Rejecting Vehicle - Consequential losses (short-term reject)

[daidmacho]

Hi,

Based in England.

I am rejecting a faulty car purchased on HP finance. The finance company has accepted the rejection, but they are refusing to reimburse all losses arising from the situation.

The vehicle developed faults within the first 30 days and, although the rejection has now been accepted, it has taken over 3 months from purchase to reach this point (more than 2 months after I first exercised my right to reject).

During that time the car remained in my possession but was not being used due to the faults.

The losses I have incurred include:

- Car insurance
- Road tax
- Parking permit
- One-time buyer/admin fee charged by the dealership


My understanding is that I may be able to obtain pro-rata refunds directly from some third parties where applicable, but my question is whether these costs are also recoverable from the finance company as consequential losses resulting from the supply of a faulty vehicle.

I've spent hours reading online, including the Consumer Rights Act, FOS decisions, forum discussions and guidance articles etc.
But I can't find a clear or conclusive answer whether these types of losses are generally recoverable.

I've also received conflicting advice from Citizens Advice, with one adviser saying they are claimable and another saying they are not.

Would this be worth pursuing through the Financial Ombudsman Service, or am I unlikely to succeed with these kinds of losses?

Thank you in advance for any advice.

Edited by daidmacho on Wednesday 10th June 10:40

[Muzzer79]

What is the value of the consequential losses you've incurred?

[daidmacho]

Around £700 (£300 for the one time fee).

Was considering accepting if its not worth the hassle, but worried if the dealer does not refund the £300 and theres no recourse if the finance company is actually liable for this, as I would have already accepted the payment without this amount.

[The Rotrex Kid]

Short answer, there’s no guidance for it that I’m aware of.

Long answer, if it’s taken you 3 months to get the to agree to accept the rejection, concentrate on getting your main part of your money back. Unless it’s in black and white, they are unlikely to pay you anything and even less likely to do so without you taking them to court and chasing them down for it.

[paul_c123]

You’re not entitled to consequential losses, only the car itself.

[E-bmw]

paul_c123 said:

You re not entitled to consequential losses, only the car itself.

I must say, I have not been in this position & am no expert but that ws my first thought.

[Unreal]

I suspect a snowball would have more chance in hell.

[jonwm]

If you have spent hours researching, i would suggest I'd just leave it, your time is worth much more, you would have spent some of those items anyway.

I've had issues with a 1 year old car in warranty, 4 months it has been gone, took 3 weeks to get a hire car, call after call. Way I look at it is that its a headache, I've now got a hire car, its not ideal (capri) but it gets me round.

Life's too short!

[daidmacho]

Thank you very much all! Will take those ongoing losses on the chin

Any idea about the one time buyers fee that the dealer charged?

It was part of the deposit payment I paid, but its both in a seperate invoice and the total order as a seperate item.
(Big motoring world seems to send 20 different invoices for a simple vehicle purchase with no addons)

[AB]

daidmacho said:

(Big motoring world)

The problem has just become a whole lot clearer unfortunately.

[daidmacho]

So I suppose I will phone the finance company one last time asking if I can claim for that.

If not, then just accept the settlement and chase the dealer for the buyers fee (it was not disclosed online when booking the viewing, only when we went in person to buy it)

[paul_c123]

Dealers can charge a "buyers fee" or "admin fee" or whatever, but the pricing must be clear and upfront. If it was not, its against some kind of advertising/whatever guidance. But the opportunity to address that was at point of sale, not 3 months later. It may have even timed out from a dispute point of view if you paid by credit card.

[podman]

I had a similar situation with a new Triumph motorcycle, I did manage to recover all these losses , it took 4 months in total, I achieved this by contacting the owner of Triumph motorcycles, the quality manager and a journalist from the motorcycle press, cc’ing them all and the dealer into my emails.

I also researched various forums to demonstrate other owners who had experienced the same issues.

If you have the time and inclination, be persistent and make a noise about it, it’s not a great deal of money to make you go away!