Car Finance Advice needed please

DrewMacIce

Hi all,
straight to the bones of it im afraid,
My step daughter and her husband bought a car (value about £4500) on joint finance about 6 months ago, his name is on the log book, he then left her about 4 months ago, taking said car. she was contacted by the finance company today, the payments are 3 months in arrears and they are threatening her. We think husband has sold the car for £500 to a friend, and is now driving a different car, he is denying this is the case and is saying the finance car is being held by the garage where he had some work done, until he finishes paying for the work, but we have seen the car being driven about by someone who lives near the garage where the work done, and one of the mechanics who works at that garage says the car was sold to them.
Step daughter is now trying to bring up 2 kids on her own with no help from husband, as he is seeing someone else now and is paying no maintenance at all, so there is no way she can afford to pay the finance company as he was sole earner for the household.
Please can someone help us find out where she stands?
:mad:

Silk

The car belongs to the finance company untill the last payment is made and is illegal to sell it without clearing the finance first. I would imagine that if they were to find out off someone they would go and snatch the car back.
Will not solve the problem totally but will reduce any further risk and TBH I don't see that its going to get resolved quickly. I think the finance company would appreciate a call

Lemonade_Pockets

Was this not covered in their divorce proceedings?

I can see where your coming from but all things considered its a right mess to sort out.

I would suggest going with your step daughter to Citizens Advice.

For us to be able to help any further would probably mean airing a lot of her "dirty laundry" on public forum. Obviously its up to u but IMO a trip to CA would probably be better all round.

DrewMacIce

Was this not covered in their divorce proceedings?

Unfortunatly, divorce proceeding have not started yet, as Step-daughter was trying to be nice due to effect on kids.

Lemonade_Pockets

Ok i understand completely i wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy.

However it is for this very reason that they exsist in court to stop people weasling out of their responsibilities. Same goes for maintaince.

As silky has said, your SD's ex has no legal right to sell the car. The finance company retains legal title untill the last penny is paid. It is worth giving them a call to start with.
I can't understand why the finance is in your SD's name when her husband was the sole wage earner.

DrewMacIce

Finance was put in joint names because husband did not have a bank account, due to bad credit history( from before they met), so all finance was from her account, his wages everything went into her account. he now has his own account ( got since he left) and the car finance was transferred to his new account, which is why SD knew nothing about this until she got phone call from finance company about non payment today.

Silk

If thats the case the finance company need telling asap so they can recover the car. What will probably happen is the car will be sold to recover the outstanding finance plus any costs incurred but any balance left outstanding they are both still liable for. Its best to do it asap before anything else happens to the car and its value is reduced any further.

Lemonade_Pockets

+1.

I would check the paper work to make sure it is in joint names or whether it is a hirer + Guarantor. As this will ultimately decide who is liable for the the finance.

motorguy

DrewMacIce wrote: »

Was this not covered in their divorce proceedings?

Unfortunatly, divorce proceeding have not started yet, as Step-daughter was trying to be nice due to effect on kids.

Firstly, get her to see a 'good' divorce solicitor. Irrespective of whether or not her ex IS paying maintenance, he legally has to.

Also, she needs to get a separation agreement in place. This will form the basis for the divorce when it later comes to that, but is a financial document explaining who gets what / who is responsible.

This could be a financial black hole therefore your stepdaughter needs to limit that ASAP, by going formal through a solicitor.