Advantage Finance - inexplicable charges

[z0mbee]

Hi all,

I have recently carried out VT with Advantage, and they have collected the car and sold it on at auction. They have billed me for the rest of the term of the GAP insurance, which seems a little odd as it can't exactly be used!

However, I have now received a letter from them, in which they add a further £1,662 for 'Cost of repairs required to bring vehicle to a satisfactory standard under Section 100 (4) of the Consumer Credit Act 1974.

There is no explanation of what repairs were carried out, or even required. When the car was collected, the chap from the auction house carried out a brief inspection, and made annotations on a diagram which we agreed with and received a signed copy of.

The car then appeared on their website, with a slightly more detailed inspection report - which was quite fair - and the overall impression is that it was 'sold as seen'. They certainly hadn't repaired any damage prior to the auction.

I don't understand, therefore, where they have managed to find this amount. Can anyone offer advice?

Many thanks.

[z0mbee]

Re: Advantage Finance - inexplicable charges

Hi,

Bit of a bump for this as something interesting has cropped up. In addition to the extra charges above, Advantage have been rather cheeky with their direct debit - I cancelled it last month due to this dispute, but they have taken a payment this month, having set up a new one with a new reference!

Needless to say, they did not have my permission, which I thought was a fundamental requirement with a DD. Is this even lawful?

[leclerc]

Re: Advantage Finance - inexplicable charges

Hi,

Bit of a bump for this as something interesting has cropped up. In addition to the extra charges above, Advantage have been rather cheeky with their direct debit - I cancelled it last month due to this dispute, but they have taken a payment this month, having set up a new one with a new reference!

Needless to say, they did not have my permission, which I thought was a fundamental requirement with a DD. Is this even lawful?

The answer is no. You should inform the bank that you were in dispute with the company and cancelled the Direct Debit. They have set it up again without your authorisation and it is therefore a fraudulent direct debit which they need to refund to you.