Motor dealer holding my payment for 28days

Dressinggown

I agreed a brokerage deal to sell my motorhome, we went on holiday and during this time the broker sold it. First email stated payment amount and we would be paid on sale. However after various emails, phone calls he said we had to pay for repairs on it, we wanted to withdraw but were told we would be charged a lot of money for withdrawal. In the end we believe the vehicle has been sold but we won’t get paid until the 28 day period is up when the buyer can return it. We had to cut our holiday short as the stress of it all has made me ill. My question is, he wants an invoice from us how do I word it, and if we don’t get paid what do we do? I have put a hold on the V5, police said it’s a civil matter so we haven’t had any advice and we are afraid to upset the dealer as he has said nobody else ever questions his actions.

Ayr_Rage

What does the contract you signed with the broker say regarding costs/repairs, commission and the payment timescale?

PTP123

How does the 30 day rule work by dealers when they are selling on behalf of someone else?

I can understand to some degree why they would want to keep the funds until after this period.

If the owner had given them a lemon to sell or they knew it had hidden faults then the dealer would have to refund and the original owner would be long gone

Mildly_Miffed

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81975817#Comment_81975817

^ This.

This is the only answer possible to your question. READ THE PAPERWORK YOU AGREED TO.

If there isn't any, or it doesn't have any detail on what should be basic things such as liability for pre-sale prep work or payment terms, then why on earth did you entrust what I suspect is many tens of thousands of pounds to such a shonky "broker"…?

If you don't get paid, then you take out a court claim against the broker for your money.
https://www.moneyclaims.service.gov.uk/eligibility/known-claim-amount

Dressinggown

The agreement says “once the buyer has paid the accepted price of the motorhome in full the commission shall be deducted and the balance will be paid to the seller.” However he has insisted that we are now bound by what he has said as he has recorded phone calls and we agreed to this he said. I don’t know how much he got for it only how much he is paying me.

Ayr_Rage

It all sounds rather vague.

Hopefully you agreed a minimum selling price in the contract and a fixed commission.

If not, then it's going to be a case of he said, we said unless he provides a recording of any further agreement you made in a call.

A mess somewhat of your own making as far as I can see.

PTP123

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81975924#Comment_81975924

That doesn't say when you will get paid though

Dressinggown

I totally agree. I should have stop all communication with him when he started varying his terms. Can he use a phone call? Everything he said I have questioned and continually asked him to not sell it but he insisted he had done the deal. I believe he has sold it on the pretence of his own stock and not as a broker.

MyRealNameToo

Verbal contracts are just as binding as written contracts, from a legal standpoint, however proving what was said is often the trouble. Contracts can also have implicit terms, many contracts dont say goods will be free from faults nor that the plumber will do a good job but the courts accept they are implicitly there, or in some cases they are inserted via legislation (when considering consumer rights).

It's not surprising they want to hold on to the money, else they could pay you and then the "buyer" do a chargeback saying it was unauthorised use of their card etc. Similarly having bought from a professional seller they could exercise their rights to reject the goods or bring it back if their are failures. If you had the money it could be a lot of pain for them to get it back from you.

Whilst most of these issues could happen after 28 days the majority happen sooner rather than later.

There's no reason they couldn't self invoice but if they insist on you sending them an invoice then just download a basic invoice document and write in your details, the amount you are to be paid for and for what and how they are to make payment to you. Shouldn't take more than a few minutes and doesnt need to look professional or anything

Dressinggown

thank you for your help

Mildly_Miffed

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81975924#Comment_81975924

So no timescale specified.

Is it unreasonable for the broker to wait 30 days to remove the risk of a short-term rejection? Probably not.

DID you and he discuss and agree to this on the phone…?