Guy is dying. Car is leased. What are the options?
Discussion
MitchT said:
What a bunch of heartless scum. I'd be going to the national newspapers with that. I guess VW are so far down the PR toilet with their emissions scandal that they don't care anymore.
Agree, this is disgraceful really and I would be amazed if they don't back down in the face of negative PR. I would contact VW Press Office and email the CEO first if you haven't already.I'm not trying to be "that guy", but why is it so shocking that VWFS won't write this off because someone passes away? Yes it would have been a nice gesture which would reflect well on them if they were prepared to do it, but it's not like other forms of personal debt just vanish in these circumstances either. It's horrible, but in my experience every creditor wants their money from the estate even if there isn't anything there to pay them with.
The exact same thing happened to my girlfriend's Dad about 6 months ago, his was with a new Maserati GT. Beautiful car.
Strangely enough he bought it specifically because his time was limited and he wanted another GT after having one a few years back, so did it on PCP.
Anyway, he ended up selling the car privately (well, through Tom Hartley) and clearing the finance.
Sale went through about a month before he sadly passed away :-(
Strangely enough he bought it specifically because his time was limited and he wanted another GT after having one a few years back, so did it on PCP.
Anyway, he ended up selling the car privately (well, through Tom Hartley) and clearing the finance.
Sale went through about a month before he sadly passed away :-(
stuart_83 said:
The exact same thing happened to my girlfriend's Dad about 6 months ago, his was with a new Maserati GT. Beautiful car.
Strangely enough he bought it specifically because his time was limited and he wanted another GT after having one a few years back, so did it on PCP.
Anyway, he ended up selling the car privately (well, through Tom Hartley) and clearing the finance.
Sale went through about a month before he sadly passed away :-(
Not the exact same thing at all - a PCP isn't a personal lease. You can't sell a personal lease as you have no financial interest in the vehicle - you're just paying to rent it.Strangely enough he bought it specifically because his time was limited and he wanted another GT after having one a few years back, so did it on PCP.
Anyway, he ended up selling the car privately (well, through Tom Hartley) and clearing the finance.
Sale went through about a month before he sadly passed away :-(
It's unfortunate, but it's one of the things you really should consider before signing up for a lease.
£6100 is not an insignificant sum of money. It's asking a lot for VWFS to write that off on purely compassionate grounds, especially as the terms of the contract - which the family friend would've read and signed - make it very clear what happens in the event of the debt not being serviced.
It's a horrible situation to be in that's for sure. When my Father passed away his Harsco pension was incidentally paid into his account on the same day. They wanted that back, and weren't phased by the circumstances, and that was only £310. I had an extremely negative reaction as one might expect, being as I received the demand for repayment less than a week after he'd passed, but outside of my own feelings about morals etc I didn't have any justification for keeping the money.
It's a horrible situation to be in that's for sure. When my Father passed away his Harsco pension was incidentally paid into his account on the same day. They wanted that back, and weren't phased by the circumstances, and that was only £310. I had an extremely negative reaction as one might expect, being as I received the demand for repayment less than a week after he'd passed, but outside of my own feelings about morals etc I didn't have any justification for keeping the money.
charltjr said:
I'm not trying to be "that guy", but why is it so shocking that VWFS won't write this off because someone passes away? Yes it would have been a nice gesture which would reflect well on them if they were prepared to do it, but it's not like other forms of personal debt just vanish in these circumstances either. It's horrible, but in my experience every creditor wants their money from the estate even if there isn't anything there to pay them with.
It's a personal lease agreement so taking the car back and cancelling the remainder of the lease seems perfectly sensible / reasonable. At the most they should charge some kind of small cancellation fee.130R said:
charltjr said:
I'm not trying to be "that guy", but why is it so shocking that VWFS won't write this off because someone passes away? Yes it would have been a nice gesture which would reflect well on them if they were prepared to do it, but it's not like other forms of personal debt just vanish in these circumstances either. It's horrible, but in my experience every creditor wants their money from the estate even if there isn't anything there to pay them with.
It's a personal lease agreement so taking the car back and cancelling the remainder of the lease seems perfectly sensible / reasonable. At the most they should charge some kind of small cancellation fee.He could have had life insurance should this have been a concern.
a little harsh, perhaps, but when are people going to take responsibility for their own actions?
jonah35 said:
130R said:
charltjr said:
I'm not trying to be "that guy", but why is it so shocking that VWFS won't write this off because someone passes away? Yes it would have been a nice gesture which would reflect well on them if they were prepared to do it, but it's not like other forms of personal debt just vanish in these circumstances either. It's horrible, but in my experience every creditor wants their money from the estate even if there isn't anything there to pay them with.
It's a personal lease agreement so taking the car back and cancelling the remainder of the lease seems perfectly sensible / reasonable. At the most they should charge some kind of small cancellation fee.He could have had life insurance should this have been a concern.
a little harsh, perhaps, but when are people going to take responsibility for their own actions?
jonah35 said:
I feel theyre perfectly entitled to demand the money until the end of the term. A mortgage provider would want their money back too.
He could have had life insurance should this have been a concern.
a little harsh, perhaps, but when are people going to take responsibility for their own actions?
A mortgage provider would want their money back, what they wouldn't expect is for all the payments to be made as if the mortgage had gone full term. He could have had life insurance should this have been a concern.
a little harsh, perhaps, but when are people going to take responsibility for their own actions?
If VW have the car back early then presumably the depreciation is not as high as they'd built into the cost of the lease and they can afford to write off at least some of the payments.
Grumpy old git said:
jonah35 said:
I feel theyre perfectly entitled to demand the money until the end of the term. A mortgage provider would want their money back too.
He could have had life insurance should this have been a concern.
a little harsh, perhaps, but when are people going to take responsibility for their own actions?
A mortgage provider would want their money back, what they wouldn't expect is for all the payments to be made as if the mortgage had gone full term. He could have had life insurance should this have been a concern.
a little harsh, perhaps, but when are people going to take responsibility for their own actions?
If VW have the car back early then presumably the depreciation is not as high as they'd built into the cost of the lease and they can afford to write off at least some of the payments.
Grumpy old git said:
A mortgage provider would want their money back, what they wouldn't expect is for all the payments to be made as if the mortgage had gone full term.
VW don't - from the lease thread they ask 55% of the outstanding rentals. That's low, I've seen 90% mentioned with other companies.I know when we first went opting out of company cars some guys insured against endin the lease early - I was surprised at the range of circumstances covered, it even applied if you resigned form your job. I haven't noticed such cover recently though.
jonah35 said:
a little harsh, perhaps, but when are people going to take responsibility for their own actions?
I'm sure if the guy was alive and healthy he would take responsibility by continuing to make his payments. Unfortunately he's dead and that is where all his responsibilities ends.s
t happens in business and sometimes you just to take a loss on the chin. Lots of people on here are mixing up a 'jolly nice thing' with the realities of standard practice creditor behaviour.
When you die everyone who you owe money to will claim it from your estate as that is standard practice. They are legally allowed to do so and all of the credit agreements you sign will have a clause which covers this.
Any creditor who cancels the debt is doing 'a jolly nice thing.'
VWFS could of course take the hit, but if all leases worked that way all leases would be more expensive to cover the calculable risk of the leasee croaking it during the term.
Firing off some Watchdog and MP letters might feel good but VWFS are not doing anything wrong. The energy might be better used finding someone to quietly take over the car for the remainder of the lease. Even if someone could pay the estate 50% of the payments the loss would be less.
When you die everyone who you owe money to will claim it from your estate as that is standard practice. They are legally allowed to do so and all of the credit agreements you sign will have a clause which covers this.
Any creditor who cancels the debt is doing 'a jolly nice thing.'
VWFS could of course take the hit, but if all leases worked that way all leases would be more expensive to cover the calculable risk of the leasee croaking it during the term.
Firing off some Watchdog and MP letters might feel good but VWFS are not doing anything wrong. The energy might be better used finding someone to quietly take over the car for the remainder of the lease. Even if someone could pay the estate 50% of the payments the loss would be less.
I find this whole story staggering. We had a lease car at work, thru BMW (Alphabet). The woman who had the car had her dad die. She was then suddenly responsible for driving her mum around and her wheelchair didn't go in the back of her car. We contact the lease co to ask about early termination and they couldn't be more amenable given the circumstances. Offer of no charge and a special deal if we upgraded to a bigger BMW, or a much reduced fee if we just ended the lease with no replacement.
I'd be speaking to someone higher up at VWFS, and explain how you will be taking to Twitter to display your displeasure.
I'd be speaking to someone higher up at VWFS, and explain how you will be taking to Twitter to display your displeasure.
TwigtheWonderkid said:
I find this whole story staggering. We had a lease car at work, thru BMW (Alphabet). The woman who had the car had her dad die. She was then suddenly responsible for driving her mum around and her wheelchair didn't go in the back of her car. We contact the lease co to ask about early termination and they couldn't be more amenable given the circumstances. Offer of no charge and a special deal if we upgraded to a bigger BMW, or a much reduced fee if we just ended the lease with no replacement.
I'd be speaking to someone higher up at VWFS, and explain how you will be taking to Twitter to display your displeasure.
How many cars does the business lease via Alphabet? - how long is the deal for? I'd be speaking to someone higher up at VWFS, and explain how you will be taking to Twitter to display your displeasure.
A company will always have very different relationships than an individual - I know we have a deal which is a 'fleet average mileage' deal, therefore, my excess miles aren't charged as someone else will have an equivalent car returned under mileage.
TwigtheWonderkid said:
I find this whole story staggering. We had a lease car at work, thru BMW (Alphabet). The woman who had the car had her dad die. She was then suddenly responsible for driving her mum around and her wheelchair didn't go in the back of her car. We contact the lease co to ask about early termination and they couldn't be more amenable given the circumstances. Offer of no charge and a special deal if we upgraded to a bigger BMW, or a much reduced fee if we just ended the lease with no replacement.
I'd be speaking to someone higher up at VWFS, and explain how you will be taking to Twitter to display your displeasure.
Doesn't surprise me that BMW is happy to deliver such goodwill gestures, they have a lot to gain from VAG's effup in the US.I'd be speaking to someone higher up at VWFS, and explain how you will be taking to Twitter to display your displeasure.
VGTICE said:
TwigtheWonderkid said:
I find this whole story staggering. We had a lease car at work, thru BMW (Alphabet). The woman who had the car had her dad die. She was then suddenly responsible for driving her mum around and her wheelchair didn't go in the back of her car. We contact the lease co to ask about early termination and they couldn't be more amenable given the circumstances. Offer of no charge and a special deal if we upgraded to a bigger BMW, or a much reduced fee if we just ended the lease with no replacement.
I'd be speaking to someone higher up at VWFS, and explain how you will be taking to Twitter to display your displeasure.
Doesn't surprise me that BMW is happy to deliver such goodwill gestures, they have a lot to gain from VAG's effup in the US.I'd be speaking to someone higher up at VWFS, and explain how you will be taking to Twitter to display your displeasure.
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