welcome finance help please

somech

hi guys am new to forum so please be gentle
brought a car in sept 2006 with finance through welcome have been paying with no probs until december 2009 (lost job in nov paid that month)
i was ill through dec and am still out of work,
ive had a shed load of calls most of whitch i now ignore i wrote to them 2 weeks ago asking to reduce payments until i start work again,
have since recieved 2 letters 1 a default notice the other asking where the car is kept. they phoned my mobile today and spoke to my wife they told her they are coming to take the car, (and i better have looked after it cheeky gits), now i do know a small bit about repos ie they cannot take a car from private land without consent plus they should need a court order as i have paid 3 years of a 4 year deal. i didnt take out the ppi but did take out gap insurance.
i am now at my wits end and keep expecting the car to be gone when i wake up.
can anybody out there help please

Inactive

Not sure what help you are seeking?

You don't want/ cannot to pay for a car that you agreed to pay for when signing up, but you don't want the finance company to take it back for non-payment.

I don't think you have a lot of say in the matter.

KeithP

somech wrote: »

...now i do know a small bit about repos ie they cannot take a car from private land without consent plus they should need a court order as i have paid 3 years of a 4 year deal.

If you know that, what's the problem then?

You haven't said that you cannot afford to pay.

Have you thought about selling the car and paying what is owed to the finance co?

somech

just to clarify i do want to pay its just i cannot afford to pay the full amount at the moment, so far they dont seem interested.i fully intend to find employment soon.
i am just asking for help and advice as to where i stand.
i dont want to default i dont want to lose the car either (live in a rural area with high unemployment) so transport is a must, also i cant sell it as its on hp but wierdly its hpi clear (can i sell it ??)
any useful advice would be very helpful
thanks

fawd1

I have to say I am shocked at how completely unhelpful some of you are. I'm pretty sure that he was looking for advice in regards to what to do next in dealing with the company, not nasty comments and judgement. Anyway, as far as I know they cannot take the car without a court order once one third of the original agreement has been paid out. HOWEVER, if you hand over the keys then they will class it as you wilfully terminating the agreement, so under no circumstances do this. If you go over to consumeractiongroup.co.uk , they have a whole forum on Welcome alone and are full of great tips on how to deal with them.

plane_boy2000

I am not an expert, but if you have paid over 75% of the balance through the deposit and monthly payments then I didnt think they could repo?

continualdiamond

I took out finance with welcome on the 12-11-2007 and in my agreement it says:

Repossession: your rights

If you do not keep to your side of the this agreement but you have paid at least one third of the total amount payable under this agreement that is £ (lists my amount here) the creditor may not take back the goods against your wishes unless he gets a court order. If he does take the goods without your consent or a court order, your have the right to get the back any money that you have paid under this agreement.

Hope that is of some help. Do not hand over the keys basically.

You could voluntarily end the agreement if you honestly feel you cannot afford repayments anymore. Whilst i know that would mean you're without a car, it might be one less worry of how to pay for it. Especially because welcome could get a court order to get the car back anyway.

Because you're over half way through your agreement you can just end it without paying anymore and as long as the car is in reasonable condition they have to collect it. I know this as ended my agreement this way with them in Jan 2010.

standupguy

Beware the vt route while you are in arrears - you still would be liable for any arrears amount at time of vt and welcome would probably (wrongly) code it as a reposession and would leave you with a larger outstanding liability.

You are right, if you have paid one third of the hp price they cannot repossess without a court order - however if they con anyone to thinking they can and you hand the car back to them the repossession would be lawful as you gave them the car when they asked for it.

If you want to keep the car offer what you can honestly afford with a promise to review the payments when you get back to work - put it in writing.

If they then take you to court I am sure the judge would be sympathetic given your record and changed circumstances and only give a suspended order of repossession provided you paid what was deemed reasonable

somech

thanks for the helpful advice from some of you,
as it stands there is 12 months left on the hp i was made redundant in nov09 (that month paid) i wrote to them in dec explaining circumstances only to get a default notice , wrote to them again asking for fair payments and respond only in writing. jan get second default letter with threats of repo, have wrote to them asking for a statement. they phoned on teusday spoke to oh saying they are coming to get the car. now i am not a dishonest person just unfortunate and skint, i have paid over 3/4 so they need a court order i will keep the keys sign nothing and the car is on private property, i just wanted these idiots to be fair but sending a default for 1 missed payment is a joke and they are not writing back.. no wonder they went bust

Inactive

Could you not get a settlement figure from them and then hopefully get a loan to settle the finance?, it would get them off of your back.

Just a thought.

Good luck with them, they do have an awful reputation.

somech

Inactive wrote: »

Could you not get a settlement figure from them and then hopefully get a loan to settle the finance?, it would get them off of your back.

Just a thought.

Good luck with them, they do have an awful reputation.

i have asked them for statements and so forth but so far they havent replied to my letters, also cant get a loan as unemployed,
i will seek advice from cab and after poking around the consumer action group forum it an eye opener