Reposession of vehicle question

donethelot

Thanks in advance to anyone who can answer this question.

I was made bankrupt on JUne 30th 2009.

I have a van on a lease finance deal on which I pay £333pm, (26months into a 60month deal) I have managed to pay this monthly figure since my bankruptcy and am not in arrears.

I received a letter on the 17th Oct from the finance company stating that as a result of the bankruptcy order the contract has been terminated and to contact their repossesion dept.

On the 18th I received another letter which is quite longwinded and is full of terms and conditions and legal speak to summarise it states
a)I can voluntary surrender the vehicle
b)They cannot repossess the vehicle without a court order without my consent.
c) If I do not reply within 7 days they will commence court proceedings.

From the 20th I have had phone calls from a repo man stating that he has a
reposession order from the finance company.
Based on the info in their letter I have told him it doesnt mean anything without a court order.

Questions
1) How long does it take for the finance company to get a court order from when they apply and how long there after can they enforce and repossess the vehicle?
2) I was hoping to keep the van as I need it for work, has anyone come to an agreement where they carry on paying the finance and are allowed to keep the vehicle, after all they are still getting there monthly payments and I do not owe them any money. Or are they obliged legally to repossess the vehicle as I am bankrupt?

CeeBeeDeeBee

Hi

Not 100% sure but I think if you have paid a third of the total they do need a court order to recover the van.

Probably best to speak to CAB or one of the debt charities to more advice.

Court procedings can take a while but I think you need to get proper (legal) advice as there may be a clause in your lease.

Have you rang the leaseing company and told them you can afford the payments and want to keep the van?

Chris

custardy

so they reposses even though you are up to date on payments?

peachyprice

Afraid so Custardy, it's a common clause in HP agreements. The OR has no interest in the vehicle because you don't own it, but the HP company won't let you keep it.

custardy

never knew that,thats a pain

tigerfeet2006

You do get the odd one who would rather have the money and are happy with you to keep paying but until you check the forms/ask you won't know.

donethelot

I just spoke to the finance company who told me they have to repossess as there position is unsecured irrespective of me not being behind in payments.

The chap on the phone became quite abrupt when I mentioned the 2nd letter they sent me stating they needed my permission or a court order to to repossess. I stated that I was not giving permission to repossess.

He said that that letter was sent to me in error and because I was bankrupt they didnt need a court order. I asked him to put that in writing, which he refused to do stating that he had told me over the phone and that was good enough.

Can anyone confirm if his statement about them not needing a court order as I am bankrupt is true or is he just trying to bully me into handing the van back with the least amount of fuss to them?

custardy

is there another payment due at the end of the month?
you may want to cancel the DD if so,last think you want is to pay and month and lose the vehicle

PINTACIDER

donethelot they will reposees the van because you are bankrupt , my vehicles were taken from me even though the payments were up to date and i could afford them easily but the clause in the contract states that bankruptcy is breach of contract basically. I argued till i was blue in the face but to no avail they came and took them , however . . .there is a couple of companies that do non -status leasing on vans , slightly more a month but you can get another van. As custardy says if you are definately going to lose the van DONT pay another installment on it .

donethelot

Thanks for that Pintacider.

Did they need a court order/return of goods order when they took your vans or did they just turn up and take?

blind-as-a-bat_2

The court order bit is part of the consumer credit act NOTHING they write into an agreemant can remove your rights as defined in the act.

So yes they do need a court order