Voluntary termination – question/advice

[Ian]

Hi Stuart
I have voluntarily terminated my HP finance agreement. I had no missed payments over the period up to doing so, I had payed the required 50% of original amount, the car went through its independent inspection with no serious issues ( according to the inspectors ). All seemed well for a couple of months but I have now been receiving letters – that are now becoming quite threatening- from representatives of the finance company for £475. I’ve been in contact with this company to ask where and how they come to this amount, they have told me that an outstanding amount of £175 had not been received however I have checked my bank and this payment was made on the 24th April. The remaining £300 is seemingly for an incomplete service manual. My question is, am I liable to pay this extra £300 for a manual that was incomplete when I bought the vehicle originally ( the car was a 2006 plate with two/three previous owners, last service on the service book was approx one year before I purchased it). Please advise

Regards Ian

[Stuart Masson]

Hi Ian. You’ll need to show the evidence that the £175 has been paid, but that should be fairly easy to do if you have all the relevant bank records.

The £300 is just them being opportunistic. You shouldn’t have to pay that. If you’d like some professional legal advice, check out LegalBeagles who cover the legalities of VT in excellent detail.

[Kieran Siddons]

Hello,

For financial reasons, I am looking into a voluntary termination of my Hire Purchase agreement. I am over 50% of the way through my plan but there are 2 engine management lights on but they do not affect the cars performance at all. I have also had a diagnostics check ran on it which could not find any faults either. Will this leave me open for extra charges if I cancel the agreement and will I be open to extra charges if the car has not been fully serviced?

Thanks,
Kieran Siddons

[Stuart Masson]

Hi Kieran. The finance company will almost certainly come after you with charges for the engine management lights.

The law says that the car must be in good condition with no damage beyond normal wear and tear. The finance company will argue that the warning lights are indications of damage beyond normal wear and tear, so it’s up to you whether you want to get the problems fixed before giving the car back or argue it out with them.

If it’s an HP, there should not be any specific requirement for the car to be fully serviced; it would again fall under condition. If you’ve never had the car serviced, it could be argued that you have not kept the car in good condition.

[Douglas Glen]

Hi Stuart
im having problems with my Nissan PCP deal.
this is my second pcp deal with them and until last weekend have had no problems or complaints.
I went in to ask about what cars are available and offers they have for me as I only have another 4 months to go until the end of my deal.
I do a lot of miles traveling to and from work so my first car with them had a large mileage cap of 26k per year.
The car I have at present has a 10k cap per year which I questioned and so did my wife on the day of signing the agreement was told by the dealer that any mileage at the end of the deal would be written off,
as we were loyal customers and would come back in to take out another PCP deal with them after the 3 year term.
Now being told this was a lie sorry (badly informed as they put it) by the dealership and am now facing a £5000.0 payment for excess mileage or negative equity its siting at 68k atm

What can I do about it ?

[Stuart Masson]

Hi Douglas. You can voluntarily terminate your PCP, as you should be well past your 50% repayment point by now. The finance company will almost certainly come chasing you for excess mileage, so you will need to be prepared to fight them over that.

If you VT the car, you will have nothing further to pay unless there is any damage beyond normal wear and tear. That will erase any negative equity you have, and you can start again from scratch. For more information, have a read of our guide to voluntary termination.

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