Solicitors Letter for excess mileage after voluntary termination

[snoopinround]

Hi,

I have today received a Solicitors letter requesting payment for excess mileage after returning the vehicle through voluntary termination.

The contract states ' terminaton your rights' ..... You will have no more to pay...

When I originally received the notice I immediately rang Mercedes benz finance to question it.

I was told that the excess mileage was payable even though the contract has the 'no more to pay' line.

I told them I didn't agree as I had read up a little on line.

MB finance passed it on to DLC who sent a letter chasing and I spoke to them and said I dont agree with the costs.
The letter from the solicitors came today giving me 14 days to settle the amount.

My agreed mileage was 10k per year over 36 months, I actually did 36,685 over 30 months.
I was originally going to go for a 15k per year contract but during the monthly repayment negotiation the sales person advised me to go for 10k and use the voluntary termination clause.

I have 2 questions please
1) Does the termination clause of 'you will not have to pay anymore' overwrite the excess mileage charge
if not
2) my contract was for 30k miles, i did 36.685k . Shouldn't the excess charge be for 6.685k? not the 12.685k i am being asked for? I could have parked the car up for the last 6 months of the contract and not used it.

I have looked online and cant seem to find a definitive answer.

Many Thanks

[Amethyst]

Re: Solicitors Letter for excess mileage after voluntary termination

Hi snoopin, Apologies we've missed your post up till now - I'll flag it to the guys who know a bit more about VT issues for you xx

[snoopinround]

Re: Solicitors Letter for excess mileage after voluntary termination

Thanks

[Amethyst]

Re: Solicitors Letter for excess mileage after voluntary termination

There have been some other discussions over this excess mileage clause in contracts.

Logically wise it works out £11686 so does seem to be an extra £1k somewhere anyway.

Need to see your contract though to see how it SHOULD be calculated. Do you have the contract handy ?


My maths goes something like ...

Allowance was for 36 months at 833.33 month ( 30,000 miles divided by 36 months)

You kept car for 30 months so total allowance was 24999 miles

You used 36685 miles

so 36685 less allowance of 24999 = £11686 (give or take)

[Amethyst]

Re: Solicitors Letter for excess mileage after voluntary termination

''Hand back your Mercedes‑Benz at the end of your agreement without
making any further payments apart from any potential excess mileage,
damage or service history related charges. If you would like more information
on the returns process, please see the following page.''

Other charges that may also be applicable will be where the vehicle has:
i) exceeded the mileage allowance stated in your agreement; or


Just a quick look in their booklet on Returning the Vehicle.

[Amethyst]

Re: Solicitors Letter for excess mileage after voluntary termination

I think you're basing the calculation on how much over the 30k miles you have done, within the 3 years, and yes you are right you could have not driven for the next 6 months and be only 6k miles over... so it does really depend on the agreement - if you don't have a copy - ask for one as is your right.

[MissFM]

Re: Solicitors Letter for excess mileage after voluntary termination

My researches on this (including the excellent advice on this site) suggest to me that you don't have to pay excess mileage:

http://www.thecarexpert.co.uk/car-fi...nation-pcp-hp/

http://www.motorfinanceonline.com/co...dden-bombshell

http://www.moneysupermarket.com/comm...ati-51777.aspx

http://www.legalbeagles.info/forums/...r-the-CCA-1974

the rationale being, as I understand it, that a contract can't unfairly override your statutory rights under contract law etc - eg there is no quid pro quo in the idea that they can penalise you for going over, when you would not be entitled to a refund for going under, the prescribed mileage.

No doubt wiser brains will correct this impression if erroneous.

x

[Wombats]

Re: Solicitors Letter for excess mileage after voluntary termination

It's a difficult one, and one which normally boils down to a battle of wills.

The main issue is that the CCA is quite clear in stating you can hand the vehicle back and walk away with nothing further to pay.

The contract with the garage may well (and often does) state there is an excess mileage charge to pay.

The question therefore is can contract law take precedence of primary legislation? Personally I would argue the answer is no, but one would have to be very confident to go into a court and argue that.

What normally happens is that a sensible 'halfway house' agreement is reached whereby you make an offer and you barter from there.

If you read the section on VT's there are loads of these examples.

[wales01man]

Re: Solicitors Letter for excess mileage after voluntary termination

Has there been a Case in a Court which has decided on this issue, if this is a loophole whereby a buyer can VT with excessive miles without paying for them?
We had a car that went 30k over the limit at the end of the term they billed us then a Solicitors letter we informed them we had no money to pay never heard from them again,seems to be a very grey area

[snoopinround]

Re: Solicitors Letter for excess mileage after voluntary termination

Thanks for these answers,

It still doesn't seem to be clear though. Have there been any court rulings on either side of the argument?

If I refuse to negotiate what happens next?

what would the costs/implications on credit rating be if I go to court?

Is it worth the time/effort in your opinion

Thanks

[Wombats]

Re: Solicitors Letter for excess mileage after voluntary termination

Thanks for these answers,

It still doesn't seem to be clear though. Have there been any court rulings on either side of the argument?

If I refuse to negotiate what happens next?

what would the costs/implications on credit rating be if I go to court?

Is it worth the time/effort in your opinion

Thanks

I am not aware of any legal precedent on this issue. If there has been no determining case, I imagine the costs would not be justified. I agree it is not at all clear, and never has been. That is why usually it comes down to negotiation.

I will email someone for you and ask them to look in to comment as well if they are able. If they don't know the answer, I don't know anyone else personally who would be able to give better advice free of charge. I'll mail him straight away.

[Guest]

Re: Solicitors Letter for excess mileage after voluntary termination

There is not really much I can add to what has already been said. The contract states the pro rata millage I suppose, if so my calculations come out the same as Amethysts,.
True you could have parked the car up for six months, but then you would have had to pay an additional six months payments of course.
You have checked your contract to make wire that this is what is actually on there ?

There are a couple of issues, however.
Firstly if the salesman told you that you would be able to VT at no extra cost, this should be brought up with the dealer.
Strictly speaking the contract does say that no further sums will be due, you were advised this verbally so these re the terms you agreed to in the aticedant negotiations.

There are a number of arguments as to why these millage charges may be unenforceable, many already raised on here, but as said there is no case law upto date and the FOS seem reluctant to give a definitive view.*at least at ombudsman level)

I would reply and say that you consider that there are no further sums due under the agreement as under section 99 and 100 of the act the car can be returned and as long as reasonable care has been taken of the goods then none are due.

You can say that any contractual terms which dissagree with this are void under section 173 of the consumer credit act, and would also be considered a penalty under the UTCCs and therefore unenforceable.


The problem is that these agreements are very common and although strictly speaking not entirely legal(in my opinion) are well accepted,, I have seen cases go to lower courts , and I have seen the decisions go both ways, more often I have seen these cases settled on the court steps. Usually because the industry does not want to risk precedent being set set.

The best practical advice I think I can offer is to offer nothing but be prepared to pay a little of what the ask, it all comes down to who blinks first I am afraid until someone takes one of these case to a higher court.

[snoopinround]

Re: Solicitors Letter for excess mileage after voluntary termination

Thanks,

I will write to the solicitors and let you know how I go on

[Bigladuk]

Re: Solicitors Letter for excess mileage after voluntary termination

How did you get on with this ?

In a similar situation

Thanks

Si

[R0b]

Re: Solicitors Letter for excess mileage after voluntary termination

See my post #114 & #119 on this which might help you

http://www.legalbeagles.info/forums/...e-Issues/page3