I have recently been the subject of miss-selling from Hippo Vehicle Solutions in Burnley.
Recently I decided to Voluntarily Terminate the finance on my car (finance provided by Motonovo Finance) because my car was worth less than what I had left to pay and a I needed a bigger car for family use. It is anyones statutory right to voluntarily terminate a finance agreement if you have paid 50% or more of the total cost. I had paid nearly 80% so I was perfectly entitled to do so.
When I bought the car I was categorically told that I was entitled to unlimited mileage (which was ideal as I was a rep doing 1,000 miles a week travelling), when I wrote to cancel my finance to my horror I was told by Motonovo Finance that my agreement was for 12,000 miles a year and not unlimited. This has left me with an excess mileage charge that is nearly £2000!! They also told me this is the case for each and every Hippo customer they handle.
To make matters worse I recommended Hippo to 4 of my friends and family to Hippo who are all unaware of excess mileage charges. Having explained my situation to them they too are horrified that they have been blatantly lied to by Hippo. Based on their experiences it would seem that they probably mislead all of their customers into this unlawful, profiteering scam.
I have had several emails from the branch manager Mark Khan who keeps dodging my question of why I was lied to. To this day I am still waiting for him to answer my questions. They also told me that I was only allowed to terminate my finance after 32 out of 48 months which was another big lie. I am sure they are fully aware of my rights but they chose to miss-lead me to avoid recourse payments to their finance provider (recourse is where the dealer has to pay a part of the outstanding finance because their customer handed the car back early and therefore they made a loss). Mark has declined to comment on this too despite me asking several times.
Having kicked up somewhat of a fuss, their manager offered to reduce my excess mileage charge to £450, this smacks of a scam to me to discount it so quickly.
Having sought legal advice on this I have discovered that statutory law for voluntary termination states that upon termination there is "nothing more to pay" provided you have paid at least 50% of what you owe and the car has been kept in reasonable condition (I had to pay £130 for bumper damage to bring the car to a "reasonable state"). Based on the legal advice it would appear that Hippo and Motonovo try to recoup their losses by imposing unlawful charges on customers who are unaware of their rights. I was also advised by my solicitor that a finance provider cannot impose penalties on credit agreements. The finance company will claim it is not a penalty, however, they would not refund you if you went under your allocated mileage allowance so from a legal standpoint, the charges are penalties
I suppose if they try this scam with enough people some will pay, even though they don't have to. The reason for this post is to make innocent and unwary motorists aware of this peddling of unlawful charges by Hippo and MotoNovo.
If you are aan exisiting Hippo customer I would check the small print of your contract, if you are considering using their service, I would highlt recommend you don't and instead find a reputable, truthful dealership.
Recently I decided to Voluntarily Terminate the finance on my car (finance provided by Motonovo Finance) because my car was worth less than what I had left to pay and a I needed a bigger car for family use. It is anyones statutory right to voluntarily terminate a finance agreement if you have paid 50% or more of the total cost. I had paid nearly 80% so I was perfectly entitled to do so.
When I bought the car I was categorically told that I was entitled to unlimited mileage (which was ideal as I was a rep doing 1,000 miles a week travelling), when I wrote to cancel my finance to my horror I was told by Motonovo Finance that my agreement was for 12,000 miles a year and not unlimited. This has left me with an excess mileage charge that is nearly £2000!! They also told me this is the case for each and every Hippo customer they handle.
To make matters worse I recommended Hippo to 4 of my friends and family to Hippo who are all unaware of excess mileage charges. Having explained my situation to them they too are horrified that they have been blatantly lied to by Hippo. Based on their experiences it would seem that they probably mislead all of their customers into this unlawful, profiteering scam.
I have had several emails from the branch manager Mark Khan who keeps dodging my question of why I was lied to. To this day I am still waiting for him to answer my questions. They also told me that I was only allowed to terminate my finance after 32 out of 48 months which was another big lie. I am sure they are fully aware of my rights but they chose to miss-lead me to avoid recourse payments to their finance provider (recourse is where the dealer has to pay a part of the outstanding finance because their customer handed the car back early and therefore they made a loss). Mark has declined to comment on this too despite me asking several times.
Having kicked up somewhat of a fuss, their manager offered to reduce my excess mileage charge to £450, this smacks of a scam to me to discount it so quickly.
Having sought legal advice on this I have discovered that statutory law for voluntary termination states that upon termination there is "nothing more to pay" provided you have paid at least 50% of what you owe and the car has been kept in reasonable condition (I had to pay £130 for bumper damage to bring the car to a "reasonable state"). Based on the legal advice it would appear that Hippo and Motonovo try to recoup their losses by imposing unlawful charges on customers who are unaware of their rights. I was also advised by my solicitor that a finance provider cannot impose penalties on credit agreements. The finance company will claim it is not a penalty, however, they would not refund you if you went under your allocated mileage allowance so from a legal standpoint, the charges are penalties
I suppose if they try this scam with enough people some will pay, even though they don't have to. The reason for this post is to make innocent and unwary motorists aware of this peddling of unlawful charges by Hippo and MotoNovo.
If you are aan exisiting Hippo customer I would check the small print of your contract, if you are considering using their service, I would highlt recommend you don't and instead find a reputable, truthful dealership.