Business Contract Lease - payments not taken

Radders68

I leased a car through Toyota Finance as a Business Contract Lease on a 3 year deal which ended in February this year.  Due to an internal error at Toyota Finance, they did not take the monthly lease fee for the last 8 months of the contract.  They have now invoiced me for the full outstanding amount (just over £2,000), and whilst I don't dispute that the amount is outstanding, I'm angered at the expectation that I should just cough-up the full amount in one go.  I must stress that my Direct Debit was never cancelled or amended by me - Toyota Finance have admitted that it was their internal error and they just didn't take the monthly payments, and the error didn't come to light to them until the contract had reached it's end date and the car had been returned to them.  I just wondered where I stood legally on the outstanding amount and when/if/how I should re-pay it?

burlingtonfl6

How many times did you contact them in those 8 months to either tell them the payments were being taken or to pay them with a debit/credit card to cover the missed months?
( We all know what really happened by the way)

AdrianC

If they didn't take the money that you were expecting them to take, then you have it all available, right?

Since this was a business lease, I presume you reconcile your business bank accounts regularly? I mean, there's been at least two, probably three VAT returns in that period.
And yet you never noticed a £2k discrepancy, eight missing expected payments.
Oh, wait. You were careful not to say that YOU hadn't noticed... Just that THEY hadn't noticed.

Legally? The money's due. Pay it.

Grumpy_chap

The OP needs to pay the lease money that was not taken.
Given these were direct debits that were not drawn, surely the OP simply has the funds sitting in the business account and the finance company could simply take the payment now in any case without correspondence.
The OP has benefitted from cash-flow advantage of the late payment, so should pay now without thinking of it as a shock, or any anger at paying all in one go.  Business Contract Lease, so normal consumer rules will not apply.

Radders68

burlingtonfl6 said:

How many times did you contact them in those 8 months to either tell them the payments were being taken or to pay them with a debit/credit card to cover the missed months?
( We all know what really happened by the way)

I didn't.  I must admit we were almost at the end of the contract before I realised that they hadn't taken the payments - In my defence I've been single-mindedly focused on getting my business through the pandemic.  By the time I realised it I just thought I'd let it play out and see what happened?

burlingtonfl6

Radders68 said:

burlingtonfl6 said:

How many times did you contact them in those 8 months to either tell them the payments were being taken or to pay them with a debit/credit card to cover the missed months?
( We all know what really happened by the way)

I didn't.  I must admit we were almost at the end of the contract before I realised that they hadn't taken the payments - In my defence I've been single-mindedly focused on getting my business through the pandemic.  By the time I realised it I just thought I'd let it play out and see what happened?

At least you're more honest than most people complaining on here. You thought you could get away with it but it didn't work out.
You owe the money, it needs to be paid. Talk to them and see what they say

Radders68

AdrianC said:

If they didn't take the money that you were expecting them to take, then you have it all available, right?

Since this was a business lease, I presume you reconcile your business bank accounts regularly? I mean, there's been at least two, probably three VAT returns in that period.
And yet you never noticed a £2k discrepancy, eight missing expected payments.
Oh, wait. You were careful not to say that YOU hadn't noticed... Just that THEY hadn't noticed.

Legally? The money's due. Pay it.

Adrian I was just asking the question, that's all.  I don't dispute the money is owed - I thought I had made that clear - I was just hoping I might be able to come to an arrangement to pay what's outstanding over a similar 8-month period.  And actually I hadn't noticed initially that the payments hadn't been taken - trying to run a business embedded in the hospitality industry over the last 12 months hasn't been too much of a picnic.  Enjoy your day.

Grumpy_chap

Radders68 said:

I was just hoping I might be able to come to an arrangement to pay what's outstanding over a similar 8-month period.  

You have no automatic option to pay over a period, but have you asked the finance company?  They may agree, and may do so more readily than you might expect.

Radders68

burlingtonfl6 said:

Radders68 said:

burlingtonfl6 said:

How many times did you contact them in those 8 months to either tell them the payments were being taken or to pay them with a debit/credit card to cover the missed months?
( We all know what really happened by the way)

I didn't.  I must admit we were almost at the end of the contract before I realised that they hadn't taken the payments - In my defence I've been single-mindedly focused on getting my business through the pandemic.  By the time I realised it I just thought I'd let it play out and see what happened?

At least you're more honest than most people complaining on here. You thought you could get away with it but it didn't work out.
You owe the money, it needs to be paid. Talk to them and see what they say

Fair enough - Thank you.

AdrianC

You can certainly ask them for time to pay. They are under no obligation to grant it. They could argue that they've already given you a substantial extension from when the payments were due.

Personally, I'd have thought the straightened times of late, especially in the hospitality industry, would have meant you were keeping an even closer eye on the business finances...

As you say, you thought you'd let it play out... by which you meant you hoped they would never notice, and you'd get away with it, right? Well, they have...

Radders68

Grumpy_chap said:

Radders68 said:

I was just hoping I might be able to come to an arrangement to pay what's outstanding over a similar 8-month period.  

You have no automatic option to pay over a period, but have you asked the finance company?  They may agree, and may do so more readily than you might expect.

Thank you.