Thread: Excess mileage charge following Voluntary Termination

I have voluntarily terminated my finance agreement with Mercedes Benz Financial Services, having paid 50% of the full value of the agreement. The vehicle has been collected. MBFS have now written to me claiming excess mileage charges, where I have exceeded the contracted mileage per year (when calculated on a pro-rata basis). My enquiry is simple: Do I have any right NOT to pay the excess mileage charge? Thanks in advance.

I would have thought not. Calculating it on a pro rata basis seems a reasonable approach to a reduced term contract.

If you had kept the car for 6 months longer than the original term, I am sure you would have expected them to add in a further 6 months allowance on a pro rata basis, so the same should work when reducing the term.

Isn't there any reference to it within the contract? How much is the charge per mile and the amount of extra miles they are claiming?

Thanks for your response. I agree it's a reasonable approach, afterall I am talking about some 30k+ miles over. This was the simplest (and cheapest) way of getting rid of the car, even with the penalty.

My enquiry was whether or not anyone had challenged that part of the VT clause that states "nothing more to pay" once 50% of the overall sum had been paid. i.e. With a literal interpretation of the wording of the Act, could it be argued that there is indeed nothing more to pay? It seems the Finance Company contract has to use the wording of the Act (quite rightly), and avoids any additional wording to the VT clause.

I appreciate the intent of what was in the original contract; I just wondered, with nothing further to lose, whether it was worth quoting the wording of the CCAct and the contract to see if i could avoid paying it all together?

Your contract will also include a phrase like " and have taken reasonable care of the goods". I suspect they would be able to sucessfully argue that putting an extra 30K miles on the clock has not been reasonable and, quite rightly, has devalued the car below it's reasonably expected value.

Yep - all reasonable responses. Just thought I'd see if it had ever been tested. Thanks for your help.

Doesn't mean you cant test it though.

If nothing else it gives you a negotiating position. They would have to fight a bit to get what they want and they might settle for less to avoid a lengthy proceeding.

As far as I know most contracts have a total mileage and a yearly mileage clause. So theoretically if you'd kept the car and laid it up the mileage will reduce back to the contract figure. Test it by all means but I think you'll find the leasing co's latched on to this a long time ago. The simple fact is you're way over mileage and thats that.

Hi allJust a brief update: The Finance Company have withdrawn the invoice, stating it is now void. Happy days. Thanks for the responses.

wow! good to hear you dodged that bullet pewter, but out of curiousity, on what basis have they withdrawn the charge?

Crem, I have to say it was all a bit of an anticlimax.

My query was based on the wording of the Act, which had been replicated in my contract. It was the part refering to 'nothing further to pay' once 50% of the agreement had been paid, providing the goods had been taken reasonable care of. It was clear that the Finance Company have to cite the Act word for word and did so in isolation of anything else. It is only in their own terms and conditions that they refer to Excess Mileage etc and then it is tenuous whether it applies in the case of a VT.

So, long story short, I phoned the company and they asked what my query was. I said that 'As I have invoked my statutory right to voluntarily terminate and the paperwork says in that case I have nothing further to pay, can you explain how you can invoice me for further costs?'

The immediate reply was 'Can you hold for a minute?'

After a minute of waiting and steeling myself for a debate, the chap came back on and simply said, 'Yes, we'll withdraw that invoice. There is nothing further to pay.'
'Is that it?'
'Yes. We will cancel the invoice.'

'Er, Ok. Can I have that in writing then please?'

We didn't even talk about whether or not I wanted to pay it. I was, afterall, just asking them to explain it. So, I now have an e-mail stating 'We confirm that the above account has been closed. The amount of £####.## has been classed as void, due to the terms of your agreement with regards to voluntary terminations.'

All I can think is that Contract cannot overwrite Statute, but I was amazed how simply it was just made void. They very obviously knew where they stood given the speed of the response.
Like I said, Happy Days. Thanks for your interest.