Firstly, you say you purchased the car on a hire agreement; do you mean hire purchase? If it is a hire agreement, you are not purchasing it, only hiring it for the duration of the agreement and it remains the property of the finance company. If it is hire purchase, it is the property of the finance company until you pay the option to purchase fee, when it becomes yours.

A limited company is not a 'consumer', which is why the agreement is not regulated by the Consumer Credit Act, and the terms of the agreement will say what happens if you wish to settle the agreement early.

Try contacting them by e-mail or letter (keep a copy) http://www.sgeloans.com/ContactUs.aspx

It could have been regulated, but depends on the terms. Several court decisions considered this around 1999 - 2001.

Interesting question! I suppose it might depend how long the agreement ran before the matter came to light. Finance companies might have difficulty recovering their money and dealer could not just take the car back legally.

One consumer credit licence will cover all branches of a company, as it is the company which is a legal entity. However a group which trades as a separate limited company at each outlet will require a licence for each limited company.

Consumer credit licences are issued by the OFT, not councils, and current licence details can be found on the Public Register Public Register

A secondhand dealer's licence, issued by the local council, is required in most, but not all areas of Scotland. This is nothing to do with credit and is issued under the Civic Government (Scotland) Act.

On the final point, the legal owner under HP is the finance company, but if arranged by an unlicensed dealer, the agreement is not enforceable unless the OFT issue a validation order, so repossession by the finance company would amount to unlawful enforcement.

Section 149 of the CCA 1974 provides that any regulated agreement, where the debtor or hirer was introduced to the creditor or owner by an unlicensed credit broker, is unenforceable without a validation order from the OFT. You said the OFT confirmed that the broker was unlicensed - they may also be able to confirm whether Black Horse applied to have the agreement validated.

You could make a request to Black Horse under s77 for a copy of the agreement AND evidence that the agreement has been validated. If no validation exists, the agreement would appear to be legally unenforceable.

Additionally, the CCA does NOT apploy to companies, only 'consumers;.

The CCA does not give protection to limited companies, but sole traders and partnerships of up to 3 partners are protected.

If the agreement was discussed face to face with the creditor or broker, and then signed away from trade premises, then it would be cancellable. The formalities for a cancellable agreement would have to be complied with, otherwise it would be improperly executed, and could only be enforced with a court order. If there were no face to face discussions, the agreement is not legally a cancellable one.

This only applies to a hire purchase or conditional sale agreement, where the vehicle is legally the property of the finance company. If arrears exist, these are also payable before the agreement terminates. Any PPI policy will not be terminated and payments made for that would not count towards the 50%.

As voluntary termination is a legal entitlement, it should not have any detrimental effect on your credit rating.

First payment was in december 2007. loan was taken out back end of July 2007.

Without complicating things too much, if your payments started a month after you obtained the loan the APR would be 25.1%; deferring repayments for 4 months (still repaying the same amount in total), the APR drops to 20.7%. The APR reflects the timing of the charges as well as the rates and amounts.

By all means ask the bank to confirm their figures, but do not stop payments in the meantime.

The bank loan documents say:

£3500 loan with no PPI over 48 months

47 payments at £111.40 with a final payment at £111.07

total amount repayable = £5346.87 (total interest is £1846.87)

APR 21.4%, actual interest rate 20.36%

 

Was the first repayment deferred?

The £100 and £30,000 limits for section 75 have NOT been changed by the 2006 Act.

If it is incorrect description, you may be able to establish breach of SOGA.

Your problem may be proving that it was already opened when it arrived.

What do you mean "was not described as it should have been"? As Conniff said "The only exception to this is if the software does not work they will replace it with another disc."

The dealer is in breach of contract as the bike is not "as described" or of "satisfactory quality". He also appears to have applied a false trade description to the bike if he sold it as 2001 when it is 1999. I suggest you contact your Trading Standards on Monday.

I would still check the story with the previous keeper to ensure that the seller was not a trader. How was the car advertised?

How long ago did you buy it? Was it genuinely a private sale - have you checked the seller's story with the previous registered keeper?

If it is HP, your legal contract is with Black Horse, not the dealer, so it is very much their problem.

Put your rejection in writing to Black Horse.

The British Vehicle Rental & Leasing Association produce an industry guide to "fair wear and tear" which you may be able to buy bvrla

If RCI have ignored your letters, you should be able to complain to the Financial Ombudsman Service.

I don't know about an AA loan, but normally with a fixed sum loan, you are only entitled to a rebate if you pay it off in a lump sum. Towards the end of the contracted term, this is probably not worth while.

If you make overpayments as you go along, you are only giving them their money back sooner, and there is no advantage to you.

 

What could i do about this as i've now taken delivery of the car? the invoice mileage is incorrect and the advert mileage is wrong - isn't this false advertising?

Yes it is. Possibly also a breach of the Trade Descriptions Act - get in touch with your Trading Standards.

It depends what agreement you have signed. If it is a regulated consumer credit agreement, the agreement becomes "executed" when it is signed by the debtor and creditor. Until then, you are entitled to withdraw from the prospective agreement under section 57 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974.

You can withdraw by giving written or oral notice of your intention to the creditor or the garage, if they have arranged the finance for you, and obviously it is best if you have proof of giving notice. If you withdraw under s57, the credit agreement and linked transaction to buy the car are treated in the same way as a cancellable agreement ie you can get your deposit back. Normally an agreement signed at the garage premises is not cancellable, which would also be the case if finance were not involved.

No changes - but issue of overseas transactions now resolved by House of Lords judgement:

The Office of Fair Trading: House of Lords upholds decision on credit card cover for overseas purchases

If the agreement is signed at the garage, there is no right of cancellation, so the 5 days is not relevant.

A PCP is hire purchase, because you have the option to pay the final payment and keep the car.

The pre-contract information should be provided before, or at the time of signature of the agreement, but the agreement itself has to be signed for the agreement to be properly executed. It would be surprising if the garage allowed you to drive away with the car if the paperwork had not been signed. Try contacting the creditor who will be identified in the pre-contract information to see if they have received and signed the original, at which point the agreement would become executed.

I don't think you are going to get anywhere with section 75, but it might be worth trying the Chargeback procedures through the debit card issuer. See Consumer rights: how to make 'em play fair...