Collecting payment under protest meaning...

[sks]

Hello all, I needed some advice please.
We recently sold a company car and the final amount payable was in dispute due to some damage they claimed they were unaware of.
The buying company offered a lesser amount and we refused this.
In the meantime they informed DVLA that we were no longer the registered keeper of the car.
They referred to their t & cs and said they would be returning the car.
We refused to accept it back and they gave us 30 days notice to collect the car or they would consider it as abandoned and sell at auction.
We thought this was unreasonable and thought they had to give 90 days notice?
They have now sold at auction and have informed us that we can apply for the balance (which is £3,000 less than initially agreed)
We have been advised to claim the money and write "we are collecting this amount under protest" (as we want to sue for the balance later on)
Will it be sufficient to write this line or should we add something like "we do not accept this as settlement"
Thank you

 

[The Byre]

B2B or B2C?

Contract and terms?

 

[WaveJumper]

Who's advising you

 

[sks]

A paralegal

 

[sks]

B2B or B2C?

Contract and terms?

We sold to a business, so consumer to business. They are relying on terms saying we did not disclose certain things, but its all too complex for us. Just wanted to know how to phrase the under protest?

 

[Frank the Insurance guy]

Do you have home insurance? You may find you have legal expenses insurance cover (or at least free telephone legal advice) - give them a call and they will give you bespoke advice.

 

[WaveJumper]

We sold to a business, so consumer to business. They are relying on terms saying we did not disclose certain things, but its all too complex for us. Just wanted to know how to phrase the under protest?

If its a company car and you sold it to another company?

 

[The Byre]

some damage they claimed they were unaware of.

If you sold to one of the usual Cazoos or a larger dealership, you will probably have signed a contract in which you are obliged to make full disclosure of all known defects. Failure to make such a disclosure means that you sold a faulty car, pretending that it was in good running order.

Under consumer law, the purchaser can assume that the fault was there at the time of delivery unless the seller can prove otherwise. If a defect is found within 6 months, the purchaser is entitled to request a repair, replacement or refund at your cost. If you sold to a dealership or a car-buying company, the contract of sale will make it clear that all known faults must be disclosed.

A previous accident such as a Class-N or Class-S write-off must be disclosed. Those are cases of repairable damage that would cost more than the car is worth in the estimation of the insurance company.

You can accept payment 'under protest' and 'without prejudice' but I fear that you will have little success with any legal action. These companies have cases like yours more or less on a daily basis as people are unaware of the obligation to make full disclosure of all known faults.

However, if the damage is was very minor, such as a broken headlight or mirror that was replaced and the insurance company was not involved, the purchaser has no grounds to claim a refund.

What was the nature of the damage?