Demand for £900.... Can anyone help?

[cahu]

I had a lease car for three years which was collected last August at the end of the lease. The guy who collected it examined it very, very thoroughly but as I had it for 3 years thought any marks on it were due to fair wear and tear. It was immaculate in every other way, valeted etc.

A month later they contacted me to say I owed them £904 for damage. I called them to challenge them and heard nothing more until last week when i received a solicitors letter saying I had a week to pay or I was goin to court.

Does anyone have any advice. I am worried as I am a single parent, low salary etc and have no savings. TIA

[Pendulum]

This sounds very odd, I think you should find a Citizens Advice Bureau or a free legal advice centre near you and take them the paperwork (your lease agreement, any documents you were given when the car was collected, the letter they have now sent you) as soon as possible.

I wouldn't want to comment further without seeing the docs but I would certainly not pay a penny before getting some legal advice.

[cahu]

Thanks for your reply, Pendulum. I have emailed solicitor but they said money was due by 10 am tomorrow or court proceedings would start.

[Peppin]

I'd be surprised if they issue proceedings for £900. Sounds like scaremongering to me. Tough it out and get some advice from CAB.

[Pendulum]

The solicitor you emailed is sadly not going to do anything to help you, he/ she is instructed to get this money out of you. Unfortunately there are some less than scrupulous solicitors firms out there who are not above intimidation. This is why you need some independent advice. CAB are really good at this sort of thing and I think they are still free.

[cahu]

I will, thanks all.

[VivaLeBeaver]

If they do take you to court, I'd say bring it on. They will be laughed out of court. There is no way they can wait nearly a year before doing this when they didn't respond to your initial challenge. They haven't given you opportunity to defend youself against their accusations and you can't be expected to now as the car will be another year older. Plus they won't have it as an exhibit.

[CelticRepublican]

WHat Viva said. Let them take you to court, sounds like they haven't got a leg to stand on. They're trying to intimidate you. Ignore.

[cahu]

Wow, thanks ladies, that bit of hand holding has made me feel a whole lot better. Viva, can they not use the original photos as exhibits though...?

[VivaLeBeaver]

I'm no expert but I don't think so. They should have given you the opportunity to have the car reexamined by an independent person. That's what I'd argue anyway.

What do the photos show? How can you be sure the photos are of the same car? They could have been photoshopped. Year old photos of a car are worth jack shit in my opinion.

[cahu]

Ok thanks. I am calling CAB tomorrrow, and will never lease a car again!

[shinecrazydiamond]

Ignore, ignore, ignore.

Scare tactics and nothing more. Do not deal with them in any way, shape or form. The CAB will advise you further.

[topbannana]

If there was damage it should have been bought to your attention at collection and you would have signed for it. Do you still have the paperwork?

[VivaLeBeaver]

You couldn't buy an expensive handbag and a year later say to the shop that you want a refund as you noticed damage the day after you bought it. Even if you still had the handbag, never mind just had some photos of it.

[cahu]

I did sign for it as i couldnt see what else I could do, but I thought it would show as fair wear and tear and not £900 worth..........

[VivaLeBeaver]

What were the marks? If you signed to say there was a huge scuff in the paintwork down one side you might be in trouble!

[cahu]

shiney, is a solicitors letter scare tactics though, surely they will follow through..?

[VivaLeBeaver]

But even so I would still think they've left it too long.

[cahu]

Well to me the marks all looked like surface scratches that would be a reasonable amount after 3 years. It wasn't a premium type of car, it was a Clio and looked great imo. I had even had them polished out at a chips away place.

[senioroafdog]

Please DO NOT ignore this. People are taken to court every day for debts of this much and often less. You should obtain a copy of the contract you had with them and take it with you to CAB, and get then to advise you properly. If they do issue proceedings and you get a court date go and represent yourself. Ignoring this is the worst thing you could do.

Sorry if this sounds a bit hard compared to other responses but this is my profession and I see such ignored proceedings in court every day.

[cahu]

senior, I couldnt ignore it, I cant stand having anything hanging over my head in this way. If I have to pay, I have to pay but a solicitors letter after all this time seemed strange.

[kittyfishersknickers]

What exactly did you sign for? Did it say exactly how much it was worth or what exactly it was?

If not I would say they are on shakey ground. Sounds like they are a bunch of fakers to be honest.

See what the CAB say. I think the best thing is probably a response saying that you reject what they are saying utterly, with reasons, and that any claim will be defended (I.e. Bring it on). You probably won't hear back from them. But as I say, take whatever legal advice you can get. There are a few pro bono law centres around too, esp in London.

I'm sorry for you, this kind of thing can be very stressful.

[VivaLeBeaver]

I wouldn't advice ignore it, definetly get advice. But fight it all the way.

I know what you mean about all the little surface scratches. The local Ford dealership tried to get me to pay ££££ for bodywork protection. They had a bonnet on the wall in the showroom, half of it with protection and the other half not - the cheap half had lots of the tiny little scuff/scratch marks.

The salesman was telling me thats that what my car would be like in a few years if I didn't have the protection. So from that I'd assume its normal????

[VivaLeBeaver]

advise not advice.

[cahu]

Kitty, no there was no mention of cost or severity of marks at the time.

Viva, yes exactly. The car was over 3 years old. How can they expect it to be scratch free.....

[spammertime]

I had this. However I leased the car via my employer and they took the £500 I owed straight from my pay check. At the time I was about to give birth and didn't have the time / energy to pursue (it was a bit better in that it was only 3m after I had given the car back).

I can offer no advice but am v interested to see how this pans out. I had absolutely no comeback - was told it had been independently assessed and that I could do nothing - I had signed the form and that was that. They are absolute bastards.