (let's say) 12p/mile is about 2k over.
56k pro-rata'd against 70k would be 80% of term - 9 months early on a 4yr.

I payed just over 2k to make up to 50% i gave the car back approx 20 months early 

Grumpy_chap

Unknown2021 said:

I give the car back about 20 months early and had to pay them just over 2k to make it up to 50% the term was over 4 years at 10k a year got car with 30000 miles on clock 

I am confused as these numbers are wholly different from these numbers:

Unknown2021 said:

full term millage would of take it to 70000 but I handed back on 58000 they are now trying to contact me for a payment of £236 for pro rata miles. 

Ectophile

There's two things they could do:-

• Argue that your credit agreement isn't closed until you have paid all debts.  Then put a black mark on your credit record for having missed payments on a credit agreement.  Legally, it's a bit dubious, but what can you do about it if they do that?
• Take you to court for the money.  There's a distinct lack of case law on this.  If they have good lawyers, they may well win and get a CCJ against you.
  

DrEskimo

Makes sense...40,000 miles over 48months is ~833miles/month. Therefore after 28months you would be allowed to drive 23,325 miles. As it started on 30,000 miles, that means the mileage would have to be around 53,325.

You handed it back with 58,000miles, so were ~4,675 miles over.

That makes your excess mileage cost around £0.05/mile, which isn't horrendous....pay it and move on.....

AdrianC

Grumpy_chap said:

Unknown2021 said:

I give the car back about 20 months early and had to pay them just over 2k to make it up to 50% the term was over 4 years at 10k a year got car with 30000 miles on clock 

I am confused as these numbers are wholly different from these numbers:

Unknown2021 said:

full term millage would of take it to 70000 but I handed back on 58000 they are now trying to contact me for a payment of £236 for pro rata miles. 

They took out a 4yr/10k PCP on a second-hand car with 30k on it.
They paid £2k to get out of the deal 20 months early (58% of time), having put 28k of their 40k allowance (70% of mileage) on.
So they're 12% of 40k miles over the allowance - 4,800. £236 would make that ~5p/mile.