Guy is dying. Car is leased. What are the options?
Discussion
At the end of the day, the contract is with the person who is dying, no one else, I presume, so with his/her passing, the contract cant continue. I am sure speaking to the right people up the chain at VW will bring a sensible and easy closure for your friends family on this issue, who have much more pressing things to deal with.
Sad circumstances.
But it's almost unbelievable that these circs aren't already covered in the T&Cs.
After all, these companies are leasing to Human Beings who are prone to dying. In fact they are guaranteed to at some stage.
This thread has also taught me, in the unlikely event that I get into a lease arrangement, to prefer BMW over VAG.
But it's almost unbelievable that these circs aren't already covered in the T&Cs.
After all, these companies are leasing to Human Beings who are prone to dying. In fact they are guaranteed to at some stage.
This thread has also taught me, in the unlikely event that I get into a lease arrangement, to prefer BMW over VAG.
hora said:
One of many reasons why I won't consider a lease.
For most of us, dying within the two year period of a typical lease isn't statistically likely, and should the worst happen I'm guessing that complications with an outstanding lease will be pretty low down the list of concerns for the next of kin.My father passed away this time last year and we had a VW on finance to deal with.
They gave the options of someone else taking over the payments, handing it back or settling the finance.
We ended up selling it back to the VW dealer and made a few quid over the settlement.
However, VW wanted a copy of the death certificate and so I'm not sure how it would work if the owner is still alive.
I'm sure it's already been mentioned but speak to VW finance as we found them to be extremely helpful.
They gave the options of someone else taking over the payments, handing it back or settling the finance.
We ended up selling it back to the VW dealer and made a few quid over the settlement.
However, VW wanted a copy of the death certificate and so I'm not sure how it would work if the owner is still alive.
I'm sure it's already been mentioned but speak to VW finance as we found them to be extremely helpful.
wack said:
That's how all businesses should handle a death, with compassion , many could learn from that example
Really?my mates wife passed away 7 years ago
having life insurance he thought "ill claim"
he kept paying his mortgage for the 6 months the insurers (basically) ****** about (losing 2 death certificates) and finally they agreed his claim, he assumed he would get his 6 mortgage payments made since she died refunded...
the mortgage company hit hgim with an "early settlement" fee....equal (oddly) to his 6 months payments since he buried his wife (the insured party)
this why i damn to hell all insurance and finance institutions...with a vengence
Again - that was a PCP. OP is talking about a lease!I feel for the OP and hope that this can be resolved. It seems to me that with the Data Protection Act the only way is for the lessee to forward medical proof of his situation to the lessors and ask for their advice. They might ask for permission to contact his doctor for confirmation. Not all people are b*****DS and the fear of adverse publicity is also a feature of situations such as this. Let us hope for a satisfactory solution.
Upatdawn said:
Really?
my mates wife passed away 7 years ago
having life insurance he thought "ill claim"
he kept paying his mortgage for the 6 months the insurers (basically) ****** about (losing 2 death certificates) and finally they agreed his claim, he assumed he would get his 6 mortgage payments made since she died refunded...
the mortgage company hit hgim with an "early settlement" fee....equal (oddly) to his 6 months payments since he buried his wife (the insured party)
this why i damn to hell all insurance and finance institutions...with a vengence
With any insurance policy, all you need to do it read the T&Cs. If they've not complied, then FCA regs are on your side and enforcement is easy. If your mate hasn't complied, why would other policy holders pay higher premiums for the benefit of those who haven't read the T&Cs ?my mates wife passed away 7 years ago
having life insurance he thought "ill claim"
he kept paying his mortgage for the 6 months the insurers (basically) ****** about (losing 2 death certificates) and finally they agreed his claim, he assumed he would get his 6 mortgage payments made since she died refunded...
the mortgage company hit hgim with an "early settlement" fee....equal (oddly) to his 6 months payments since he buried his wife (the insured party)
this why i damn to hell all insurance and finance institutions...with a vengence
Edited by nickfrog on Sunday 8th January 12:23
I think that the bottom line with this has to be to do nothing but continue to make the payments until there is a death certificate. Seriously - the family will be under enough stress as it is and this sort of thing is not something that they should fixate on now as VWFS have clearly indicated that there will be no benefit in trying to resolve the situation before the worst actually happens.
There weren't any debts involved when my dad died of cancer, but as a general thing - dealing with all financial matters (transferring accounts, property, shares and so on to my mum) generally amounted to sending a letter and a certified copy of the death certificate. Nothing seems to cut through bureaucracy quite like it (because everything went to mum, nowhere even required me to go through probate either). There is a difference in procedure between when someone is asking a speculative question and when somebody has actually passed away. No major company wants to be featured on Watchdog (potentially in a negative comparison to their peers) and adversely trending on social media, and if they have to pursue the estate then they will have to spend money to potentially solicit bad publicity. I very much doubt that when presented with the document that the response from VW will be to ask for the sum mentioned in the original post, but since they were unresponsive to dealing with it now there is simply no value in the family wasting emotional energy giving it any further consideration until circumstances have sadly changed.
Thoughts with the family though. Having been through losing a father to cancer over a short time frame - it is brutal.
And if anybody from Volkswagen is monitoring this thread (car companies have been known to quietly read forums such as this) : you are a big company with a valuable brand and you really should have a better process in place with your operators for dealing with situations like this - even just training your staff to say that currently all that they can do is terminate the lease for £XXX, but that after the person in question has actually passed away the procedure is different. But really you should be doing better than that as you have missed a chance here to make the most difficult of times easier for a customer who will tell everyone that they know about their experiences.
There weren't any debts involved when my dad died of cancer, but as a general thing - dealing with all financial matters (transferring accounts, property, shares and so on to my mum) generally amounted to sending a letter and a certified copy of the death certificate. Nothing seems to cut through bureaucracy quite like it (because everything went to mum, nowhere even required me to go through probate either). There is a difference in procedure between when someone is asking a speculative question and when somebody has actually passed away. No major company wants to be featured on Watchdog (potentially in a negative comparison to their peers) and adversely trending on social media, and if they have to pursue the estate then they will have to spend money to potentially solicit bad publicity. I very much doubt that when presented with the document that the response from VW will be to ask for the sum mentioned in the original post, but since they were unresponsive to dealing with it now there is simply no value in the family wasting emotional energy giving it any further consideration until circumstances have sadly changed.
Thoughts with the family though. Having been through losing a father to cancer over a short time frame - it is brutal.
And if anybody from Volkswagen is monitoring this thread (car companies have been known to quietly read forums such as this) : you are a big company with a valuable brand and you really should have a better process in place with your operators for dealing with situations like this - even just training your staff to say that currently all that they can do is terminate the lease for £XXX, but that after the person in question has actually passed away the procedure is different. But really you should be doing better than that as you have missed a chance here to make the most difficult of times easier for a customer who will tell everyone that they know about their experiences.
Alucidnation said:
My father passed away this time last year and we had a VW on finance to deal with.
They gave the options of someone else taking over the payments, handing it back or settling the finance.
We ended up selling it back to the VW dealer and made a few quid over the settlement.
However, VW wanted a copy of the death certificate and so I'm not sure how it would work if the owner is still alive.
I'm sure it's already been mentioned but speak to VW finance as we found them to be extremely helpful.
letter from the Consultant / GP stating that the OP's friend has a life expectancy of <6 months - fairly standard letter they get sent to the DWP or insurers etc every day ... / letter from life insurance / income protection saying they are paying out becasue life expectancy is is <6 / < 12 months .. They gave the options of someone else taking over the payments, handing it back or settling the finance.
We ended up selling it back to the VW dealer and made a few quid over the settlement.
However, VW wanted a copy of the death certificate and so I'm not sure how it would work if the owner is still alive.
I'm sure it's already been mentioned but speak to VW finance as we found them to be extremely helpful.
Gassing Station | General Gassing | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff