Huge car loan arrears - they're coming out to see me - help please

One_Fine_Day_2

Hello,

Due to general foolishness, and a husband who left me with two small children and doesn't pay us anything, this has been a horrendous year bills-wise.

My car loan with Black Horse is £175, but including charges, I am now £2000 in arrears and it's been passed onto 'Credit Style' to deal with. They are coming to my house to discuss it on Thursday afternoon, and have insisted it must be done this way rather than over the phone because they need to see that I still have posession of the car.

I suppose my first question is whether it's wise to let them in the house - my natural inclination is that it may not be a good idea to let people I owe money to into my home in case it then legally enables them to return, and I'll be there alone with two small children if it gets unpleasant in any way. However, I don't want to get their backs up as I really do wish to sort this out as I'm desperate not to lose the car, and I'm certainly not doing it on the doorstep for the nosey neighbours to hear.

My second question relates to my budget - they've asked me to have a list of my income and expenditure ready, and the man on the phone told me they will aim to clear the arrears in 3 months (fat chance!), 6 months (not possible either), a year, "or longer in extreme circumstances". Now realistically I could pay them £260 a month to cover the regular payment and some arrears, which would clear it in 24 months, but I need to justify this to them I suppose.

I do have a decent job and, with tax credits etc, earn £2500 a month, but since the husband left it's the nursery fees which are crippling me. When one negotiates a payment with one of these companies, what is a reasonable figure to leave oneself with after all rent, bills, petrol to work, nursery fees etc have been paid? This would leave me £400 a month for food, clothes etc - does that sound like an amount reasonable for a woman and two under 6 year olds? Or will they be looking for me to have less than that and pay them back more swiftly?

Thanks in advance.

mildredalien

Hi,

are these people bailiffs/debt collection agents? If so, and I would suspect they are, I would certainly not let them in and insist that all discussions take place by letter.

I can't offer much help about the specific issue apart from that, although I would suggest posting up an SOA (statement of affairs) so we can offer some advice about your income/outgoings and where you could reduce or what is reasonable to keep in.

shinkyshonky

Always take the adage...if you offer them something, they will have to accept....it`s when no-one offers or disappears that they turn the screw , but do not leave yourself in poverty, I think your offer is more than reasonable, I would offer £240, just in case things got more worse, i.e emergency cash situation, unexpected bill

shinkyshonky

mildredalien wrote: »

Hi,

are these people bailiffs/debt collection agents? If so, and I would suspect they are, I would certainly not let them in and insist that all discussions take place by letter.

Oh yes...I would reccomend this too

One_Fine_Day_2

Thanks folks - so, should I phone them and say by all means they can come by and look at the car, but that all discussions about payment need to take place by letter? I suppose what I'm afraid of is that they'll then just reposess the car without further notice. They are indeed debt collection agents.

Your help is much appreciated.

dancingfairy

Hi - what is the agreement on the finance? Is it hp or a loan dressed up to look like hp. You need to find out exactly what it is.
You also need to see what the surrender terms are - sometimes depending on what type of finance it is you can hand the car back at a certain point - I think it's 2/3 of the payments and not be liable for any more.
The problem is going to be if they repossess the car and you are still liable for the payments.
How much is your car costing you to run? Can you hand it back? Can you use public transport for a month or 2 and save up until you can afford a second hand car - using the odd taxi? It might be cheaper than running a car.
I'm not sure how amenable car loan/hp people are to setting up repayment plans - have a look on National Debtline as there is almost certainly a fasctsheet on this type of thing.
Best of Luck
df

One_Fine_Day_2

Not sure as to hp/loan issue - Black Horse finance arranged through the dealership so I suspect HP, but will dig out the paperwork tonight and check.

Losing the car would be a nightmare, even short term - two children to drop off at different childcare miles apart, then a ten mile journey to work involving train then bus. Wouldn't be able to get home in time for childcare ending which would then incur higher costs for them to stay there longer...

Hence, I'm going to have to play the game and agree to their terms - surely I qualify as "in extreme circumstances"? I hope so anyway.

rising_from_the_ashes

Sorry to hear things are rough ..... def post up a Statement of Affairs and you'll get loads of help/tips with what is "reasonable" for your family to live/survive on.

Once done (and any rework following the advice), you can send this to them with a letter - I certainly wouldn't be letting them into the house....

chanz4

I get a feeling they maybe trying to get you to give the car up, they dont have powers to take anything without a court order. Some lenders prefer face to face as it gets rid of the porkie pie tellers. Even if you let them in, they cant do anything as they are not baliffs

MrsTinks

Really without an SOA it's hard to say what is reasonable...

£400 is a lot but it depends on what it's supposed to cover... is it just food and clothes and "entertainment"? If so then yes it'll probably be something they have an issue with... Unless your children have specialist nutritional demands or something.
For 3 of you you should easily be able to cover food for under £200 a month, £20 for entertainment and £20-£30 for clothes. So £250 a month - but if the £400 also covers fuel and other things then it's very different if you see what I mean?

mustmakealist

Perhaps you need to look at it from the angle of 'what do I need each month' and then consider offering then what's left rather than trying to scrimp on what you have left after they have had what they want.

You may also be able to offer a sensible review period eg if next September one of the children would be starting school and there would be a reduction in your childcare costs.

'they've asked me to have a list of my income and expenditure ready'

If you do an SOA and post it on here people will offer suggestions and advice and you can use those income and expenditure figures for whoever needs them HTH