Captaian Weskers Mum Vs Creation Consumer Finance/Bennetts

[Captain Wesker]

Ok, little help for my mother here please.

 

My mother bought a fridge with Bennets on a year and a day. She was told she would get a letter about a month beforehand reminding her to pay.

 

She hasnt had one so phoned the finance company who told her she had missed it by 4 days and now owed an extra £400 odd on top of the £500 for the fridge if she wanted to pay it today, and more than that if she didnt. She mentioned that she has had no letter and they said they dont send any. Fast forward a few calls, and both bennets head office, bennets store and CCF are uninterested in her story and tell her to pay the £900 quid.

 

Then I start looking at the contract. The contract she has signed makes mention of PPI, and a total charge of £1600. CCF confirms she has signed up for PPI. She was never told anything about PPI, and on the contract there is a seperate place for signing for PPI which she has signed, but next to it are 2 tick boxes, one for PPI and one for warranties(she purchased a 5 year insurance warranty for the fridge)

 

The insurance warranty and PPI are both listed as seperate charges on the statement at the top of the contract, and both have seperate tick boxes. She has not ticked the PPI one, just the warranty one as the sales advisor(the same on who told her she would get a letter) told her to ignore it if she wasnt buying it.

 

Does this make the contact itself un-enforcable? She is more than happy to pay the £500 she owes, but is quite distraught at having to pay them over a grand more for stuff she did not purchase, and was misinformed about.

 

Please help.

[Crapstone]

What is the total breakdown of the agreement? Interest, PPI, warranty, deposit and method of payment.

 

Did she have it on interest free credit and then missed the due date for the full payment?

 

The onus is on the customer to check the date the payment is due and companies rarely send out reminders as they rely on either the customer forgetting or not being able to pay, then they hit them with the full interest that would have been applied over the 'interest free' period.

 

If there are any charges for PPI then she should be able to have these refunded off the balance owing but not getting a reminder letter won't make the contract unenforcable if the payment dates and terms were clearly stated.

 

Don't worry though as there are other things that can be done once you've posted a bit more. Is your mother elderly, on benefits or disabled..any other circumstances to be considered?

[Captain Wesker]

The breakdown lists seperate charge for the goods, interest, PPI, and the warranty.

 

It was on interest free credit for a year, the sales assistant advised that she would get a letter a month beforehand to remind her to pay, which never arrived. The finance company have now stated they dont issue them.

 

The agreement is uneforceable as far as im aware as it lists charges she was not told about and never agreed to pay, and which have not been signed for, yet they have still been added to the account, as confirmed by the finance company. She is happy to pay for the fridge, but at the terms she was told about when she signed up.

 

She has been having a lot of medical problems recently and has been in and out of hospital for the last few months.

[Crapstone]

I'd put it in writing to the finance company that the account is disputed, giving the reasons why as those you have already detailed. Send it recorded delivery and keep a copy for yourself. Enclose a copy of the original agreement and reasons why she would not have take out the PPI or even benefited from it.

 

If she can pay the amount outstanding for the fridge and the warranty she should do so as they'll only add more interest on. I think you are going to have difficulties trying to get the interest wiped off but it's still worth pushing it and appealing to their better nature as the agreement incorrectly included PPI.

 

If you have doubts about the contract get in touch with your local Trading Standards and they will happily have a look at it for you.

Edited September 1, 2009 by Crapstone

[Conniff]

Agree with Crapstones advice. Make it clear that the payment is only for the fridge and warranty and that the remainder (the interest) is in dispute.