Blackhorse Issues - Please help before I throw in the towel and admit defeat!

buffness

Hey all,

I was wandering if I could have some advice.

Some of you may remember or read my issues with Blackhorse a few months back.

Please can I have some advice on this, I would be grateful if someone brings me good news!!

In April 2007, I opened up a finance agreement with Blackhorse to purchase a vehicle on behalf of my partner (now ex partner)
The vehicle was purchased on a HP agreement from Motor Nation, a car company in Birmingham. The agreement was for £10,024 repayable for 60 months. The APR was 17.15%

Me and my ex partner had a "gentlemans agreement" wherebuy my name would appear on the finance agreement but the payments would be taken from my ex partners account.

From day one, the agreement has been problematic!

Motor Nation, who sold the car, advised me to change the details on the V5 registration document from mine, to my ex partners. This was for insurance purposes. Motor Nation were aware that I was purchasing the car for my ex partner.
They also advised me that my credit rating would not be affected if my expartner did not make payments on the account.

As the agreement went on, payments were being made late. After we seperated with each other, my ex partner agreed to continue making payments. However, these were not made and Blackhorse told me my credit rating was being affected by this.

I then got a job in Dubai, where I went to and Blackhorse then kept contacting me about the payments. I was unable to then contact my partner about this. Blackhorse then rang my MOTHER and therefore broke data protection laws! I then had to leave Dubai, and come home to sort this out.

I wont bore you too much with the story, but the bottom line is I am now left to pay this debt. Blackhorse then repossessed the car, and there is an outstanding debt of £5800 to be paid.

All this happened very quickly - I have however, tried to take this to the Financial Ombudsman Service and after a long wait, they have closed the case and have basically said that its my agreement and its my responsibility - thats fair enough and I agree, I did mess up.

But... if I was to either scan the agreement in so someone can check it to make it unenforceable or would anyone suggest anything else? I really really cannot afford to pay this at the moment.

Blackhorse however, have not wrote to me asking for the money since I received the letter from the FOS, and this was on 11th August 2009. I guess they are expecting me to call them and let them know when I am paying the debt.

Can ANYONE suggest ANYTHING or have I really messed up here and its one of those, "You learn from your mistakes" type thing...

The reasons for my arguement was mainly:

• The agreement was in my name yes, but thats the only thing. Everything else was in my ex partners name
• Blackhorse broke data protection by telling my mother everything
• Even when the FOS were dealing with it, and after the FOS asking them to put the agreement on hold, they still wrote to me asking for payment from a debt collector.
• The car was repossessed "unofficially." They took the car from my ex partner and no paperwork was given.
• The stress/hassle etc to go with it

If anyone can help or give me some advice, then please do

Thanks guys

ILW

As far as I can tell, you bought a car on finance for your partner to use.
There was an arrangement that your ex would make the payments on your behalf, which was nothing to do with the finance agreement.
The only contract that is not being kept to is the one between you and your ex.
What has that got to do with the finance company?
You would do better pursuing your ex as the finance co has done nothing wrong (based on your post)

standupguy

What you did originally by fronting the agreement is called an "accommodation deal" within the industry. These are sometimes done - usually with motor dealer collusion - when say one partner cannot obtain credit in their own right due to a bad credit record. This leaves the Finance company unaware, in this case, of your partners involvement and is really a type of fraud, ie, you fronting an agreement where he has the car and he is making the payments. You risk having a cifas warning being put on your credit record now that it has been found out.

I suspect the contact with your mother was due to the fact that you were untraceable in this country at the time they wanted to contact you and the contact was part of trace procedures?

They probably did a keeper enquiry check on the vehicle and then traced your boyfriends address and then repossessed the car?

It would be interesting to know the reason for repossession and the amount paid at the time of repossession.

If you/he had paid over a third of the HP price - assuming it is a hp agreement - then they could not repossess without a court order. If this was the case and they have say repossessed due to the circumstances then this would be wrong and outside the CCA regulations.

If under a third was paid, did you receive a notice of default - again if this did not happen then it could be a wrongful repossession?

They will also have added charges and fees on to what you owe and you need to have a breakdown as you may be able to challenge?

It may be a good idea to contact the Finance company and ask them to send you a full statement of account to see how what you owe has been broken down.

If you can show that the car was taken back outside the scope of the CCA then you have something to bargain with.

Also, it may be a good idea to get a copy of you file from the credit reference agencies to see what is showing.

You may not have been aware that what you did originally was not correct but equally the Finance company may also have acted incorrectly in their haste to protect their interests and get some funds back in quickly- ie the sale proceeds from the car?

Shazminda

Exactly the same circumstances happened to a girlfriend of mine, where her partner took out a car loan for her in his name although she was made the payments. However once they split she refused to repay.
He took her to small claims court and was awarded the full loan amount to be repaid back to him with 10% interest as I recall.
You may not get anywhere with the finance company and may have to follow the issue through directly with your ex partner & the courts.
Also you need to consider where the vehicle is now? Has it been sold on? My friend sold her vehicle to a family member hoping that as she was no longer listed as the Registered Owner this would help her as she always remained the Registered Keeper, however this did not prove to aid her in this case......... Goodluck hope this helped in someway.

buffness

Hey guys,

Thanks for the replies.

The repossession happened so quickly - I wrote a letter to Blackhorse to terminate the agreement but then 5 days later, a bailiff company called me to say that they have been instructed by Blackhorse to repossess...

I explained I didnt have the car anymore and my ex partner had it, so I gave them his number and they called him and arranged with him to pick the car up. What they also interestingly said is that he has been driving it around with no tax/car insurance which was quite worrying!

They arranged with him to pick the car up, and he did that and it was handed over.

With regards to the credit reference agencies, I have checked Equifax, Experian and CallCredit and there is no mention of any Blackhorse Finance Agreement on it... is that a good thing or a bad thing?!?

I have a copy of the statement which I will post underneath this and if anyone could analyse it, I would be grateful.

Thanks again guys

buffness

Standupguy:

Thanks for your replies also. I did not receive either a DEFAULT notice, or a court order.... It just happened so quickly... Blackhorse have not, or did not, send me any paperwork to say the car is going to be repossessed.... it was just a quick phonecall from these bailiffs then after a few days, it was all arranged and off it went!

buffness

buffness

standupguy

There may be a lot here that can be challenged but more details are required: -

1. From your copy agreement what was the cost of the car as shown on the agreement, the amount of deposit and the balance financed?
2. What is the half HP and third HP amounts shown in a box on the front of your agreement?
3. Did you keep a copy of the termination letter you sent and when was it dated?
4. What was the date of the repossession?

The figures you give will help confirm one way or the other how and under what circumstances the Finance company took the car back.

It looks like they may have repossessed as under a third HP price paid but if that was the case they would have had to send you a notice of default prior?

Or, if they accepted your letter as a vt then your legal liability would be to the half hp figure on your agreement less the deposit and all amounts paid.

This is not simple but if you want to persevere with answering the questions then you just may be able to save yourself some money

samnor27

If you took the agreement out in April 2007 there may have been a breach in the contract which means you could have had a get out clause. I am with Blackhorse and having problems with them, basically im paying £15000 for a car thats not even worth £4000. I got it from carcraft and got completely ripped off. Im seeking advice to see if I can get out of the agreement in some way.

ILW

samnor27 wrote: »

If you took the agreement out in April 2007 there may have been a breach in the contract which means you could have had a get out clause. I am with Blackhorse and having problems with them, basically im paying £15000 for a car thats not even worth £4000. I got it from carcraft and got completely ripped off. Im seeking advice to see if I can get out of the agreement in some way.

Why did you agree to pay £15k for a car that is only worth £4k?