Help - BMWFS response - What does it actually mean?

T5Pilot

Hi all,
I submitted the MSE form to BMW finance way back in February. 

After no response & several chaser emails, I received the following response from them.  It was a formal letter, PDF attachment. 

Can anyone please advise what it actually means & where I should go from here?
I have already requested a copy of my agreement, which they say they no longer have.  Unfortunately after all this time, neither do I.  The PCP was for an approved used BMW from a main franchised dealer. 

The letter received is:

"Dear Mr xxx

Thank you for your email received on 13 February 2024.

You entered into the Agreement numbered xxxxxxxx on 19 February 2008. We maintain that

the limitation period for any complaint has now expired. The Limitation Act 1980 states that any

contractual claims, statutory claims, or actions based on misrepresentation is 6 years from the

date you were or should have been aware of the problem. As you were notified prior to entering

into the Agreement that commission might be paid to the dealer you could have used

reasonable diligence to immediately ask for details before signing the Agreement. You were

therefore aware of a potential complaint when you entered into the Agreement over 6 years ago.

The Ombudsman might not be able to consider your complaint if:

• what you’re complaining about happened more than six years ago, and

• you’re complaining more than three years after you realised (or should have realised)

that there was a problem.

We think that your complaint was made outside of these time limits for the reason set out above.

If the Ombudsman agrees with us, they will not have our permission to consider your complaint

and so will only be able to do so in very limited circumstances (see below).

If you do decide to refer your complaint to the Ombudsman, you must do so within six

months of the date of this letter.

If you do not refer your complaint to the Ombudsman within six months of the date of this letter,

the Ombudsman will not have our permission to consider your complaint and so will only be able

to do so in very limited circumstances.

For more information, please refer to the consumer leaflet at (link to ombudsman). 

You can also get in touch with them via their website at (link to Ombudsman)”

I’ve obviously blanked out my name & agreement number.
I’m really not sure what to do next. If anything.  As it stands I’m not even able to state the interest rate I paid.
Any help or advice will be greatly appreciated. 

TIA, Jon. 

Nasqueron

What exactly did you complain about - did you specifically state you wanted a DCA complaint logging or was it just about commission? Did you put in a DCA complaint, have it rejected and tried under commission in general? The fact you asked for a copy of the agreement is also interesting as that isn't needed - you might do better copy/pasting what you originally sent them.

It sounds like you have complained about something different to DCA (or it was interpreted like that). A DCA complaint cannot be time barred currently due to the FCA investigation. I would email back and specifically state you want to log it as a DCA complaint and see what they say.

The rate of interest you paid is irrelevant at this point, they will have the details (or ask you to provide proof later) - it's only an issue if the sale had DCA on and your rate was put up by sales for commission - a high or low rate doesn't mean anything. Part of the delay in the FCA case is the fact people like you don't have records left and they have to work out how to deal with that.

dunstonh

I’m really not sure what to do next. If anything.  As it stands I’m not even able to state the interest rate I paid.
Any help or advice will be greatly appreciated. 

That is a non-standard BMW finance response to a typical DCA enquiry.

Most BMW finance responses say they didn't operate DCA but yours has appears to be responding to something different from DCA.    Like Nasqueron suggests above, did you say something in your enquiry that was not about DCA and they took it be mean that you were complaining about something else?

Some people have used some very strange templates that have made allegations of wrongdoing that are not related to DCA.  Maybe you used one of those?

T5Pilot

Thanks for your reply @Nasqueron. 

I got that reply after chasing a response from the original form submission.  This was after they said they couldn’t find any records of me having any agreement with them.

when I received their letter (as above), my reply to that was:

Thank you for your message. 

I did not request you to investigate this matter directly. 

My query was if my agreement had been subject to a DCA. 

This has not been answered. A simple “yes” or “no” will suffice. 

In response to that, they replied:

Thank you for your email.
I can confirm that we have received both an enquiry and a complaint from yourself.
Due to the age of the agreement, we no longer hold any records or documents relating to the transaction for the date of this agreement. We are, therefore, unable to provide you with any commission data information which includes but not limited to, the commission model or amounts.
Kind regards 
BMW Group
United Kingdom
Emma Wilson

They have obviously decided to investigate from the initial query as regards the possibility of a DCA on my PCP. 

I’ve had no other meaningful interaction with them other than this, other than asking for a copy of my agreement, which they answered in the reply above. 

I’ve had nothing rejected as such, and other than DCA, no other references to any other type of commission.
I’m thinking they have replied as they have, due to not knowing if my agreement had a DCA element. Being that long ago, it most likely did.
I just don’t know. Hence my asking for advice on here. 

T5Pilot

Appreciate the comments so far. Thanks. 

I used the MSE template. Nothing else. 

I haven’t mentioned any other type of commission. 

That’s why I don’t understand their response. 

I have emailed them the following, based upon replies so far:

Hello again. 

I have not knowingly submitted a specific complaint in respect of commission on its own. 

I have not knowingly requested you to investigate this. 

My enquiry was to ascertain if my agreement had been subject, specifically, of a DCA.   And if it was, then register a complaint in relation to that. 

You have not answered this satisfactorily.   The letter you sent forming your final response is irrelevant to the enquiry I submitted. 

Unless you can prove otherwise, I am assuming that my agreement was subject to a DCA. 

As such, by your receipt of this email, I am registering a specific complaint for a DCA on my agreement. 

Kind regards……

I’ll assume that will generate an automated response as usual.  Only time will tell if they will respond to it or not.

T5Pilot

dunstonh said:

I’m really not sure what to do next. If anything.  As it stands I’m not even able to state the interest rate I paid.
Any help or advice will be greatly appreciated. 

That is a non-standard BMW finance response to a typical DCA enquiry.

Most BMW finance responses say they didn't operate DCA but yours has appears to be responding to something different from DCA.    Like Nasqueron suggests above, did you say something in your enquiry that was not about DCA and they took it be mean that you were complaining about something else?

Some people have used some very strange templates that have made allegations of wrongdoing that are not related to DCA.  Maybe you used one of those?

My general understanding as regards BMWFS is that they didn’t use DCA on new car sales. But they almost certainly did on used car sales.  That’s the clear indication from members of a BMW forum I’m on. 

Which is why I’ve worded that email the way I have.