End Of Lease Charges Confuse Drivers

Saturday, 21. February 2009

As more consumers take out Personal Contract Hire and those that have Personal Contract Purchase end up with cars that are worth less than the final payment, more cars are being returned to the leasing companies at the end of the contract that must be in ‘reasonable condition for its age and mileage’. But what is reasonable? One lady wrote to me complaining that she had some unreasonable charges at the end of her lease amounting to over £800. As I have pointed out previously some lenders are attempting to recover some of their losses by inflicting large unreasonable charges on their customers at the end of the contracts. Whilst some of this bill, received by this lady, was totally unreasonable, there were a couple of complaints that proved that the leasing companies should better inform their clients as to what they are expected to do in order to avoid charges. The lady concerned had been charged for the scuffing of the alloy wheels which she complained about as she said scuffing the wheels on pavements was normal wear and tear which of course it isn’t, it is considered to be accidental damage. Another complaint was that she had a few scratches down the side of the car which she said was caused by local children. She said ‘this is hardly accidental damage, it happens to all the local cars’. So I have some sympathy with lenders that have to deal with these issues but they could help the situation by being clearer as to what is acceptable and what isn’t. If you are about to return a car you should make sure that any repairs that you have done are professional or you may be charged for the work to be done again if considered to be sub-standard. Many drivers are turning to the ‘smart’ repairers who can repair bodywork for much less than a traditional body repairers but you must be careful that the work isn’t sub standard. The last thing you want is to be charged by the leasing company a second time then have to try to recover these costs from the repairer. It would be best to first of all check with other customers the quality of work and also check to see if the company is a member of the Vehicle Builders and Repairers Association, check the website by going to www.vbra.co.uk. Simply be very careful, these end of contract charges can be a nightmare unless you know what you are doing or you are a customer of mine. By Graham Hill