Car Finance for a broken car

ihatefinance

Hi i was wondering if anyone can help me! i made a rather stoooopid mistake of taking car finance out with welcome finance nearly 3 years ago, i have 1.5 years left to pay. I have never missed a payment with them, However my car engine has now blown up. I have some insurances which i apprently signed and paid for?? although i wasnt aware of this, anyway, after getting my car fixed, it then broke again, i have already paid £1400 to have it repaired and the insurance wont pay (its now broke again and the engine went on fire), as i wasnt aware i had it, i didnt know what the conditions were! The car was sold aggressively and i felt threatnend when i got the car, so just signed and got out of there! Basically i have phoned welcome, who only have 1 phone number and 1 phone operator apparently, they said they provide the finance and not the technical side (im assuming they are saying this as they no longer provide car loans) and they do will not accept reponsibilty for the engine blowing up, on a relatively new car. i have spoke to car professionals who seem to think it could of been a problem when i bought it as engines dont normally blow up this way . They have said i have to continue to pay them whilst the car is sat on my drive with no engine, or i can vouluntarily surrender it, they will sell it and then i just pay what ever i owe, which would be fine, but the car is worth £50.00 at this moment with no engine, meaning ill still owe them 4 grand! they wont give me any other telephone numbers or let me speak to any one else, the only way im going to get their attention is by stopping the monthly payments, however i will just end up paying horrific charges.......sorry for rabbling on! Any advice??? :mad:

Tixy

Sounds like you need to obtain copies of whatever insurances you took out at the time. Do you think it was PPI type insurance or insurance in relation to the car itself.

ihatefinance

hi, it was mechanical breakdown and shortfall extra, but they wont pay as i dont have a full service history, but i never received a service history with the car! i cant seem to win, they just keep saying, ''you must continue to make payments'' but they wont contact me or give me any telephone numbers , so if i cancel the next payment they might contact me, although im sure they will stick a charge on it!

Tixy

You are right if you miss payments then will add high charges and could attempt to repossess the car (still leaving you with a high balance)

You may have a claim for mis-sold insurance if it would have been impossible for you to keep to the conditions of the insurance. This is something you could look into but I would recommend you keep paying in the meantime.

ihatefinance

Thanks for that, i just cant get hold of them to tell them, im going to see if i can get a solicitor to write to them maybe scare them a bit! I have no problems paying them and will continue to do so, i just wish they would acknowledge their customers! Thanks again Clare

PNPSUKNET

why not try speaking first to trading standards / consumer direct for free

ihatefinance

I think i will do that also, but apparently i will need to appoint an engineer of some sort in order for trading standards to get invloved at my own cost! If welcome would just agree to pay for the 2nd repair so i have a working vehicle i would continue to pay them until my loan ends, but they dont seem to know what they are doing, or which departments they have left!

CHR15

All sounds a load of nonsense.

If I go and buy a car for cash today and drive away happily..... do you really think I could walk back into the garage THREE YEARS later and demand a refund because it has broken down??

Just because you have entered into an extremely poor and drawn out buying process, doesn't give you a comprehensive warranty for the period you are paying it for.

You won't find many cars coming with a 3 year warranty on the 2nd hand market.

You borrowed money to give for the car, the repayment of it has nothing to do with the car.

Good luck in your quest in any case, much as I feel it is pointless.

JA1000

3 YEARS and you want some compensation!!!

Is it a personal loan or against the car? Either way you will still have to pay.

Why can't you take it back to the garage who fixed it first time you stand more chance there.

ihatefinance

Hi thanks for your reply, i dont expect a refund from them, nor have i asked for one from them either. I am well aware that i signed the finance agreement, and am also well aware i have a responsibilty to repay it. My main problem is the communication and the hypocrisy that this finance company seem to abide by.I do not know what insurances i have as i was never given any policy documents relating to sosmething i supposedly purchased from them, that is my problem! I do not expect them to refund anything to me.

CHR15

I would guess the Insurance you took out was a GAP insurance.

This is in case you write the car off and end up owing more than your insurance would pay out on it (leaving you with a shortfall to make up (gap))

GAP insurance is a good thing... but like all insurances, only any good when you claim on it.