Motorbike Finance Limits

kevinchallice

Morning all. I have recently applied for finance for a brand new motorcycle. i asked for a specified amount (£3000), and was approved. During a phone call the person at the finance company stated that i was approved all the way up to £17000 and asked what motorcycle i was interested in. I stated exactly which make and model i wanted (only interested in this particular one). Once all was confirmed, the person called back and said that the minimum amount they could finance for me is £3600 and therefore i would have to buy a different, more expensive bike, as the one i want was below this amount. Is this legal and allowed? It seems a bit odd i was approved for a certain amount then to be told i would have to borrow more?

TELLIT01

It certainly seems odd, but one option might be to accept the larger sum and immediately repay the £600.  Check the T&C carefully for charges for early repayment.  I'm suspicious that the call was actually from the dealership and they are looking to make more commission from the sale of a different bike.

kevinchallice

Sounds like a reasonable suggestion, but from what i understand it is a broker i am dealing with, and the actual company lending the money has to see the motorcycle advertised at the minimum price on the dealership website!!

user1977

Why wouldn't they be allowed to set a minimum amount to lend? 

born_again

Who is the finance co, where did you find them?

TELLIT01

user1977 said:

Why wouldn't they be allowed to set a minimum amount to lend? 

They may have a minimum amount to lend, but the OP requested a specific figure and that figure was approved.  Either somebody messed up at the dealership or somebody is trying it on.

user1977

TELLIT01 said:

user1977 said:

Why wouldn't they be allowed to set a minimum amount to lend? 

They may have a minimum amount to lend, but the OP requested a specific figure and that figure was approved.  Either somebody messed up at the dealership or somebody is trying it on.

Sure, but even if that happened, they're allowed to change their mind or correct themselves. It doesn't sound like they issued anything binding on them.

powerful_Rogue

kevinchallice said:

Morning all. I have recently applied for finance for a brand new motorcycle. i asked for a specified amount (£3000), and was approved. During a phone call the person at the finance company stated that i was approved all the way up to £17000 and asked what motorcycle i was interested in. I stated exactly which make and model i wanted (only interested in this particular one). Once all was confirmed, the person called back and said that the minimum amount they could finance for me is £3600 and therefore i would have to buy a different, more expensive bike, as the one i want was below this amount. Is this legal and allowed? It seems a bit odd i was approved for a certain amount then to be told i would have to borrow more?

Why would it be illegal?

Sounds like it was a general approval upto £17k, however minimum is £3600.

Like when you apply for a credit card, you get approved, they then decide how much credit they are willing to issue. In this case, they also have a minimum.

Money_Grabber13579

Trying to pressure people into borrowing more than they want to sounds a bit like irresponsible lending to me… I suspect the FCA might take a dim view of this (if they can be bothered to even investigate).

Ergates

TELLIT01 said:

It certainly seems odd, but one option might be to accept the larger sum and immediately repay the £600.  Check the T&C carefully for charges for early repayment.  I'm suspicious that the call was actually from the dealership and they are looking to make more commission from the sale of a different bike.

If the finance is secured on the bike, that wouldn't work - they won't lend more than the bike is worth.

Ergates

kevinchallice said:

Morning all. I have recently applied for finance for a brand new motorcycle. i asked for a specified amount (£3000), and was approved. During a phone call the person at the finance company stated that i was approved all the way up to £17000 and asked what motorcycle i was interested in. I stated exactly which make and model i wanted (only interested in this particular one). Once all was confirmed, the person called back and said that the minimum amount they could finance for me is £3600 and therefore i would have to buy a different, more expensive bike, as the one i want was below this amount. Is this legal and allowed? It seems a bit odd i was approved for a certain amount then to be told i would have to borrow more?

It's not illegal - the finance company can set whatever limits/restrictions on lending they like.

It sounds like the dealership set up the finance - go back to them and explain what has happened and say you don't want the more expensive bike you want this one - they *may* be able to pressure the finance company, or may have alternative companies they could use.