Car respossession

charitycase

I have a car which was bought second hand from the Ford dealership towards the end of 2009. It was bought on a hire purchase (I think! Im not sure what the credit arrangement was...) with Ford credit. I recently became unemployed and have not been able to keep up payments on the car. The original arrangement was for a 5 year term. Ford credit have now sold the debt to another financial management company who are not willing to let me set up a payment plan with reduced payment till I get back into employment again. Instead, they are demanding that I pay the full outstanding amount right away. If not, they have stated that they will take the car from me.

I was wondering if anyone can advice me on this matter, or if anyone has been in a similar situation. Is there a way to buy more time with this? I need the car mainly for job interviews since the nature of the jobs I apply for require me to travel anywhere in the UK.

Moreover, I have just taxed and MOT'd the car. I realise that the debt company wouldnt care about this, but does it give me any extended time?

The company is called Link Financial, though initial contact was made by another company named IDR finance.

Thank you for reading through this long post, and for any advice that you can give me!

Chopper_Read

charitycase wrote: »

I have a car which was bought second hand from the Ford dealership towards the end of 2009. It was bought on a hire purchase (I think! Im not sure what the credit arrangement was...) with Ford credit. I recently became unemployed and have not been able to keep up payments on the car. The original arrangement was for a 5 year term. Ford credit have now sold the debt to another financial management company who are not willing to let me set up a payment plan with reduced payment till I get back into employment again. Instead, they are demanding that I pay the full outstanding amount right away. If not, they have stated that they will take the car from me.

I was wondering if anyone can advice me on this matter, or if anyone has been in a similar situation. Is there a way to buy more time with this? I need the car mainly for job interviews since the nature of the jobs I apply for require me to travel anywhere in the UK.

Moreover, I have just taxed and MOT'd the car. I realise that the debt company wouldnt care about this, but does it give me any extended time?

The company is called Link Financial, though initial contact was made by another company named IDR finance.

Thank you for reading through this long post, and for any advice that you can give me!

No, why should it?

TrickyWicky

Sorry to say I think you're on a looser here. Let them take the car, it will be a millstone round your neck while out of work. Get yourself a cheap banger (I know its not ideal) and just be done and dusted with the stress of the ford and finances.

Sorry, I know that sounds harsh but once its gone its gone and that should be the end of it (unless the car is worth less than the outstanding finance - then you're really in a pickle - make sure you clean the hell out of it before it goes!).

Angry_Fanboy

Without trying to sound obtuse, if you're unable to make the payments as things stand how to you foresee being able to make the payments on any repayment plan the new company was to agree to?

I don't say this to mock, but rather point out that it might simply encourage further debt or merely draw out the inevitable happening and cost you more money in the long run.

As others have said, you might just have to accept this one is out of your hands unfortunately.

Ectophile

Your taxing and MOTing the car makes no difference to the finance company. However, if they are about to re-possess the car, you might want to take out the tax disc, so you can get a refund on it.

vaio

You need to find out exactly what sort of finance it is as that might affect the legality of them repossessing the car. Do they need a court order?

if you don't want to keep it the best bet might be to look into a voluntary termination as I think you could end up in a better position financially than if they repossess.

forgotmyname

As above...

Can you beg/ Borrow and sell stuff to pay more than 50% of the original price?

If you can then VT it. They take it back and no court orders or debt collectors etc...

You can replace the stuff you sold knowing you wont have people knocking on the door asking for money.

Whats the value of the car compared to what you owe?

If it goes to auction and fetches a lot less you may still get a bill for the shortfall.

Tilt

Whoah! A lot will depend on how much the OP has paid off and whether he has paid off a certain amount (i think it's about 50% of the amount financed) to whether the car can be re-possessed without a court order.

I have heard a lot about Link (loads of bad stuff on CAG about them)... basically they buy bad debts from finance co's for a minimum amount but pursue the 'customer' for the full outstanding amount. They don't exactly play by the book apparently.

colino

If the finance co. has sold on the debt you know you have exhausted all of the feasible options (you could have handed it back even!). Take the tax disc off, cash it in and get on to gumtree and look for an affordable option. You might even be lucky and they will not chase you for the gap between their total bill and the auction net sale.

Tilt

colino wrote: »

If the finance co. has sold on the debt you know you have exhausted all of the feasible options (you could have handed it back even!). Take the tax disc off, cash it in and get on to gumtree and look for an affordable option. You might even be lucky and they will not chase you for the gap between their total bill and the auction net sale.

Not necessarily! A lot will hinge on the original finance agreement. Remember, the OP has NO agreement with Link.

Here's just one thread of many about Link on CAG;
http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?381832-Link-financial-outsourcing-amp-old-GE-money-debt&highlight=Link

James1968

Just keep sending them a cheque each month for £1 as a token payment.
If you do that, then if/when they go to Court for a repo order (you have more than the required amount of payments to prevent an automatic repo), then the Court will be more sympathetic to you as you have at least made an effort to try to pay-off the loan.

Do not VT the car. Just make sure to send them a token payment each month & when they return it, keep the returned payment along with the letter to use as evidence you attempted to pay-down the outstanding amount when you roll-up in Court to defend yourself (don't forget that if they go down the Court route, you can apply to have the case moved to a Court more convenient to you).

Above all, make sure you hide the car where they are unlikely to find it.