Commercial Vehicle Finance
Over view - 3 year finance policy on a commercial vehicle for my LTD VAT registered business at the time. Personal guarantee on policy.
I had paid c.18 months of the contract but my LTD business went bust. I contact the finance house and said the business wouldn't be able to keep up with the payments so they demanded a contact termination. I did ask if I could transfer the policy to me personally but this denied. Once termination was confirmed they picked up the vehicle after about a month. I did not use the vehicle in this time. The vehicle was collected in July 2025. There was absolutely no communication with me or anyone in the business until March 2026 - a letter was sent demanding a shortfall payment of over £16,000. The letter was sent by debt collectors and not by the finance house its self so clearly had already been escalated despite no contact with me.
Once I starting looking into the events, it transpired that firstly the vehicle was not sent to auction (BCA) until January 2026, 6 months after collection from me and 7 months from initial contract termination. Secondly the VAT structure of the sale was VAT inclusive when commercial vehicles should always be hammer price plus VAT so there was another 20% shortfall from the asset sale price through incorrect VAT structure that was passed onto me to cover.
After a few to and fros with the finance house and presenting this information they did initially offer me a reduction of about £4,500 but still leaving me with a bill of over £11,000. After refusing this offer, they started to bring completely false information to the table e.g the vehicle was in poor mechanical condition - N.B the vehicle was and is still within manufactures warranty and was in perfect working order and up to date with servicing from main dealer - this is all documented. They also said and provided what I think to be edited or manufactured job sheets where I had said the gearbox was broken so it would need a tow truck for collection etc. N.B the vehicle was used everyday for my business and was never broken down. I used it everyday until the terminated the contract after which the vehicle sat on my driveway for a month without being used. They have also made their position clear and will "robustly defend" the bill if I do not pay.
Is there anyone on here with legal insight or expertise in this field? I strongly feel this is gross misconduct at the very least but I am fully aware that if I am to pay this, it will likely result in me having to personally file for bankruptcy. Its a concerning situation but I can not believe that they have acted correctly or even legally here and as it stands I think there is good argument for complete dismissal.
Any help or advice greatly appreciated. Thank you.