Thread: How can I get HP vehicle penalty charges refunded?

Hi Newham Boy,

Firstly, you need to get a statement of account so that you know exactly what you have been charged and for what. I should also point out, it is only the unfair charges that you will be able to recover, not charges for a legitimate service that has been provided.

The charges you need to look out will be mainly ones for late payment. Your legal position is that you can argue that these are unlawful, and therefore unenforceable, by meaning of the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations 1999; however, the success of this argument will largely depend on the charge amount. For example, if you have been charged £2.50 for each occassion of late payment then this would be very reasonable; however, if you have been charged £35 on each occassion then this would be unreasonable because the charge would be far in excess of the greatest possible cost that could have been incurred by your HP provider.

UTCCR 1999
SCHEDULE 2
REGULATION 5(5)

INDICATIVE AND NON-EXHAUSTIVE LIST OF TERMS WHICH MAY BE REGARDED AS UNFAIR

1. Terms which have the object or effect of -

(e) requiring any consumer who fails to fulfil his obligation to pay a disproportionately high sum in compensation.

Basically, your HP provider cannot profit from your defaults - the amount of charges made for defaults must be a reasonable pre-estimate, If you can show that charges you have received are in excess of a reasonable pre-estimate then you should win. That said, when you put forward a strong case, the defendant is likely to settle out of court for "commercial reasons".

To recap, you first need to establish you have recevied any charges, what they are for and how much they have been. Do you have any records for this? If not, post back and I will put up a template letter you can send to them to get a statement of your account.

Regards,

TFT