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Car Loan and Bereavement
Comments
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PeacefulWaters wrote: »Would you expect a savings provider to carry on paying interest after death? I would.
It works the same the other way round. A shame. But reality.
Au contraire. The reality is that the vast majority of loan companies write them off after death. The time and money chasing after estates for recompense doesn't make it worthwhile.0 -
Hi All,
Please can anyone advise if I am being had here.- August 2016: My Mum buys a 63 plate car for approx. £8900 - Apr = 12.9%
- Sadly my Mother dies in in December
(R.I.P. mum x) - Finance company collect the car and tell me they will sell it and bill for the difference
- Today the Finance company tell me bills is £4000+
- I ask why
- They say because my mum died the credit charges still stand
Seriously is this correct?
On top of the above, they sold an overpriced car with very high apr.
Any help massively appreciated
Thanks
Tony
Firstly, sorry for your loss.:( I'm sure you dont need this hassle at this difficult time.
Back to the question in hand - getting a settlement figure and clearing a loan is very different though than a finance company taking a car back.
What they are saying is total monies owed - amount recovered from car sale = remaining monies owed.
If you'd been able to clear the finance and sell the car (OR sell the car and clear the finance) you would have got the discounted settlement figure.
Surely the way to handle this would have been through her estate -
Asset = car
Liability = loan
Clear loan from estate, sell car?0 -
Doesn't the Executor have a legal duty to settle estate debts if the funds are available to do so.Simply write to the finance company and tell that unfortunately there is no money left in the estate.
Most loan companies know their on to a hiding to nothing and you'll hear nothing back from them again.
.This particular loan company is in a far better position than most - they've got a car out of it.
Surely if it was an HP agreement (as is likely) they owned the car anyway and would have taken steps to recover it0 -
Doesn't the Executor have a legal duty to settle estate debts if the funds are available to do so.
Yes and no. You are not obliged to prefer creditors by amount or by which creditor comes knocking first.
Practically though, most creditors will just write off the debt in the same way they would if a dissolved company owed them.0 -
Yes and no. You are not obliged to prefer creditors by amount or by which creditor comes knocking first.
Practically though, most creditors will just write off the debt in the same way they would if a dissolved company owed them.
Errr yes and yes.
The Executor should be paying debts off in the correct order. If there is a few creditors then the logical way is to pay an equal percentage to each creditor - although before paying they should make the offer as full and final settlement so the lender writes off the rest of the debt.0 -
Simply write to the finance company and tell that unfortunately there is no money left in the estate.
Most loan companies know their on to a hiding to nothing and you'll hear nothing back from them again.
This particular loan company is in a far better position than most - they've got a car out of it.
The OP has been evasive as to whether there is money in the estate to cover the debt. If they followed the above advice (and funds were available), wouldn't the executor become personally liable for the debt were the finance company to find out after the event?0 -
dresdendave wrote: »The OP has been evasive as to whether there is money in the estate to cover the debt. If they followed the above advice (and funds were available), wouldn't the executor become personally liable for the debt were the finance company to find out after the event?
This is correct0 -
In a country where home ownership is around the 70% mark creditors don't just roll over and write off debts without a little bit of effort.
And executors have a personal liability if they distribute the estate before settling debts.0 -
Hello Tony,
So sorry to hear the news about your mum,
I work for a bank and frankly I'm outraged by the Car Finance provider approach and failure to consider your circumstances.
Firstly you aren't liable for the debt - full stop , the next issue is the estate - if there is likely to be any money after other costs are paid.
If there are no funds left - then you cannot and shouldn't be expected or asked to pay anything further.
Lodge a complaint without a delay, and depending on the type of debt you might be able to lodge with the Financial Ombudsmans (it's free and call them)
The most sensible approach is to write off the debt, u dear the circumstances.
Dont forget to provide them a copy of the death certificate, if the Car is on HP, depending on how far your mum was through the repayment - she retained the right to return the Car without penatly
Ask the lender to take possession of the Car , don't attempt to sell the Car as technically your not the owner and the lender has registered the car for HPI check , so this will prevent the sld without their permission.
But remember -
Check the payment schedule and if Car can be returned without penalty
Complain - get there name , dates time of calls , copy letters, including acknowledgement of bereavement - this is priority!!!
Ask lender to write debt off
Is there any money in the Estate - yes - depending how much short settle ( last resort)0
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