Help needed with Welcome Finance

bigian99

I bought my car November 2007 through a Ford main dealer who brokered the deal through Pinnacle Finance and finally they had it financed through Welcome Finance on a four year deal. I have recently been made redundent after making payments for the first year and am now claiming J.S.A. and this is my only means of income. I promptly informed Welcome of my position and after two months they have agreed to a voluntry termination of the agreement and that they will reposses the car, have it independently valued by the RAC and I would be liable for the difference between what I owe to the value.
I dug out my finance agreement that I received from WF to see what my rights would be on a V.T. and it turns out to be a faxed copy and the wording is proving to be quite difficult to read in places and there is no terms and conditions on the reverse.

I have received a call from WF and they then said that the outstanding difference is £4000 would be re-financed through themselves at a low payment that would suit my needs which I dont want to do as I cannot afford to do this as I struggling to live on my benefits as it is.

I asked these questions over the phone but just got a scripted response each time as they want to get the car valued first.

Can anyone advise on this situation????
Thanks.
Bigian.

~Beanie~

I don't really understand your problem to be honest, what Welcome Finance are doing is the usual procedure.

The way I am reading it is that you want to hand the car back and pay nothing more - unfortunately it doesn't work like that, you will be liable for the difference.

What was the total payable on the agreement and what was the car worth when you handed it back? Is £4,000 a fair figure for the difference or is this the part you disagree with?

bigian99

I know im liable for the difference what im saying is that i am claiming J.S.A. as I came out of work in September but WF still want me to carry on paying for the car which is understandable but at a reduced rate with interest it will take years to pay off. Im trying to do a voluntry termination give the car back because I cannot afford to tax, insure or put an M.O.T. on it but I dont want to enter into another agreement because I cant afford the repayments with an income of £60.50 a week as this does not even cover my other outgoings. The £4000 makes up the third of the agreement to which I am liable to agree to a voluntry termination.
If WF insist then if I enter into an agreement with the interest ect the loan could end up taking years to pay and as I understand it WF cannot refinance an active agreement so they will probably offer me a personal loan???

~Beanie~

There are plenty of people in your situation through no fault of their own, they take out finance agreements, loans, credit cards etc and then lose their job and can't afford the repayments. It's unfortunate but it happens.

I appreciate that you are on JSA but finance companies cannot be expected to just take cars back and stand the losses. Yes, it may take you years to repay but that is life I'm afraid. Anyway, you may be lucky and find another job and will then be able to pay it back quicker.

videoking

wf watch out for the interest rate and other charges

Ms_Sparkle

~Beanie~ wrote: »

There are plenty of people in your situation through no fault of their own, they take out finance agreements, loans, credit cards etc and then lose their job and can't afford the repayments. It's unfortunate but it happens.

I appreciate that you are on JSA but finance companies cannot be expected to just take cars back and stand the losses. Yes, it may take you years to repay but that is life I'm afraid. Anyway, you may be lucky and find another job and will then be able to pay it back quicker.

I agree with what you are saying, but Welcome have a bit in there loan agreement that states if you have paid over a certain amount then the car can be returned, why would you return a car and then still pay for it?

This is happening to me, we did give back a car through Welcome, coming up to a year ago, and today I received a letter stating I still owe £900, I was never told that, I was told that I owe nothing and the account was clear. Then apparently it is because I still need to pay for the insurance, so I have to pay for insurance for a loan that I no longer have... urm that doesn't sound correct to me. The loan is a single premium so I am sending the single premium reclaiming letter and adapting it to state why I am not paying. They should have told us this when we handed the car back I think, not a year later. Welcome are so dodgy, and they have a number of different departments, who don't listen to each other. That is why someone told us we don't own them, and then someone tells us we do.

Make sure that you find out how much money should have been paid to give the car back, check every bit of your paper work don't rely just on what they are saying as it is probably a load of rubbish. I think we had to have been paying for 18months so work out how long you've already had your loan and how much is left, I had approx a year left on my loan so you should have a rough idea working it out like that.

Hope that helps and good luck.

~Beanie~

Ms_Sparkle wrote: »

I agree with what you are saying, but Welcome have a bit in there loan agreement that states if you have paid over a certain amount then the car can be returned, why would you return a car and then still pay for it?

Yes, if you have paid over half the finance agreement then you can return the car and pay nothing further. As the OP only took out the agreement in Nov 07 then I am assuming that he hasn't paid half yet. If you take out finance on a car and then decide you don't want it (or can't afford it) six months later you WILL have to continue paying even if you hand it back.

Your situation is slightly different as you are talking about Insurance, not the actual finance for the car.