OR call yesterday - car being taken

singingsister

So we had our OR calls yesterday.

They want our car. Which means we either have to find over a thousand pounds to give the OR for the value of our car or we have to loose the car meaning I have to hand in my notice at work as it's not accessible without a car.

One thing I don't understand is that they just accepted the value we put on our SOA. We could have made that up. The valuation I got was online from WeBuyAnyCar. My dad thinks I should take the car somewhere to get it valued and see if it's valued less than the online valuation I got (especially considering the massive dent in the door which happened in the snow last year). I mean seriously, by the time they get the interior of the car cleaned properly from baby sick and baby cr*p, get rid of all the key marks over the paintwork where the car has been keyed and get a new passenger rear door - I reckon it will cost more than the cars value. Especially as it's a 6 year old car!

What's really harsh is the OR said they don't care if they get the car or the cash equivelent of the car. Makes everything I worked for to get the car and pay it off worthless.

Me needing it for work and for us to take our daughter to nursery seemingly isn't a reason for us to keep the car.

They didn't mention us having to lose our mobile phones which relieved me. I was worried that as our contracts are £35 a month each they'd say we had to go PAYG. But they didn't.

The only other thing is I'm getting a nil tax code and the money I would pay tax goes to the OR rather than to the inland revenue. Although they can't set it up that the OR gets the money straight from my pay before I see it (like tax). I have to arrange with moonbeavers that I set up a SO for the amount of tax to pay them each month. Very annoying.

My dad is trying to see if he can pull some money out of his pension to buy our car. But we don't know. However we can appeal (like there's any point) or we have 14 days from the receipt of the letter to either pay up or get the car taken away.



Sarah

Ineedaname

I've been keeping an eye on car prices lately as I need to buy one in a few months, any I've seen for less than a grand are more than 8 years old, so I don't think your valuation is far out.

Can you get to work via public transport or within a half hour's walk, and if not did you explain that to the OR?

Paying tax over to Moonbeever is standard and just the way it's set up, everyone who gets a nil tax code has to do that.

fermi

How much did you say the car was worth? Who paid for the car originally?

You say it's needed for your work?

If there are reasonable alternatives travelling to work, then it's hard for them to consider it an exempt asset. The car must be essential for your domestic needs, not just convenient if you see what I mean.

May well be worth 'appealing'. Basically that would mean the assistant OR (their boss) reviewing the decision the examiner made.

singingsister

It would take me easily over an hour to get to work (2 or 3 buses) whereas the car journey takes 15 minutes. Losing the car would also mean that our daughter couldn't go to nursery as the nursery is near my work. It's another 5 minutes car ride away but it would mean another bus journey on top of the journey to and from work each Monday (she only goes to nursery on a monday). If the OR thinks I'm subjecting my 23 month old daugher to leaving the house at 6am on a freezing cold winters morning they've got another thing coming!

When the OR told my husband (car is in his name but insurance is in my name as main policy holder), he obviously relayed it to me and I obviously burst into tears. My hubby told the OR how upset I was and tried to reason with him and he said he would speak to his boss before he called me for my interview.

When the OR spoke to me, he said he had asked his boss and his boss had said no. So surely appealing won't make a blind bit of difference.

I know not everyone is lucky to own a car in this day and age but it would mean us having to stop lots of things. For example, I perform in musicals. It's my "me time" and actually performing arts is something I trained in so it's important to me to keep it up. I rehearse once a week and then show week am at the theatre 6 days. If I didn't have a car I couldn't get to rehearsal or to the theatre. I know to some people it's not important but harsh as this sounds, if I couldn't perform (and the socialising with my friends that comes part and parcel at rehearsal), I'd be one very unhappy and depressed person.


When I said I would have to hand in my notice, the OR just didn't care and said there was nothing they could do.

I'm not fussed about the tax bit - I don't normally see the money anyhow so I don't really care who gets it! It's just a pain that I have to arranged a SO to pay it out each month.

I feel it so unfair. From all the research I have done, I've found out there are no hard and fast rules behind keeping cars/phones etc. Yes we got into debt ourselves but it only became unmanagable as I was made redundnat when I was pregnant and then my husband was made redundant soon after.

I could firstly understand if we had a brand spanking new car....but we don't. Secondly, I could also understand if we'd gone bankrupt as we'd been naughty - embezzled money or something but we haven't. And it seems SOOOO unfair.

Also, I believe you are allowed an allowance for things like SKY tv, and some OR's allow a budget for holidays. Now we don't have sky - and haven't been on holiday in years. So why should we lose our only freedom - the car. It's just not fair (sorry to sound like a teenager!)

Sarah

debtinfo

Are they taking the car because it is not needed or because it is of excessive value

singingsister

Forgot to say -we paid for the car. It was originally on HP but that's was all paid off before we went BR.

tigerfeet2006

Is it because it belongs to your DH who is not working? Would he need a car to find work and get to interviews job centre etc.

singingsister

They didn't say why they wanted the car. Only the car is registered to my hubby and it's considered an asset.

My hubby doesn't necessary need the car to get to interviews and he doesn't use it to sign on - but if I need to tell the OR that he needs it for that to strengthen our case to keep it then I will!

Hubby said if we can't find someone to buy the car and the OR says they are going to collect it - then he'll write it off. He said he'd rather no-one have it than give it to the OR. Especially as we've paid the car off and actually own it.

singingsister

It just seems SOOOOOO unfair!

tigerfeet2006

That's why then, it is an asset in your husbands BR. He is the legal owner and he does not need it as a necessity so they want it or the money. I think I said something like that may happen when you first started posting.

So you need to either buy the beneficial interest or see if your dad could buy you a cheaper car.

Has the OR given you a travel allowance for getting to work?

singingsister

Nothing was mentioned. We did put in our SOA petrol costs etc which included me getting to work but not public transport which will cost alot more than the petrol. Which actually we can't afford!

Our SOA we submitted gives us a surplus income of something like £3 (and thats with food shopping and nappies only at £250 a month) so I would have no alternative but to give up work as we wouldn't be able to afford the public transport costs (£2 each bus times 2 buses each way makes £8 a day....which on an approximately 25 day working month makes £200 a month!) Petrol is a lot less than that!

Grrrrr