Blackhorse Loan Outstanding

swordfighter

Hi All,

I am a newbie to this forum but I hope someone can give me some advice. :cool:

A few years ago (2004ish) I took out a hire purchase agreement with Blackhorse Finance for a second hand car - about £5k plus interest. About a year after taking out the loan I ran into financial difficulty, my partner at the time was made redudant so my income was just about covering the rent and bills. The loan repayments were being missed and eventually I stopped paying completely and after moving house they stopped chasing me. I've been avoiding getting in contact with them as i'm worried they will send the debt collectors round. The car I originally bought is worth far less than the outstanding debt.

If I made contact with Blackhorse can they demand the whole sum in one go and get a court order for it? I have a mortgage and I am worried they will go after that. Is it possible they would agree to a reasonable payment plan?

I would have contacted them much sooner but it is only now my financial situation has improved a bit. The oustanding debt is about £6K. On my credit file it is shown as defaulted.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers

DarkConvict

If you stopped paying around 2005, then from 6 years from last payment sometime in 2011 if you have not paid or acknowledged it then the debt is statute barred. As you are not at that point yet, they can still chase you for the outstanding amount.

They will chase for the full amount but may accept payments in instalments if that is all you can afford. Any court action such as a CCJ will only take what you can afford anyway, so they aren't likely to refuse unless they feel the offer is too low. If you fail to pay out on a CCJ then they could get a CO which would mean on a house sale they get paid when you decided to sell.

The option is to wait and see if they make contact, (although interest is still being added, as it has been for the last 4 years)
Or get in touch and offer payment option. I would only get in touch now if you feel you can take on this commitment for the foreseeable future. Although others on here my disagree, there is no point having to deal with debts if you can't afford them and the creditor isn't asking for payment.

Are you sure the remaining is £6k, interest isn't usually that cheap on hire purchases, and can sometimes rise if you miss payments.

swordfighter

Thanks DarkConvict.

I checked my credit file 6 months ago and again a few days ago, the default amount is still the same - I am only hoping they aren't adding interest as it's sitting there... If they are adding interest to it they aren't updating equifax. Also I won't know unless I contact them!

I wonder why they don't chase for it, it's not difficult to track me down since I am on the electoral role?

onlypaddy

i would expect once the loan defaulted the interest would be frozen

it's not statute barred for another 2 years by the sounds of it, so they can and probably will still chase you. Eventually they will find your new address so just sit tight and hope that that comes after the 6 year mark

Mikek_3

If you owe do you not think you should pay it.Why should you get the car or whatever bought with the money for nothing.You say things have changed a bit for you so now it is time to pay if you can.

Mike

swordfighter

Mikek, you are right. I want to pay it back but just raising concern that soon as I make contact they try for all of it. That would make it worse when in reality I can only a low monthly rate.

Cheers

onlypaddy

bottom line rule when it comes to situations like this - only pay what you can afford.

Debts come second after other necessities such as food etc so if they try for the whole lot just tell them to get stuffed and pay what you can a month. If you're worried about it, only pay by standing order and not direct debit (as this leaves you to control the amounts) and carry out all correspondence in writing, then you have proof if they try to shaft you.

just be firm - make sure they know the only way they're going to get anything is with you controlling the amounts yourself

Mikek_3

onlypaddy wrote: »

bottom line rule when it comes to situations like this - only pay what you can afford.

Debts come second after other necessities such as food etc so if they try for the whole lot just tell them to get stuffed and pay what you can a month. If you're worried about it, only pay by standing order and not direct debit (as this leaves you to control the amounts) and carry out all correspondence in writing, then you have proof if they try to shaft you.

just be firm - make sure they know the only way they're going to get anything is with you controlling the amounts yourself

Agree 100%

Mike

Insomniac666

I'm waiting on BH to contact me or for me to contact them on an old secured loan shortfall after a house reposession... I know I can't afford to make payments until the end of next year based on current financial situation so if they do get in contact I'm just hoping they'll accept low payments..

pwally2

Dont know if I am right here but if its a HP agreement dont you need ot have paid off a certain amount to actually own the car and the HP company could in theory reposses the car this is what happend to me company chased for debt I couldnt pay they took car!!! Amsure others will advise!!

richardginger

You don't own the car untill the FULL amount is paid to the HP company. They could in theory reposses the car but it seems unlikely.