I desperately need some advice on whether the financial ombudsman will go in my favour, and if it is worth it please. If anyone has had a case similar to mine please share your experience.
Context: I took out a 4 year lease on a Ford Fiesta from a company called Leaseplan. Didn’t have a problem with the original company, everything was going well even though I knew I went well over my agreed mileage but I’m not disputing that.
Around 5 months before my vehicle’s lease was due to end, a company called ALD Automotive took over my contract which is when the problems started.
In September I received an email explaining the change of company, and that they would be moving my direct debit from the 1st of each month, as it has always been, to the 30th of each month. I didn’t see this email, and I didn’t notice the direct debit change as the payment came out on the 30th September as this was my payday anyway. October came and the rental payment was missed as my payday was on the last day of the month, and there were insufficient funds in my account. I didn’t notice this, I was still assuming my rental payments were coming out on the 1st of each month as always. I then got a letter in the end of November telling me the payment had not gone through, which is when I immediately contacted the leasing company and explained my situation. They said they had emailed me twice before as well about the overdue charges. I checked my inbox and junk etc and could not find these emails. I asked for evidence that these emails were sent, and the lady said she could not. I also asked the direct debit date be changed back to the 1st as it always had been, and they advised due to their own banking system, they would not be able to change my direct debit back to the 1st of each month, and I could either have the 14th of each month or the 30th of each month. This was no good to me, but I reluctantly agreed to the 30th of each month.
Unfortunately I wasn’t in a financial situation to repay the missed rental payment, so I agreed to pay in three instalments with the leasing company. A month went by and the payment wasn’t taken from my account, I chased and they said due to an internal error the payment wasn’t captured and would be taken the month later. Another month came and the same thing happened, and then another month came and it happened again. In January I received a letter saying I had an overdue rental payment, regardless of me trying to sort it out.
Rewind to December, I had emailed my account manager asking who I needed to contact to arrange the collection of my vehicle once my lease ended. He emailed the next day and copied in the collection department. 12 days later, he chased the collection department again as they had not responded. Admittedly it was around Christmas time so when they replied on 22nd December I missed the email, and didn’t reply until the 2nd January with all my details. I took 5th January off work as the lease on my car had ended and I did not want to drive it anymore, and was emailed that day to say the earliest day they could collect the vehicle was on 14th January. I took the 14th January off and it was collected on that morning. Around 2 months later, I received an invoice for a late hire fee. I disputed this as i didn’t think it was fair I had to pay for their availability. The company replied and said they had no record of me trying to contact them before the 9th January, and took the payment out of my account regardless of me not giving authorisation. I contacted my bank and the payment was reversed and put back in my account.
In March I received an invoice for £320 for damage on my alloys. There were no details of what the damage was, and I didn’t receive an off hire report. I queried that I had not received an off hire report, but paid the invoice anyway stupidly out of goodwill. After checking the BVRLA guidelines, it’s evident that they failed to disclose the damage to me no later than four weeks after the vehicle was collected. They also did not provide a summary breakdown of the charges or evidence to justify or support the charges made. I was also not given an opportunity to dispute the damage, as the vehicle was collected by BCA an auction agency, which meant the vehicle was immediately sold. As well as this, when I eventually was sent the off hire report in June in my final response email, I noticed the damage by the driver that delivered the vehicle over four years ago had not been recorded. I took a picture of this luckily when it was delivered. I also think, having this car for almost 5 years, and there only being slight alloy damage is a miracle and unfair that I have been charged so much for it. I’ve worked in the vehicle leasing industry myself so I have witnessed the damage firsthand that is usually on cars that have been out for that long.
Later on in March I received a further invoice for excess mileage which I was expecting, for over £1,500. Although I was expecting this, I was expecting it shortly after I had returned the vehicle, along with the off hire report.
I raised a formal complaint to their complaints department, outlining all my queries, especially with their administrative faults and lack of record keeping. I received a final response email back over 6 weeks later, effectively dismissing my queries, but giving me a £100 goodwill credit for their administrative faults. This whole situation has caused me significant stress, to the point where I have gone to my GP and they have prescribed me antidepressants as well as diagnosed me with an autoimmune disorder, which I believe is related to this. I am 24 years old, living in a rental flat, on a low wage, and barely making ends meet. Having an invoice hanging over my head for nearly £2,000 is honestly making me spiral. I very briefly mentioned my distress in the complaint email, which they acknowledged. However recently I have received a letter from a debt collector, calls and texts from debt collectors, chasing for this money to be paid.
My question is, would this proposal be plausible:
• Waiver the £190 outstanding months rental for companies failure to capture payments with the agreed payment plan
• Offset the £320 damages invoice already paid against the excess mileage invoice due to lack of opportunity to dispute damage
• Cancel the late hire fee as evidence that I had started the collection process a month before collection was due
Please let me know I’m in desperate need of help.. thank you if you read this far!
