Company car lease maintenance issue

Elpapinio

Hi everyone,

I have a company car, paid for through salary sacrifice which includes tyers and maintenance (or so I thought).

On my contract, it states that the lease is fully inclusive of Tyres and Maintenance, but when i had a recent tyre problem, upon calling the number provided, it hadn't been registered. Upon further investigation, it seem that I have been paying for a maintenance plan that was not put in place and as I have had the vehicle for over 12 months, they've said that they cannot add this on. 

When the recent service was due, I had to pay for this myself and reclaim from BMW. When i questioned where the 16 monthly payments had gone for the maintenance plan, they couldn't answer. 

I have since emailed the broker, the financer and BMW and none of them are willing to answer the query of a refund due to paying for something that hasn't been available for 16 months, to the tine of around £1100. They seem to think it's fine as they paid for the service, but I'm arguing that I have made 16 payments for something that never existed.

Any help or advice is much appreciated

Mildly_Miffed

You have paid for 16mo of insurance that will pay for your maintenance and tyres.
You have had the total cost of maintenance and tyres in that period covered... albeit indirectly.
So you've lost nothing.

The fact that the insurance was overpriced and poor value is by the by. You would be in this same position now if it had paid out, rather than you having to pay and reclaim.

Are you covered from here onwards?
If not, I presume you're not paying for the insurance from here on.

Think of it as the policy has ended prematurely.

Baldytyke88

Elpapinio said:

I have since emailed the broker, the financer and BMW and none of them are willing to answer the query of a refund due to paying for something that hasn't been available for 16 months, to the tine of around £1100. They seem to think it's fine as they paid for the service, but I'm arguing that I have made 16 payments for something that never existed.

Any help or advice is much appreciated

If they paid for the service, then your contract for maintenance is active? Was your tyre a puncture, so not maintenance?

sheramber

You paid a maintenance amount and claimed for the service.

If you had not had a tyre claim then you would have paid the maintenance charge  and only benefitted from the service cost. 

flashg67

The fact they reimbursed the service (although you say it was BMW who paid?)seems to imply they accept a clerical error somewhere, but as they've paid, for it, you've got what you are entitled to. Who paid for the tyre - some contracts don't cover tyre damage - eg kerbing , vandalism etc

MyRealNameToo

You say this is a company car via salary sacrifice? Then this is an issue to bring up with your employer given they are the hirer of the vehicle and will also likely have more clout with those involved in the supply chain too

biker_mat

That’s so frustrating! You’ve definitely done the right thing chasing this. Since you’ve been paying for a plan that never existed, you’re entitled to a refund. Keep all proof of payments and escalate to the financial ombudsman if they ignore you. You can also track your travel cost to note extra expenses.

MyRealNameToo

biker_mat said:

Keep all proof of payments and escalate to the financial ombudsman if they ignore you. You can also track your travel cost to note extra expenses.

It's a company car so the OP isnt in a contract with the lease company so cannot go to the ombudsman themselves. The scope for companies to take matters to the FOS is limited to the smallest of companies; the OP would need to confirm the size of their employer to say for certain but I'd argue that most that offer complex things like salary sacrifice schemes are too big to go to the ombudsman