Letter I am sending to DAF/YCC

[s.opare]

This a letter I had written and about to send to Direct Auto finance. I have use some of the step by step information but I am not sure if this is the right way of putting the letter. Please could any of my fellow members read through and advise me of ant changes I will need to make to this letter. Your advise will be very welcomed.

Sam.

Account No. 00000000000000

Re–Arrears letters and Arrears £210.00

Dear Sir/Madam

I am writing to your office to complain about the above underline matter, I do not agree in the first place that the whole of the above amount constitute arrears as your company states.

I have been on a residency managerial training course since 04th March 2006 in Camberley, Surrey and return back to my address on 24th June 2006. I have made my monthly payments since the beginning of the year to date and I do not understand why there is this matter.

Under the agreement with your company I do understand that your company will charge a percentage of fees for late payment and if this is the case then I should have been informed of this in writing at the time and I will gladly pay this fee.
I am not happy that your company has imposed a flat fee of £15.00 pounds for each letter sent to my address because this constitute a penalty charge and is unfair.

On 5 of April 2006 the office of Fair Trading (OFT) announced that default charges which are set at more then £12 will be presumed to be unfair and unenforceable in terms of the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations 1999 (SI.1999/2083).
Charges above this sum will be subjected to legal action by the OFT.
The OFT stated that a charge is not fair simply because it is below this sum, and I believe that a reasonable charge would be 50 pence for the reasons set out below.
Please withdraw these penalty charges as a matter of urgency.

I would respectfully submit that if your organisation does not agree to immediately withdraw all these unfair charges applied to my account, it will no meet the ‘fit and proper person’ test to hold a consumer credit licence under the Consumer Credit Act 1974. In that eventuality, I will submit a 1974 Act complaint to the OFT.

Separately, I am of the view that your charges represent a penalty and therefore irrecoverable at common law. In the Scottish case of Castaneda and others v. Clydebank Engineering and Shipbuilding Co. Ltd. (1904) 12 SLT 498 the House of Lords held that a contractual party can only recover damages for actual or liquidated losses incurred from a breach of contract. This is also the position in English law: Dunlop Pneumatic Tyre Co Ltd v New Garage and Motor Co Ltd [1915] AC 79.

Your charges do not reflect any actual loss; instead they appear to represent a lucrative profit-making scheme. In particular, charges were applied to my account after you had failed to inform me at the time of the late payment, and also of the amount that I should have paid for the late payment. Sending reminders at £15.00 are not a reasonable pre-estimate of your company’s loss in relation to my account, and therefore, actual loss is the cost of automatically sending me a computer generated letter. I would respectfully submit that is valued at no more than 50 pence.

Please withdraw all charges applied to my account relating reminders sent to me, which I have respectfully calculated to be £195.00 within the next seven days. I reserve the right to commence court proceedings without any further notice, and to seek an additional award for distress and inconvenience, together with legal expenses.

Yours Faithfully