Responsible lending

When providing loans, we (Russell Automotive Centre’s Finance Partner) will:

• Act fairly, reasonably and responsibly in all our dealings with you.
• Not pressurise you to enter into any loan agreement.
• Tell you how the loan works and the total cost of the loan before you apply, in particular, that the funds will be disbursed to the servicing dealer and will not be paid directly to you, the customer.
• Check whether the loan is suitable for you taking account of your circumstances.
• Carry out a sound, proper and appropriate affordability assessment and credit vetting for each loan application, to check you can afford the loan.
• Explain in general terms what types of information we will consider in making a decision, if you ask us to.
• Explain how we will communicate with you during the term of the loan, how payments will be deducted from your bank account and how you can contact us by phone, email or online.
• Always notify you by email, text, letter or phone at least 3 days before attempting to recover payment using direct debit on the instalment date. This notice will ask you to contact us if you are in financial difficulty and cannot repay.
• Monitor your repayment record so that we can take appropriate action if we see evidence of possible or actual repayment difficulties

If you are having problems repaying your loan, we will:

• Deal with cases of financial difficulty sympathetically and positively and do what we can to help you manage what you owe.
• Tell you about free and independent debt-counselling organisations who can also help you.

If you want to make a complaint, we will:

Tell you about our complaints-handling procedure when you take out a loan or whenever you ask us to. We will also include details about our complaints procedure on our finance partner’s website and/or make them available at our business premises (where appropriate).

You may be able to refer your complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service at: www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk
0800 023 4567.

Direct Debit Guarantee:

• To set out clearly how direct debits work and your rights to cancel this, so you can decide if this type of repayment is acceptable to you.
• This Guarantee is offered by all banks and building societies that accept instructions to pay Direct Debits.
• If there are any changes to the amount, date or frequency of your Direct Debit, we will notify you 5 working days in advance of your account being debited or as otherwise agreed. If you request us to collect a payment, confirmation of the amount and date will be given to you at the time of the request.
• If an error is made in the payment of your Direct Debit, by our finance partner or your bank or building society, you are entitled to a full and immediate refund of the amount paid from your bank or building society.
• If you receive a refund you are not entitled to, you must pay it back when we ask you to.
• You can cancel a Direct Debit at any time by simply contacting your bank or building society. Written confirmation may be required. Please also notify us.
• We will remind you that if you do cancel, you will still owe any outstanding debt and will need to provide an alternative method of repayment on the instalment date[s] to avoid going into default.