Dunc V Black Horse-strange Fees

[craigten]

Hello,

Please can someone give me a bit of advice?

 

My friend has had a list of all the payments that he made when he had a car loan from Black Horse and we/he are unsure of if he can claim back any charges.

 

On his Statement of charges it says 'Collect activity fee' of £530 tht was applied after he had paid the debt off!

 

Also there was a late payment int' of £20.96 on the statement?

 

The statement shows a direct debit payment of his monthly payment and then a 'DDR LACK OF FUNDS C' where it looks like they refunded his bank account the exact amount! This happened on 4 consecutive occasions with no visible penalty, which I thought odd/lucky?

[craigten]

Anyone?

[dx100uk]

well it says 'fee'

thats reclaimable.

 

looks like they charged you a fee to settle early?

 

not up on black horse

 

dx

[craigten]

Anyone else have any idea please?

[craigten]

Anyone else have any idea please?

[craigten]

So shall i send a Request for repayment for this fee?

[landy_alert]

Hi craigten:)

 

Apologies that no-one else has got back to you.

 

I have no experience of BH car finance, but Mr Landy had a similar charge applied to a M&S credit card account after he had repaid the total balance and cancelled the card.

 

Not only did they not credit the amount (a building society cheque) to his account till 3 weeks after it was received, but they then applied a 'collection charge' of £200+. There were a couple of other strange charges applied at the same time and up to a month later.

 

We put in a request for a refund of all charges on this account and included those mentioned above. M&S said they would refund the others, but not these as they were court fees.

 

Mr L had not received any notification that a court case was pending prior to settling the account in full - only the usual threats that his account was in arrears and they 'may' take further action etc.

 

We have therefore persisted in requesting the refund of all fees. M&S have offered an amount that doesn't include these strange charges. We are now at the filing at court stage.

 

Therefore, I would advise that you go for a refund of everything but don't expect them to agree as they will probably come up with an excuse not to pay those specific amounts. However, if like us your friend is certain that there was no court action started against him for this loan, it is up to BH, I believe, to prove there was - the onus is on them to prove what these charges refer to. If they refuse to pay out and your friend takes this to court, I think that is the stage where BH would have to prove these charges were fair and that they are not reclaimable.

 

I'm only a novice in all this myself, so you would probably be best seeking further advice from more experienced Caggers though!

 

Regards,

 

Landy x

[craigten]

Hi there, thanks for your help, that is most interesting!!

Here is how it is on the statement (if it helps?):

 

Date Transaction Amount Balance

25/4/08 repayment £231.00 £3,756.00

09/6/08 repayment £4,150.00 £394.00-

10/6/08 Collect activity fee £530.00 £136.00

10/6/08 Late payment int £20.96 £156.96

11/6/08 Rebate £156.96 £0.00

Now, to me, this looks like my friend made an overpayment of £4150 to make the balance minus £394.00, Black horse added a 'Collect activity fee' of £530 to make the balance £136.00 my friend owed, then they added a 'Late payment int' fee of £20.96 to make a balance of £156.96 and then 'gave' my friend a rebate of, coincidentally, the very amount he owed of £156.96!!

A bit odd dont you think???

[landy_alert]

Hi craigten:)

 

That definitely seems a bit suspect - that the rebate equated to exactly the amount that BH were saying he owed.

 

If your friend (or you if you are doing it on his behalf) hasn't already put in a claim for a refund of these charges, I would go ahead and do so.

 

The figure of £4,150.00 that he paid to settle the account - I presume this was quoted to him either by phone or letter? Usually if you are given a settlement figure it is only valid for a specific amount of time, so assuming your friend paid within that time-frame, it seems odd that the figure would be more than was actually required.

 

The only other thing I can think of is an early settlement charge - last year I tried to repay a LTSB loan early and was told that if I did so, there would be an early settlement fee. The member of staff actually advised me to pay off a lump sum, but not the whole amount, leaving the equivalent of one month outstanding which would then be paid vis direct debit when it became due. This way although clearing the debt early I would not incur an ERC. It still doesn't explain the 'rebate' issue though:confused:

 

I'm really sorry I cannot be of more help, hopefully someone with more experience can shed further light on this!

 

Regards,

 

Landy x

[**Tilly**]

Hi Craigten

 

As landy said, send of your request for repayment of fee's, do a schedule of charges

send this with your prelim make copies for yourself and see what they come back with what they are for give then 14 days then send your lba:)

 

 

 

 

Tilly

[craigten]

Hi and sorry for the long delay, it's a long story!!

Ok, i am about to send the request for repayment of fees for my friend but i notice the Request for repayment of fees in the bank templates is very much geared towards a bank and not a loan company, do i have to edit the letter to make it fit? (if you see what i mean?)

Ps- if the 'Collect activity fee' really is an early repayment fee does that mean it is unclaimable?

[craigten]

**bumpy Bumpy**

[dx100uk]

if its a FEE its reclaimable

bank one is ok its the same process.

 

dx

[craigten]

Thanks for that, appreciate it! Just one more thing, under the 'Collect Activity Fee' of £530 there is a charge called 'Late payment Int', i dont know what that is but sounds like a late payment fee, shall i attempt to claim that too?

[dx100uk]

i wouldsay its interest, but as its assoc with a 'fee' you can reclaim it too.

 

dx

[craigten]

Hi,

Please can anyone tell me if when i send the Prelim letter to TSB regarding a Loan Fee that they charged me do i have to change the following details in the prelim letter being as it wasn't actually a bank account: 'I am writing to ask you to refund to me bank charges'

 

'The High Court has recently decided that your charges are subject to the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations 1999.'

 

'Furthermore you are bound by the Banking Code to treat your customers fairly and it is evident that you do not so'??

 

Thank you in advance!

[dx100uk]

just rearrange to state refund of fees you unlawfully levied on my loan no.xxx.

 

they know forewell that loans are fair game to reclaims & not covered by the current stay.

as for the rest of the 'padding' pers i would not bother.

 

dont forget the int though too!

 

dx

[craigten]

Hi and thank you for that! You mean include the 8% interest in the first letter?

[dx100uk]

i think you will find they all inc the 8% now

look in the successes thread of this forum.

 

dx

[craigten]

Hi, ok i am going ahead with claiming back the 'Collect activity fees' from Black Horse, plus the 'Late Payment Interest' too!

Please can anyone tell me is this ok:

 

Agreement number: ********

I am writing to request that you repay all the late payment fees and/or over limit fees/Collect Activity Fees/Late Payment Interest that have been applied to my account.

 

I do not believe the charges reflect the true cost to Black Horse and are unfair and disproportionate. I am therefore requesting a refund based on the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations 1999.

 

This is supported by the Office of Fair Trading’s April 2006 statement into credit card or loan charges, which noted that the level of charges at the time, and prior to that period, were unfair.

 

The charges total £5**.**, plus as I believe I have been unlawfully deprived of the money I have calculated £**.** interest at the statutory rate, the amount the court will award.

 

I therefore ask that you repay me the full amount of £***.** I have attached a full schedule of the charges and interest with this document.

 

 

I look forward to a full response to this letter within 14 days.

[craigten]

Bumpy Bump?

[craigten]

Hello anybody?

[nololly]

bump this for some help for this guy

[the_freedom_trail]

Hi Craigten,

 

I am happy to help, I have experience of reclaiming vehicle finance charges and bank charges.

 

Would you like to have a copy of the letter I sent to Peugeot Finance?

 

Best Regards,

 

TFT