Close Brothers Motor Finance.. will not defend customers.

[Jon Hall]

Hi.

We bought a car advertised with Full Service History and financed through CBMF.

On discovering some of the service records missing and getting no response from the retailer we complained to the finance company that the vehicle was Not As Described' but they would not authorise an unwind of the finance.

 

They eventually forwarded some documents(Not all) from a garage with a family connection to the dealer that we believe to be fraudulent as there are obvious anomalies in them.

 

However CBMF argue that they have no concerns and that the documents are supported by their own senior engineers even though two of the services were carried out within 3 months and 300 miles of each other by separate garages, one of whom was a Mercedes franchised main dealer.

 

The FSA Ombudsman cannot rule in our favour as the documents are supported by CBMF's own staff and it is not within the FSA's remit to conduct an outside investigation.

 

We believe that Close Brothers Motor Finance,  being unable to retrieve any monies from the car dealer have chosen to continue with the finance agreement. 

 

What should we do next? 

[dx100uk]

so what is your problem?

sorry to be thick?

 

you are paying for a car you don't want because of a few missing documents?

[Jon Hall]

The car was 'not as described under trading standard regulations. 

It has some long standing expensive issues which would and should have been picked up on a service history but were not.

 

We were told that the history could be found online which is standard practice for brand.... It was not. 

The documents themselves are obviously inaccurate and the anomalies would indicate them to fraudulent so you would expect the finance company to authorise an unwind of the agreement.

 

Sadly they are not willing to comply because they would be very much out of pocket as the car dealership apparently has a reputation for changing directors to dodge court actions.

(found this out yesterday.... and yes I should have checked them out before buying!)

 

However the finance company still provides them with car finance for their customers.

[Andyorch]

Simply reject the car then if its not as described using the Consumer rights Act 2015.

 

What date did you purchase the vehicle /

 

Andy

[Jon Hall]

I tried to reject the car but was refused.

Took my complaint to the FSA Ombudsman but they are unable to rule in my favour as they have to act on information supplied only.... and the finance company had assured them that they had no issues with the authenticity of the documents.

To prove otherwise would mean an investigation which the FSA are not permitted to conduct.

 

I contacted Trading Standards (well... you can only get to them through Citizens advice now) and was told that IF they wished to investigate my complaint they would be in touch.... Heard nothing since.

 

It would seem that small issues are dealt with through Citizens Advice and major issues are dealt with by TS.

Those in between are just sidelined.

 

It's looking like it's going to be the County Court as we can't afford to walk away for this.

[dx100uk]

you mean the FOS surely?

 

did you report the fault within 30 days of purchase to the retailer?

if so as andy says you are entitled to reject the car and get a full refund from the RETAILER. under your short term right to reject

CRA cannot normally be against the finance co.

[Jon Hall]

Reported the issue within days but the dealer flatly refused to speak to me and pretended to be abroad.

There is no way he was going to take the car back.

 

The finance company were behind me initially but then suddenly changed tack when they investigated the dealership more closely.

 

The law states that my contact is with the finance company who provided the finance and who paid the dealer at the onset of the agreement.

 

They are jointly liable for any breach in the law but this is academic as a number of prosecutions against the dealer have just resulted in a change of director (just another loophole that is exploited to avoid paying up)  

 

Finance Companies fall under the Financial Services Authority umbrella and it was their Ombudsman who oversaw this complaint.

 

[dx100uk]

they are only jointly liable under section 75 of the consumer credit act.

did you put in a section 75 claim?

 

if not do so.

[Jon Hall]

Yes I pursued this through the FS Ombudsman as in my comments above.