Car Termination! Please, Please Help!

fionau1125

Hello

Apologies if i have posted this in the wrong place.

I took out car finance at Carcaft back in April 2010 with Marsh Finance. On my Agreement with them it says i can give the car back after 2 years or when i reach half of the amount owed, i can give the car back free of charge.

However, i run a small business as a Locksmith and over the past few months i have had to lay staff off due to lack of work and things have now got that bad that i am struggling to pay my bills due to people not paying me on time or the wrong amounts.

In April i couldn't afford to make my car payment until the begining of May due to a cheque bouncing on me. I contact them in May to make the payment and tell them i wanted to give the car back, they said that is not possible as i have another payment due in a couple of days and if i make that payment on time i can give the car back, obviously that was not going to happen as i had just made a payment, so i told them i couldn't pay until the end of the month....so they said okay but you cant give the car back. The end of the month came and i was awaiting a cheque to turn up, i told them the begining of June that i can make Mays payment now as the cheque has cleared and then begged and pleaded with them to let me hand the car back as i had reached half way and couldn't afford it. The answer was i need to clear the arrears and be clear at least 2 weeks before the next payment to give it back or they can repossess it for me. Repossession is not an option as i have just spend the last 5 years trying to clean up my credit rating and can't have a repossession on file to kill me for another 6 years.

I can afford the car but i just don't get paid on time or the right amount.

I begged and pleaded with Marsh in April, May and June to let me hand the car back but there staff are so rude and unhelpful and will not let me speak to a manager.

Suprise, Suprise i have had a letter saying they are repossessing the Car next week and i can either drop it off myself, pay £7000 or i will have it recovered through court proceedings.

Can anyone help me in this matter?

All i want to do is give the car back voluntarily without it ruining my credit file. Any ideas? I can't speak to any managers so don't know what to do.

Mara69

If I am reading this correctly, you made late payments in April, May and June? Did you make a payment in July? If so, this is going to have a detrimental impact on your credit file. I think that now they've started proceedings your only hope is to get your payments straight and then hand the car back.

fionau1125

Hi There,

Yes, you are correct.

Aprils payment was paid first week in May

Mays payment was paid first week in June

Junes payment was paid second week in July

and i am due a cheque to clear tomorrow so was going to make July's payment tomorrow but after reading the termination letter i dont know what to do.

Like i mentioned i can't afford to catch up as i dont have the funds to give the car back.

Thanks

Apples2

This will be far from easy, with Carcraft involved, even less easy.

The VT Clause where you hand the car beck is a contractual clause which many exploit.

When you fell into default (arrears) you broke the contract so many finance companies will no longer entertain any suggestion of VT.
The contract has become worthless as you broke it's terms so can longer exploit this option.

The missed/late payment markers will already be wandering toward your credit file, too late to do anything about that now.

It's almost a positive that they have offered you the option to catch up with payments and VT the car but Carcraft do not have a good reputation, expect there to be some fallout if you can do this.

The alternative is allow it to be repo'd, where it will be sold for a minimum amount and they chase you to make up the shortfall, this could be well into the thousands.

The best option is to take them up on the offer to clear the arrears and VT the car, there is little wriggle room but this option is the best of a bad bunch.

Good luck

fionau1125

Hi There

Thanks for the reply

I have already had the letter now saying that i have until the 8th August to return it to them or pay the £7000 remaining to buy the car. I have already paid £7000 for the car over the 2 years and it is only a 2006 Mini One...big errors with Carcraft whhich i wont go into but if they send it to Auction it will only fetch about £3000 if Lucky so i still have to pay back the £4000 which i dont have.

I had a CCJ 6 years ago due to being ripped off really badly and a Solicitor screwing me over and it has ruined my life, no one will help as i have a CCJ, i cant move house, i cant release funds....honestly my life couldnt get any worse and now i have the fear of a repo on my credit file for another 6 years...i may as well just end it all.

So basically i have no hope :0( ?

Gareth19

A few years back I had a big issue with a finance company regarding VT when they tried the old chestnut that I had in fact VS (voluntary surrendered) instead. It went on for years with them threatening to take me to court for over £9000! I stood my ground and in the end just before the court hearing they backed down and closed the case. The fact seems to be that VT is an option but as has been mentioned above, for it to work you have to have stuck to the contract to the letter. If they can stop you from VT on any little technicality they will! Therefore as you admit you have not paid on time and in accordance with the contract I would say unfortunately a VT option for you is fairly non existant. Why would the finance company want the car back (and sell it for a few grand as you say) when they can make it difficult and get a few grand more?

Apples2

fionau1125 wrote: »

honestly my life couldnt get any worse and now i have the fear of a repo on my credit file for another 6 years...i may as well just end it all.

So basically i have no hope :0( ?

It's only a car my friend, if you can't pay you can't pay, nobody is going to flog you for it.

Worse case is it goes to Court where you demonstrate you can only afford £2 a Month, sounds like this is your position, the Judge instructs them to halt interest and you give them a couple of quid a month.

If this job is too much, get out, apply for a normal regular job like the rest of us, get an income and never look back.

Reduce your stress, stay positive and start smiling. It always seems much worsed than it is.... all this for a mini?

There are more than enough on the bankruptcy board who are enjoying a debt free life even without opportunities for credit.

Stay positive.

DCFC79

Definitely dont get stressed over a mini, its only a car.

stephane_2

Tell them to get stuff....that they either accept the car back without any penalties or you are willing to go to court....if you can't afford it then likely that court will be in your favor. Just be firm with them & stand your ground....it's only a car...not the end of the world

EG-36

Not sure if i'm posting in the right place, so apologies if i'm not!

Anyway... This is a long story!

We bought a Corsa from Carcraft in December 2007 financed by Marsh Finance, paid okay for the first 12 months but struggled when I lost my job in January 2009. The result was that we got into arrears and were issued with a default notice, the car was given back to them in April 2009 and as advised by Marsh Finance we waited to hear about the outstanding figure.

We received a statement to tell us that the car had been sold at auction for £3250 at the end of May 2009. They also mentioned in this statment a rebate amount of £3887, but didn't fully explain what this was. Both of these figures were reflected on his credit score and the debt was reduced accordingly. In June 2009 the outstanding figure on the credit report was showing at £3784 - exactly correct for the money we had paid monthly and the sale price of the car and mystery rebate.

As we have had previous awful experiences when dealing with Marsh, I awaited contact from their solicitor so that I could deal with someone more polite. This was eventaully sent in January 2011 (!) when we received a county court judgement for ca £13,000! I immediately contacted the FSA after having many delightful chats with both Marsh and Bermans Solicitors, I instigated a complaint ref the amount on the CCJ, in the meantime the CCJ was passed and an interim charging order placed on our property. The FSA ruled that the additioanl interest of £9 per day was unfair as Mrash had made no effort whatsoever to discuss the debt with me for over 18 months. Marsh agreed to drop some of the interest and we started monthly payments of £130 in May 2011. We have paid this amount every month and when I phoned to request the outstanding figure earlier this month was told £1314. This matches the credit file figure. However, when I asked for this in writing they told me it's still £5201.70! When I queried this with the 'Post Termination Department' they told me that this is because the rebate of £3887 was never applied as it was their decision not to apply this. I then asked why the other lady gave me another figure and was told 'they use a different system'. I then mentioned the credit report figures show the rebate being applied and she replied 'well it's not been applied and we won't apply it'

I have never dealt with such an awful company, all I want is an explanation! We have paid in total around £5000 for a car we had for a year and I just can't get any sense from them.

Please help!

DCFC79

EG-36 wrote: »

Not sure if i'm posting in the right place, so apologies if i'm not!

Anyway... This is a long story!

We bought a Corsa from Carcraft in December 2007 financed by Marsh Finance, paid okay for the first 12 months but struggled when I lost my job in January 2009. The result was that we got into arrears and were issued with a default notice, the car was given back to them in April 2009 and as advised by Marsh Finance we waited to hear about the outstanding figure.

We received a statement to tell us that the car had been sold at auction for £3250 at the end of May 2009. They also mentioned in this statment a rebate amount of £3887, but didn't fully explain what this was. Both of these figures were reflected on his credit score and the debt was reduced accordingly. In June 2009 the outstanding figure on the credit report was showing at £3784 - exactly correct for the money we had paid monthly and the sale price of the car and mystery rebate.

As we have had previous awful experiences when dealing with Marsh, I awaited contact from their solicitor so that I could deal with someone more polite. This was eventaully sent in January 2011 (!) when we received a county court judgement for ca £13,000! I immediately contacted the FSA after having many delightful chats with both Marsh and Bermans Solicitors, I instigated a complaint ref the amount on the CCJ, in the meantime the CCJ was passed and an interim charging order placed on our property. The FSA ruled that the additioanl interest of £9 per day was unfair as Mrash had made no effort whatsoever to discuss the debt with me for over 18 months. Marsh agreed to drop some of the interest and we started monthly payments of £130 in May 2011. We have paid this amount every month and when I phoned to request the outstanding figure earlier this month was told £1314. This matches the credit file figure. However, when I asked for this in writing they told me it's still £5201.70! When I queried this with the 'Post Termination Department' they told me that this is because the rebate of £3887 was never applied as it was their decision not to apply this. I then asked why the other lady gave me another figure and was told 'they use a different system'. I then mentioned the credit report figures show the rebate being applied and she replied 'well it's not been applied and we won't apply it'

I have never dealt with such an awful company, all I want is an explanation! We have paid in total around £5000 for a car we had for a year and I just can't get any sense from them.

Please help!

You would have been better off starting your own thread than dragging up an old 1.