Car payments not Bern taken

[prettyrainbows]

We lease a car. We have had it for 2 years and
We extended in August for another year.
Payment's are £250 per month. We assumed the Payment's had carried on via direct debit as usual as we never cancelled it or altered anything. However when checking today we've noticed no car Payment's have been taken since August last year 😳 completely our bad for assuming and not checking, but are we now liable for the back Payment's? Do we call and tell them? Play stupid? WWYD?

I would keep quiet and cancel the lease, then get a new one.

Apologies for the heading typo 😬

Have you checked your credit file to see if the missed payments have been logged against you?
I would contact them ASAP and get it paid.

Surely we would have received letters chasing payment? As we just extended naturally we assumed the payments would carry on as usual. Such a worry 😟

Ring fence the money they haven't taken, then it's on one side if / when they realise.

Yes, if it turns out you're in arrears then regardless of the reason you'll need to clear those.

Yes, you will need to catch-up the missed payments. I absolutely understand that it's easy to assume a direct debit is just plodding along without checking, but £250 is a big one! I know it's boring adulting sometimes, but a banking error won't mean a free car for 5 months. Make sure you have the money ready. There is no possible way to not end up paying it back.

Adulting is rubbish! And lesson learned, we will never again assume payments are coming out! We will call them tomorrow grrr

😂It really, REALLY is. Sorry though!

Bloody hell. Wish I had enough money to not notice I was £250 up for 6 months 😳

I would say that you are liable for the payments - you have the car, afterall. But you should be in a good position to negotiate how that is paid, if it is their mistake - e.g. increasing the payment for the rest of the term rather than finding the missed money. Just be careful if you agree something that it’s not a repayment plan for defaulting and likely to be held against you.