outstanding finance on car bought by ex

ilikestuff_123

Hi there,

i've been struggling to find any advice regarding my problem so thought i'd try here...hope its ok!

I am wanting to sell my car that was bought by my ex husband about 3 years ago. I am selling it privately for £7500. Last week I was contacted by a prospective buyer and found out that there is outstanding finance on the car.

what would of happened if i'd sold the car?

I contacted the ex and he confirmed this and that £6000 is still owed on the car. I am the registered owner. He said he will not pay the finance off(although will continue to pay whatever amount he does pay), and would give me £5000 for the car as that is all its worth.

He is also threatening to stop paying the finance and then the car would be repossessed?

There was no legal documents drawn up, it was just agreed that he would buy me the car (post divorce).

any advice would be much appreciated or any websites that are more suitable for this area

many thanks

ILW

If its HP you cannot legally sell the car, it is not yours to sell.

ilikestuff_123

ok thanks for the reply. there was no contract and he never informed me that he was going to take out finance on the car. Guessing i can't do much then?
thanks

standupguy

What type of finance is on the car?

There are differences in what you can do dependant on the type of finance.

Is it HP or a loan? have you/can you see the documentation?

ilikestuff_123

I haven't seen any documents regarding the finance and won't be able to through my ex. I don't know what finance he has taken out. Can i find out this info?
sorry not really clued up on any of this!

standupguy

You could ask your potential buyer to let you have the details they have found which may be the company name, agreement number, and a telephone number to ring for the Finance company.

You could then ring the finance company, explain the situation and see if they will tell you the type of agreement.

If it is hp or pcp then you will not be able to dispose of the vehicle without settling the outstanding finance settlement figure.

If it is a loan where the Finance company have just put a marker on the car at HPI then the car could be sold.

The basis of what you are trying to find out is whether the Finance company have proper and full title to the car - and although this is not your account they should be able to give you this information.

If your ex stops paying and it is HP then they cannot repossess without a court order if together with the deposit you have paid over one third of the hp price and as you have had the car 3 years that is most probably the case.

Also, if he stops paying he will ruin his own credit record and will find difficulty obtaining credit in the future.

If you can sell the car for £7500 and he has offered £5000 then he is trying to minimise his loss rather than be more fair with you.

euronorris

What is the reason for selling the car?

Do you have no need for it, or do you need a cash injection? I'm just wondering if a review of your finances, together with helpful suggestions on here, would 'fix' the problem in a different way and allow you to keep the car.

ilikestuff_123

a few reasons really...insurance is due shortly and i'm intending on going travelling in the near future so won't have a need for the car.

Fiddlestick

ilikestuff_123 wrote: »

I contacted the ex and he confirmed this and that £6000 is still owed on the car. I am the registered owner.

No you are not - this is an extremely common misconception.

Being listed as the registered *keeper* with the DVLA does *not* make you the legal owner!

The registered keeper is - if you like - just a contact person for any administrative or paperwork issues.

As someone else has stated before, if there is outstanding HP finance on the vehicle then the finance company is the legal owner - not you and not your ex-partner and the car is not yours or his to sell.

If you want to take legal ownership of the car, you will need to arrange between the two of you to have the outstanding finance paid off and for the HP firm to end their ownership of the vehicle.

For what it's worth, anyone considering purchasing a second hand vehicle would do well to perform an HPI check:

http://www.hpicheck.com/

This will show you any outstanding finance, insurance write-offs and other nasties that the seller either may not know or may have chosen not to disclose.

euronorris

Can you not register it as 'Off the Road', or whatever it is and store it in the garage? Or a friend's garage maybe? http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Motoring/OwningAVehicle/UntaxedVehicle/DG_4022058

From what I could see elsewhere, insurance would not legally be required for a SORN car, so long as it is kept in a garage, or off-street. However, you may want to look at how much it would cost anyway as there's no guarantee it wouldn't be damaged or stolen. So you need to look at insurance for an SORN car for fire and theft.

Is that an option? Might be easier than trying to deal with your ex.

ilikestuff_123

i have thought about declaring it sorn but the money would really help finance my travel plans.

thanks again for your comments