Spiralling numbers of bank-owned and independent lessors from
across Europe have become embroiled in yet more claims brought by
end-users against intermediaries of manufacturers of overcharging
and non-provision of services.
It has also emerged that Lombard has told one lessee connected to
these claims that it is no longer liable for months of future lease
rentals as it is “treating this matter as a fraud”, according to
documents seen by Leasing Life.
ING Lease, Lombard, Bank of Scotland Equipment Finance and Siemens
Financial Services are among a host of leasing companies faced with
large numbers of customers who are refusing to pay their lease
rentals because of these claims.
Following reports in the current issue of Leasing Life
that hundreds of lessees which signed deals with service providers
GP Ads and Global Telecoms & Technology Ltd have stopped – or
are threatening to stop – their lease rentals, it has also emerged
that lessees who signed similar service deals with a company called
Lifestyle TV Ltd are looking to do the same.
The scandal that has arisen over the three separate series of
agreements is believed to be the subject of an investigation by the
Finance & Leasing Association and also by several trading
standards departments across the UK.
In the Lifestyle TV Ltd case, hairdressers claim they signed up to
leases on televisions and side mirrors believing they would also
receive revenue from advertising that was due to appear on the TV
screens.
They now allege they did not receive most of this revenue and as a
result many are now refusing to pay their lease rentals. Solicitors
are believed to be looking at potential legal actions.
In a letter to one hairdresser, Graham Williams, an officer at
Lombard Operations, stated that it will refund all leasing payments
the salon has made as it is “treating this matter as a
fraud”.
The letter, seen by Leasing Life, also said: “It is not my
intention to recover the equipment supplied to you. I am happy for
you to dispose of it as you see fit and retain the proceeds.”
Eric Morgan, company director, and Anthony Lloyd, company
secretary, at Lifestyle TV Ltd, are also listed as part of the
management of the wound-up broker Cheshire Finance & Leasing
Ltd, which is believed to have brokered some of the leases on the
televisions and side mirrors.
Lifestyle TV did not return calls from Leasing Life,
and neither Morgan nor Lloyd could be reached.
The Lifestyle TV case is similar to the GP Ads case, in which a
significant number of golf courses in the UK have ceased making
lease rental payments after advertising revenue which they had been
promised by GP Ads either dried-up or was never provided. This is
the subject of a class action.
In the separate Global case, lessees claim they thought they would
receive services such as line rentals and free phone calls as part
of their leasing package (click
here). After Global was recently wound up – and these services
stopped – scores of small businesses have stopped paying lease
rentals.
Global customers also claim they are locked in deals worth around
£20,000 on equipment worth just £1,500.
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Meanwhile, a similar case has emerged in Austria, with Austrian
newspaper Kleine Zeitung reporting that around 30 Austrian
medical professionals have sought legal action relating to leased
telecoms systems from provider Tecomedica.
They claim to be caught in lease contracts valued at around
€40,000 for equipment worth far less. Finance providers Raiffeisen,
BAWAG PSK and Leasfinanz are understood to be investigating the
leases in question.
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