Car lease damages appeal, potential credit file impact ?

Sarngate

Apologies if this is in the wrong forum, I wasn't sure where to put this.

I recently returned a car I had been leasing with VWFS. The car had some damage on return, which the company has quoted an exorbitant figure for (in my opinion). 

I have written to their resolutions team to appeal the charges, with reasoning why. They have confirmed receipt of this mail but said the response may take up to 8 weeks due to Covid (!?).

In the meantime I have been emailed, and today received a letter instructing me I must pay within 7 days (letter dated 4th March) or the outstanding balance may be passed to a debt collection agency/my credit file may be impacted.

We are due to remortgage in approximately six months, which is the primary concern around any potential credit file impact.

Would I be within my rights to appeal any credit file impact while the charges are being investigated ? VWFS have informed me the process to investigate could take up to 8 weeks, my stance is that I am not refusing to pay once this investigation is complete, but I do not see why I should pay now, while the investigation is open as it only increases the chance they will keep the whole amount in my opinion. 

Would be interested to hear thoughts, should I just pay up and hope the investigation is concluded fairly ? 

The amount is £1400 so not insignificant. 

Thanks 

MattMattMattUK

Sarngate said:

Apologies if this is in the wrong forum, I wasn't sure where to put this.

I recently returned a car I had been leasing with VWFS. The car had some damage on return, which the company has quoted an exorbitant figure for (in my opinion). 

I have written to their resolutions team to appeal the charges, with reasoning why. They have confirmed receipt of this mail but said the response may take up to 8 weeks due to Covid (!?).

In the meantime I have been emailed, and today received a letter instructing me I must pay within 7 days (letter dated 4th March) or the outstanding balance may be passed to a debt collection agency/my credit file may be impacted.

We are due to remortgage in approximately six months, which is the primary concern around any potential credit file impact.

Would I be within my rights to appeal any credit file impact while the charges are being investigated ? VWFS have informed me the process to investigate could take up to 8 weeks, my stance is that I am not refusing to pay once this investigation is complete, but I do not see why I should pay now, while the investigation is open as it only increases the chance they will keep the whole amount in my opinion. 

Would be interested to hear thoughts, should I just pay up and hope the investigation is concluded fairly ? 

The amount is £1400 so not insignificant. 

Thanks 

It largely depends what the damage is, but on a fairly new (presuming 3ish years) lease car, with the repairs done at main dealer costs then £1,400 probably is not exorbitant.

They will likely take enforcement action against you, how long that will take and in what form is unknown, though it will likely add to the costs that you will end up having to pay anyway so I would probably recommend you pay the invoice. 

Sarngate

MattMattMattUK said:

Sarngate said:

Apologies if this is in the wrong forum, I wasn't sure where to put this.

I recently returned a car I had been leasing with VWFS. The car had some damage on return, which the company has quoted an exorbitant figure for (in my opinion). 

I have written to their resolutions team to appeal the charges, with reasoning why. They have confirmed receipt of this mail but said the response may take up to 8 weeks due to Covid (!?).

In the meantime I have been emailed, and today received a letter instructing me I must pay within 7 days (letter dated 4th March) or the outstanding balance may be passed to a debt collection agency/my credit file may be impacted.

We are due to remortgage in approximately six months, which is the primary concern around any potential credit file impact.

Would I be within my rights to appeal any credit file impact while the charges are being investigated ? VWFS have informed me the process to investigate could take up to 8 weeks, my stance is that I am not refusing to pay once this investigation is complete, but I do not see why I should pay now, while the investigation is open as it only increases the chance they will keep the whole amount in my opinion. 

Would be interested to hear thoughts, should I just pay up and hope the investigation is concluded fairly ? 

The amount is £1400 so not insignificant. 

Thanks 

It largely depends what the damage is, but on a fairly new (presuming 3ish years) lease car, with the repairs done at main dealer costs then £1,400 probably is not exorbitant.

They will likely take enforcement action against you, how long that will take and in what form is unknown, though it will likely add to the costs that you will end up having to pay anyway so I would probably recommend you pay the invoice. 

Thanks, the amount itself is less the issue, more the idea of having to pay a charge which is in the process of being appealed to avoid a negative mark on credit file.

If for example I paid a business for a service which was not up to scratch, it would seem improper for them to make a negative mark on a person's credit file while they were appealing said service/cost. It's not the case that I am simply ignoring communications and refusing point blank to pay anything.

Having said that, car lease damage charges are actually tightly controlled by the BVRLA, and many people do challenge these end of lease charges successfully and get them reduced. The cost is so high because VWFS are suggesting the damage requires complete replacement of two body panels, for some scratches and minor dents (only somewhat visible from ten feet). That's the reason for the complaint.

Sarngate

Images below for context.

I find it baffling that they are saying complete panel replacement is necessary.

Ozzig

(Appreciate this doesn't help the OP)

When we queried the repair costs that were being passed on by our employer for returned company cars we were told the value was not for repair, but the amount the lease company estimated they would lose at auction due to the damage. The cars were never repaired.

All of the acceptable wear and tear was documented and agreed upon before we accepted the cars, so we knew we couldn't return a right off scot-free.
It was just annoying the amount we were being charged wasn't the actual repair cost and the company just paid it as they passed it on to us afterward.

I had one car go back and I was sent a charge for a new windscreen due to a large stone chip. The photos I took during collection weren't good enough quality to 100% prove otherwise as it was raining.

The costs were just passed on to the employee after our company paid them so I disputed it on the basis it had passed an MOT two days before collection, I'd only driven 30 miles between the MOT and collection. Upon collection, it was driven over 100 miles to the auction. 

I argued they'd driven it more than I had after the MOT, so it more likely occurred in their possession and as we weren't charged for windscreen repair/replacement what would I have gained trying to get away with it? 

Sarngate

Ozzig said:

(Appreciate this doesn't help the OP)

When we queried the repair costs that were being passed on by our employer for returned company cars we were told the value was not for repair, but the amount the lease company estimated they would lose at auction due to the damage. The cars were never repaired.

All of the acceptable wear and tear was documented and agreed upon before we accepted the cars, so we knew we couldn't return a right off scot-free.
It was just annoying the amount we were being charged wasn't the actual repair cost and the company just paid it as they passed it on to us afterward.

I had one car go back and I was sent a charge for a new windscreen due to a large stone chip. The photos I took during collection weren't good enough quality to 100% prove otherwise as it was raining.

The costs were just passed on to the employee after our company paid them so I disputed it on the basis it had passed an MOT two days before collection, I'd only driven 30 miles between the MOT and collection. Upon collection, it was driven over 100 miles to the auction. 

I argued they'd driven it more than I had after the MOT, so it more likely occurred in their possession and as we weren't charged for windscreen repair/replacement what would I have gained trying to get away with it? 

This was my understanding also, and is why appealing is often successful as the repairs aren’t actually done by the lease company.

paul_c123

Did you have car insurance at the time? It might have been a good idea to make a claim and have it fixed, so this didn't devalue the car. I appreciate its not much use for you, but might help others in a similar situation.

Regarding the windscreen claim of Ozzig, it would have been inspected at collection from you - was it these photos/evidence which were used, or a later inspection after it were driven? And......you can get a windscreen chip in 30 miles; nay, you can get windscreen damage when the car isn't being used.

Sarngate

Just to close the loop on this.

I didn’t pay, and appealed through their customer resolutions team.

After seven (!) weeks they have just come back to me and reduced the cost, from £1473 to £360….

Reason being “the panels clearly didn’t need to be replaced”

Scandalous that they are able to get away with trying to blatantly rip people off and threaten bailiffs and credit file marks for people who ask for a fair appraisal.

sourcrates

Only consumer credit debts, and certain utility accounts appear on your credit report.

Bailiffs can only be engaged after first securing a CCJ against you, and only then if you don’t pay.

Most of the time these idle threats have no substance, and are used in order to persuade people to pay up without an argument.

macman

Much better to get this sort of damage fixed yourself locally before lease end, as it's inevitable that the price they quote will be top-end rates.
Same inflated prices as insurance repair quotes.

Sarngate

macman said:

Much better to get this sort of damage fixed yourself locally before lease end, as it's inevitable that the price they quote will be top-end rates.
Same inflated prices as insurance repair quotes.

Not really.

The repairs my vehicle required wouldn’t have been done for less than £360 by a repair shop. £60 was for repair to a kerbed diamond cut alloy. You won’t find a repair company charging less than that in the South East.

These firms are supposed to adhere to BVRLA fair wear and tear charges which are consistently cheaper than repairs charged by a garage. Theres no VAT on their charges for a start, and the charges do not take any profit margin into account.

If I had had the damage repaired myself I would have been out of pocket.

If you’re willing to send an email or two at lease end it’s worth having the repairs done by the lease company.