Car Loan and Bereavement

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  • sheff6107
    sheff6107 Posts: 451 Forumite
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    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.
  • motorguy
    motorguy Posts: 22,477 Forumite
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    edited 21 March 2017 at 7:30PM
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    TonyWilky wrote: »
    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
    Everyone load I have paid off early the interest is deducted..

    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?
  • Nearlyold
    Nearlyold Posts: 2,289 Forumite
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    sheff6107 wrote: »
    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.

    .
    Doesn't the Executor have a legal duty to settle estate debts if the funds are available to do so.
    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 it
  • sheff6107
    sheff6107 Posts: 451 Forumite
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    Nearlyold wrote: »
    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.
  • foxy-stoat
    foxy-stoat Posts: 6,879 Forumite
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    sheff6107 wrote: »
    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.
  • dresdendave
    dresdendave Posts: 889 Forumite
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    sheff6107 wrote: »
    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?
  • foxy-stoat
    foxy-stoat Posts: 6,879 Forumite
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    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 correct
  • PeacefulWaters
    PeacefulWaters Posts: 8,495 Forumite
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    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.
  • cj1974cr
    cj1974cr Posts: 27 Forumite
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    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)
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