They promised to approve me within an hour. And 60 minutes later, I had signed a credit agreement and was the proud owner of an S-reg Volvo V40 for £6,900.
But after a few days, I realised the Volvo was a bad idea. It's heavy on petrol. It has a sticky gearbox. And I'm paying nearly 40% for credit. I want Direct Car Finance to take the car back and cancel the credit deal. But both DCF and the credit company refuse. What can I do?
SS, Kent.
Absolutely nothing. Capital Letters tries to get better deals for readers but DCF and its credit suppliers are totally within their right. This is a case of caveat emptor - let the buyer beware. No one forced you to use DCF or buy this particular car.
There is no law requiring anyone to exchange goods simply because you don't like them or, like most Volvos, they are heavy on petrol. Stores such as John Lewis or Marks & Spencer do take back items but only for customer goodwill. The second-hand motor trade has never been noted for this. You would only have a case if the car had serious concealed defects for its age and mileage, or if it was a death trap.
Neither applies here. You paid for an AA inspection which confirmed the difficult gear change which DCF says it will look into. But otherwise the AA said it was in satisfactory condition for its age and mileage other than two broken lights.
You cannot cancel the credit either. There is no cooling off period for deals signed on trade premises as opposed to home. And even if you did, how could you pay for the car?
We recently moved for work reasons. Our old home had a £5,000 Halifax mortgage outstanding which we converted into a NatWest buy-to-let loan. We borrowed again with Halifax on our new home. But a few days later the Halifax sent a £75 bill. There were no redemption penalties on the original loan. And no one mentioned £75. So what is all this about?
JH, Edinburgh.
The Halifax says this is an "administration fee" charged when a borrower does not sell their old property when they are buying a new one. It says it covers "additional checks needed to ensure the borrower can afford the repayment on the two properties."
But the Halifax now accepts you were not told about the fee when you discussed the arrangement. You should have been. So it has agreed to waive the £75.
In May 1993 my financial adviser sold me an Allied Dunbar endowment mortgage even though I did not want one. She drew fancy graphs and talked about a large lump sum as well as having the mortgage paid off. She did not warn about stock market links even though I am risk averse.
As a gay man, they imposed a £40-a-month extra premium making £170 a month for a £94,000 policy over 25 years. I agreed only because I was moving and engaged in a contract race.
In 1998 I told her I was not happy but she persuaded me to think of it "as a second pension". She promised I would not have to pay more. But now Allied Dunbar say the policy will undershoot by £25,000 and that I need to pay a further £50 a month. Have I been mis-sold? Can I sell this policy?
MC, London
Yes and no. You were never told the financial adviser was tied to Allied Dunbar, which you should have been. You did not need life insurance as you have no dependents. Drawing graphs - which were immediately torn up - helped commission-based sellers get around rules on showing future growth. But there is no second-hand market in these policies so you will either have to accept a miserable surrender value or leave it for the next 17 years. That's a devil or deep blue sea decision. Complain to Allied Dunbar and tell them you want to be restored to the same position as if you had taken a repayment loan. If that does not work, take your problem to the ombudsman.
I recently inherited £20,000 which I wish to invest for my three, poorly paid, daughters over the next 25 years, so they receive a pension in their early fifties. What do you recommend?
BB, Manchester
Try a stakeholder pension. Invest £2,808 per head over the next two years with the balance in the third. With tax relief, each daughter will get around £8,550 which will grow to £36,000 at 7% annual growth less 1% costs over 25 years - more if left longer or they add to your gift. At present annuity rates, this equals a pension of nearly £3,000 a year.
We welcome letters but cannot answer individually. Write to: Capital Letters, Jobs & Money, the Guardian, 119 Farringdon Road, London EC1R 3ER or email jobs.and.money@guardian.co.uk. Do not send original documents but do enclose a daytime phone number. Information is general and offered without any legal responsibility. Always take professional advice if in doubt.
