Not upheld: mis-selling - misrepresentation of final payment amount complaint against Volkswagen Financial Services (UK) Limited

Decision detail

Summary

Mr I complained that a hire purchase agreement with Volkswagen Financial Services for a used car was mis-sold to him, specifically regarding the final payment amount. Mr I believed he was led to understand the final payment would be £2,500, but the agreement required a final payment of £9,967.50. Although Volkswagen Financial Services upheld his complaint and offered either a 5% goodwill discount (£1,162.45) or an exit from the agreement with a £9,025 deposit refund, Mr I rejected these offers. The ombudsman found that the hire purchase agreement and pre-contract credit information clearly set out the final payment of £9,967.50, which Mr I electronically signed, and that the dealer's sales order form reference to £2,500 was not the final payment due to the lender. The ombudsman did not uphold the complaint, finding the firm's offers to be fair and reasonable.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman found that the hire purchase agreement and pre-contract credit information clearly set out the final payment of £9,967.50, which Mr I electronically signed. Although the dealer's sales order form referenced a £2,500 final balance, this was not the final payment due to Volkswagen Financial Services but rather related to the balance to finance. The ombudsman considered the offers made by Volkswagen Financial Services (5% goodwill discount or exit with deposit refund) to be fair and reasonable responses to the complaint, and did not find evidence of an unfair relationship under section 140A of the Consumer Credit Act 1974.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website