Reposession of car on unsecured loan??

Billy_two_speakers

pauli wrote: »

I'm on a DMP with the CCCS and all of my creditors have accepted their offer of payment with the exception of Santander Consumer Finance.

They have passed my account to a debt recovery company called Credit Style who phoned me at work yesterday to say I needed to give the car back as Santander "don't do" installments.

The loan agreement is a personal loan not secured against the car, it's not car finance just a "motor loan" and Santander have confirmed the loan is not guaranteed against the car whatsoever but that they could apply to the high court for the posession of the car as it is an asset - has anyone ever had this happen to them? And what do you think the chances are of that happening in reality?

Technically I suppose all my other creditors could also apply for posession of my car but none has...this has got me worried as I need my car to work in order to pay my debts, there is no public transport that could get me here so giving it back isn't an option as I wouldn't have the funds to even buy an old banger....

I'm wondering whether to "sell" it to my OH?

I think a car bought on HP/Loan can be taken back see ...........

below

is it a loan or car hp ????????

If you feel you are struggling with you car on finance you should let the finance company know as soon as possible, as they may be able to help you.
Your lender has the right to take back the goods if you don't keep up your repayments. You'll be sent a notice first, giving you the chance to put things right. But you will have to act quickly - within seven days.



from here

http://www.insolvencyhelpline.co.uk/legal_issues_explained/car_repossession.php

Hax

My agreement explicitly states that the contract can be terminated by handing back the car and paying at least 50% of the loan amount.

pauli

Santander have specifically said it is not secured in any way to the loan on 3 separate occasions, and surely if it was HP they would have just said they were reposessing the car, not passing it on to a debt collection company who said that "giving it back was an option" if i couldn't keep up with the payments....and they wouldn't need to apply to the high court either would they if it was secured?

I don't know, I'm waiting for the letter to arrive from credit style and when it does i've to pass their details on to the CCCS who said they will deal with them directly.

I felt alright until everyone started saying it must be HP Why would they tell me 3 times it wasn't if it was? I'm confused (easily done lol)

ilovebanksMCMLXXXI

pauli wrote: »

Santander have specifically said it is not secured in any way to the loan on 3 separate occasions, and surely if it was HP they would have just said they were reposessing the car, not passing it on to a debt collection company who said that "giving it back was an option" if i couldn't keep up with the payments....and they wouldn't need to apply to the high court either would they if it was secured?

I don't know, I'm waiting for the letter to arrive from credit style and when it does i've to pass their details on to the CCCS who said they will deal with them directly.

I felt alright until everyone started saying it must be HP Why would they tell me 3 times it wasn't if it was? I'm confused (easily done lol)

Have you got that is writing? They can tell you what they want but if it's not it writing it won't stack-up if this goes fruther i.e. if it's not in writing, it didn't happen.

If the car is not on HP and is not subject to security as part of a personal loan then I don't see you have an issue.

As previously posted for you - do a HPi and that will answer your question.

If you can't do that; private message me. I have access to HPi and will have a look for you. Will need the make, model and reg number to do that.

Best of luck

pauli

I had a google last night as i just can't get this off my mind and i found two things which have given me a bit of hope that a Santander Motor Loan IS unsecured after all as they have said:

This is from a thread on website warning people that Santander Motor loans aren't HP therefore you have no comeback if the car is faulty and you decide to withhold payment until it's sorted as because it's a personal loan all that would happen is your credit rating would be affected....
Car Buyers BEWARE SANTANDER

Have just read a thread by Kimbo who bought a faulty car with finance by Santander. Looks like they were taken in like me.
When a car salesman offers you a finance deal, most of us think it's HP.
When you are presented with the finance document to sign, read it VERY CAREFULLY. You may find it's headed "Motor Loan", which i thought was todays terminology for the good old HP. NOT SO!! This agreement is actually for a personal loan and therefore Santander have no interest in the car, only getting loan repaid. Failure to keep up payments, even on a car under dispute, may have an adverse effect on your credit rating.
When dealing with sleezebags in guise of car salesmen, tell them what kind of finance you require--HP, lease purchase or whatever.

You have no comeback with a personal loan.

And an archived thread from this very site last December with someone else in an identical position to me:

http://cc.bingj.com/cache.aspx?q=motor+loan+santander+moneysaving+expert&d=5052037019140209&mkt=en-GB&setlang=en-GB&w=546c50ee,9bbc504b

I am awaiting the results of an hpi check just to be 100% certain but it looks like my car isn't secured to the loan, fingers, toes and everything crossed.

saltnvinegar

Hi Pauli

You need to get a definitive answer on this. Asking forum members for advice or searching google when you don't have anything in writing from Santander is not going to give you this.

This is why you are getting mixed responses as no-one knows exactly what the situation is including yourself.

As some have already suggested a good way of doing this is to run a HPI check on the car registration and see if a notice of interest (which is what there would be if the car is on HP) is applied to it.

I know this may cost a few £ but it will be money well spent as it will save any surprises further down the line or show the threats of the DCA for what they are - just threats.

Best

SnV

pauli wrote: »

I had a google last night as i just can't get this off my mind and i found two things which have given me a bit of hope that a Santander Motor Loan IS unsecured after all as they have said:

This is from a thread on website warning people that Santander Motor loans aren't HP therefore you have no comeback if the car is faulty and you decide to withhold payment until it's sorted as because it's a personal loan all that would happen is your credit rating would be affected....
Car Buyers BEWARE SANTANDER

Have just read a thread by Kimbo who bought a faulty car with finance by Santander. Looks like they were taken in like me.
When a car salesman offers you a finance deal, most of us think it's HP.
When you are presented with the finance document to sign, read it VERY CAREFULLY. You may find it's headed "Motor Loan", which i thought was todays terminology for the good old HP. NOT SO!! This agreement is actually for a personal loan and therefore Santander have no interest in the car, only getting loan repaid. Failure to keep up payments, even on a car under dispute, may have an adverse effect on your credit rating.
When dealing with sleezebags in guise of car salesmen, tell them what kind of finance you require--HP, lease purchase or whatever.

You have no comeback with a personal loan.

And an archived thread from this very site last December with someone else in an identical position to me:

http://cc.bingj.com/cache.aspx?q=motor+loan+santander+moneysaving+expert&d=5052037019140209&mkt=en-GB&setlang=en-GB&w=546c50ee,9bbc504b

I am awaiting the results of an hpi check just to be 100% certain but it looks like my car isn't secured to the loan, fingers, toes and everything crossed.

Tixy

Hi

Do you have your original agreement? if you have then it will be clear from that. As others with HP have noted on this thread if its secured then it will have a clause in about repossession and the termination clause about handing back the car (as Hax's has). If yours doesn't have that then its definitely a different agreement and is likely unsecured.

pauli

Tixy wrote: »

Hi

Do you have your original agreement? if you have then it will be clear from that. As others with HP have noted on this thread if its secured then it will have a clause in about repossession and the termination clause about handing back the car (as Hax's has). If yours doesn't have that then its definitely a different agreement and is likely unsecured.

I stupidly binned it, when i started my DMP with the CCCS i got rid of all the paperwork from my debts, it felt quite good at the time but with hindsight was a bit daft...it is definitely a "Motor Loan" though and not HP and the cached thread i linked to in my last post was for the exact same thing, and someone on there did say even though credit style (who it turns out are an in-house DCA) are quite agressive and persistent and will eventually take you to court they have no grounds for taking the car back at all.

the HPi is going to be key here to 100% confirm it but from what i've read and been told by santander so far i am fairly hopeful.

Tixy

Might be as easy to go with the HPI option. But as an alternative you could request a copy of the original CCA from the creditor (or whoever is chasing you now) - template - http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showpost.html?p=33791621&postcount=11