Urgent help needed - Santander nightmare

nickdj

Sorry to hassle you again.

My wife currently has a car on which she got an unsecured loan. She has been having problems paying then the £200 a month they want and they are being complete ******(insert appropriate word here).

I have contacted them in writing to advise that we are facing financial problems and offer to make a token gesture. She has even called them and they just don't give a ****. We have gone to them for help but they harrass us and make our lives hell.

We have just had a letter saying that they are going to take the car off us later this month and then she will owe whatever is left from the auction price. She would actually owe more than the car was purchased for!

Can anyone help? They are not helping at all my wife needs a car in order to get to work and for the children. I now have the rest of the family (on her side) on my case telling me to get a loan and I said this cannot be done. If she goes to court then all they will get off her is what she offered (£10 per month).

What should we do if they are being unhelpful?

ILW

I acn see their point.
The fact that she needs are car is not the banks concern.

dancingfairy

it depends very much on the finance on the car - whether it is an generic unsecured loan from the bank which could be used for any purpose - ie new kitchen, new car, holiday - whatever or whether it is hp or what.
If it is HP or a loan secured on the car then certain rules say they can take the car back. You need to dig the paperwork out and read it very carefully and see what it says - post back and I'm sure someone can explain further to you if you know what type of finance it is.
df

dancingfairy

P.S You may get a more sympathetic hearing on the debt-free wannabe board and help - some of the other boards (apart from dfw) are full of people who like nothing better than to point out others mistakes and I would hate that to happen.
df

dancingfairy

ILW wrote: »

I acn see their point.
The fact that she needs are car is not the banks concern.

I agree with this point although it is a bit blunt and to the point - they are not a charity etc and frankly will not care about why she needs the car - they will just want their money
df

nickdj

If we have advised them several times we are in financial difficulty due to change of employement and have made offers as a temporary measure surely they are supposed to offer some kind of assistance?

I keep getting calls from a 'Bainst & Ernst' who say they can manage our debts for a monthly fee. I've been trying to avoid this as I am not sure they have any more power to help.

chalkie99

But this is not the whole story is it?

You have had a few threads about this over the last few months and, generally, it seems your wife got herself into this mess by chopping and changing cars and merrily signing up to finance agreements without carefully considering what she was taking on.

She might "need" a car but it doesn't have to be something expensive so sell what she has and pay down the debt as much as possible, then buy a banger to tide her through until you sort yourselves out.

You reckoned you were going to sell it in October so why is it still a problem?

BackOnTrack

First off ignore Bainst and Ernst there are several companies, such as CCCS, who will help you manage your debts for free. As already said if the loan is secured against the car in any way they can and will repossess it and you are liable for any outstanding amount. The bank do not care about helping you they only care about getting as much of their money back as soon as possible, they do not care about coming to a reduced monthly payment if they can get a chunk of their cash back in a shorter amount of time. Once they have sold your car you will probably be able to arrange a reduced monthly payment for the outstanding amount as that is their only prospect they have of getting their money back. Unfortunatley that is the way it works banks would rather have £3 today than £6 in a year. Unless you can pay off the arrears you will almost certainly have yoru car repossessed.

standupguy

there is a basic question that does not seem to have been answered?

You say it is an unsecured loan - in which case the car cannot be repossessed as the Finance company do not have title to it.

You should, as another poster suggested, check the agreement to confirm exactly what type of Finance this is.

nickdj

Thanks for your help.

We had planned to get rid of the car last year but unfortunately not found a buyer. The plan was to sell it off and then pay Santander a small mothly payment for the owed amout.

The last option is to sell it to 'we buy any car' and then pay Santander an amount after getting a cheap banger.

The problem we are facing is that if they take it off her then they are likely to sell it for pittance and then she has no car.

Think that's best?

ILW

If it is an HP type agreement, you cannot sell the car.