HP Voluntary Termination

treasach

Hi all,

I'm planning to VT my HP agreement with Santander and I'm wondering if there is anything I should be aware of.

I made the half way payment last month on the 12th and I emailed on the 28th once the car had been taxed and tested stating I want to VT.

The car is a 54 plate so has a few stone chips etc which I am going to sort and interior is spotless, I've had the car checked by an independent garage who have said there are no faults with the car.

So I guess my question is, what cheeky tricks can I expect from Santander? how are they going to try and extract more money from me and what can I do about it?

Thanks for your help
Si

SeanG79

Provided you haven't breached the contract (ie. late payments) then it should be pretty straight forward.

Car condition needs to be in a condition expected of its age and mileage, a 54 plate I would expect some stone chips, not sure you would need to have those repaired...

treasach

When we first took the agreement two and a half years ago there was an issue with the dd, but it turned out to be there end, we ended up having to set up a standing order as they couldn't set a dd, all payments have been upto to date since

SeanG79

That should be OK. If they have not yet responded to your email, I would notify them in writing via recorded delivery as opposed to calling or emailing.

treasach

I've just received an email stating my request has been passed onto the VT team who will be in touch shortly, I'll keep you posted, fingers crossed it will be straight forward, I can't be bothered with loads of messing about!!

SeanG79

Out of curiosity, are you looking at getting another vehicle on finance to replace this one? I'm assuming that the vehicle is in negative equity that you are opting for the VT?

treasach

No we have another car that we own outright, abit of a long story but 3 years ago I got married and to be able to afford the wedding I sold my GTR and used the money from that, at the time both me and my wife needed a car each so I took the Hp but now she doesn't work

I would never go down the HP route again! can't wait till its finished

As regard the negative equity, I've paid 4500 so far and I guess the car is worth maybe 3k?

SeanG79

Ok, What Santander will do is put a VT mark next to the agreement on your credit file. That is not adverse and wont impact on obtaining future credit (loans, mortgages, etc.) but if you applied for vehicle finance again with Santander, they may only offer you reduced terms e.g. 3 years or 42 months as a max. term when you want 5 years.

If you can avoid finance on a vehicle, its never a bad thing!

treasach

Ah right, thanks for letting me know, I've had the car checked by a mechanic as well and in his opinion the car has no faults what so ever, should I take pics of the car before it goes to make sure they dont try and pull a fast one?

SeanG79

I would keep a copy of the mechanics report and if possible send a copy of it back with the car. Yes take pictures showing the state of the car.

To be fair the VT is fairly straight forward as much as the lenders don't like doing it.

treasach

I hope so

How will it work if they drag there heals long enough my next payment is due on the 12th? Will I have to pay it even though I've reached the VT figured stated and I've given them plenty of notice?