Car on Finance

BearRug

Hi all,

I was made bankrupt last January, but to date I am still driving my hire purchase vehicle from Welcome Car Finance!

They contacted me at the time advising they would call me back to organise collecting the vehicle from me, but never did.

I have called and written to them twice with no response and want to get a new vehicle this year - now successfully debt free!

What's the deal with the car? Do I have to contact them and return the vehicle? If so, will they try and recover any charges from me? Would my bankruptcy have been covered by my PPI? If so do I get to keep the car?

Heard rumours Welcome Car might have gone bust - is this true?

I applied for new documents for it recently and was sent registered keeper docs in red saying something like 'this person does not own the vehicle', etc. Can I sell it?

As always - any help greatly appreciated x

silvercar

If you don't own it you can't sell it.

I applied for new documents for it recently and was sent registered keeper docs in red saying something like 'this person does not own the vehicle', etc. Can I sell it?

Is it taxed? Insured?

Are you paying the HP?

BearRug

Is taxed, MOTed and insured.

The account used to pay the HP was closed down as part of my bankruptcy, so haven't been paying that since.

The branch I had it from has closed down and my letters to the head office have not been responded to.

NeverAgain_2

A little bit of Googling reveals Welcome Car Finance are not taking any new business as of this month.

They have been declared in default by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (fscs), but the website is still running and there are contact details for existing customers.

http://www.wfs.co.uk/


The fscs side of the story is here:

http://www.fscs.org.uk/news/2011/march/fscs-declares-welcome-financial-7pghpepm/index.html

silvercar

My personal opinion is that the finance people should have collected it after bankruptcy, but didn't. At that point the HP would have gone into your bankruptcy and the car returned. Given that didn't happen, everything that happened to the car post bankruptcy is up for grabs.

My personal opinion only, if you had left the car for collection it would now have a value XX. Given that you had the use of it and did use it, it will have dropped in value by whatever mileage you have done, so I'm wondering if the finance people could try and claim something from you for loss of value. I once researched the value each extra 1,000 miles had on a 4 year old particular car and it worked out at about £20. Then again you could try claiming storage costs??

If you had written it off, would the insurance have paid you or the finance company?

BearRug

Thanks guys - all very interesting.

If you were in my shoes, what would you do?

Keep quiet?

Email Welcome Finance for advice?

NeverAgain_2

...If you were in my shoes, what would you do?...

It's quite clear what you should do, as I'm sure you know very well.

However, there needs to be an element of common sense in all things.

If the car is worth very little, perhaps there's no point in rocking the boat.

silvercar

Maybe the car is excluded from bankruptcy as the HP was secured on the car. So its only the fact that you have gone bankrupt (and stopped paying for it) means they are recalling the car.

Its clearly not your car to sell.

The absolute correct course of action is to contact them to collect it, but it is them that have failed to collect so I can understand the reluctance to do their work.

There is the risk I suspect that they could at some point claim you should pay something for having had the use of it. Again this depends on its value and how much your use has devalued it.

gillypkk

i would maybe go to CAB and ask them or alternatively send a letter registered post to Welcome and ask for the vehicle to be collect as soon as possible.

also on the registration documents - its normal to say that the name on there is not the owner as the owner of a vehicle and the registered keeper do not have to be the same person. its a disclaimer of sorts from the DVLA as alot of people think registration documents are proof of ownership so dont worry about that.

silvercar

What would worry me is that it isn't yours any longer, it belongs to the finance people. So I wonder whether you have the owner's consent to use it.

If you had a crash, would the insurer try and wriggle out of paying on the grounds that you have no insurable interest in it? It could all explode, the insurer denying liability and the finance company saying driving without consent, which would be a criminal matter.

debtinfo

First check that it was HP and not aother tye of finance.

If it is HP then you cannot sell the vehicle.

You wont be liable for any shortfall if and when they take the car back, it will then fall into the bankruptcy.

You should contact them if you canot pay the finance