Terminating HP Agreement

smj43

Was hoping to get some advice regarding voluntarily terminating my hire purchase agreement on my car. I took out the finance with All In One Finance (now in administration) back in February 2014 however it is being administered by Marsh Finance. I am now approaching the halfway point and would like to VT as I owe more than the car is worth. I called Marsh and they verbally told me I couldn't as I missed a payment back in November 2014 and they terminated the agreement therefore I do not have the right to VT. It's worth mentioning this is the first I've heard of the agreement being terminated and have continued making payments since and still have the car. The payments are now up to date.

I'm pretty certain what they are telling me is not true and I've read through the original terms and conditions with a fine tooth comb and it says nothing of the sort.

Any advice on what I should do?

antrobus

smj43 wrote: »

.....Any advice on what I should do?

Contact National Debtline.

A creditor may send you a default notice if you are behind with payments. When the time on the default notice has run out you may have lost the right to end the agreement voluntarily. It depends on what your agreement says. Contact us for advice.

https://www.nationaldebtline.org/EW/factsheets/Pages/16%20EW%20Hire%20purchase%20and%20conditional%20sale/Page-03.aspx#

smj43

Thanks antrobus I tried them following your recommendation but I have to say they were obsolutely useless, the woman didn't have a clue what she was talking about. I have got some helpful advice from CAB and the financial ombudsman however just wanted to hear from others who may have been in this situation as it seems to be quite common.

SeanG79

After you missed the payment, they would have had to issue a default notice, you will have then had to have missed the deadline on the default notice. If you never received a default notice, they could not terminate the agreement.

Did you receive the default notice? How long after the missed payment did you make the actual payment?

BTW. you VT at the 50% of total agreement having been paid, not 50% in terms of time. Often the VT point is after the halfway point of the agreement, although you can VT at any time, you will be liable for any shortfall.

Nearlyold

SeanG79 wrote: »

BTW. you VT at the 50% of total agreement having been paid, not 50% in terms of time. Often the VT point is after the halfway point of the agreement, although you can VT at any time, you will be liable for any shortfall.

Quite right but if there was a decent deposit/part exchange put down the halfway point of 50% of total agreement having been paid could be before the halfway point in terms of time

SeanG79

Nearlyold wrote: »

Quite right but if there was a decent deposit/part exchange put down the halfway point of 50% of total agreement having been paid could be before the halfway point in terms of time

Unlikely when its with all in one/Marsh finance, the rates are pretty high

Nearlyold

SeanG79 wrote: »

Unlikely when its with all in one/Marsh finance, the rates are pretty high

Actually its not unlikely, for straightforward HP provided the deposit is equal or greater than the Option to Purchase Fee the half way point in paying the total amount payable will be on or before the halfway point in time. I think you might be getting confused with the point at which half the principal has been paid off which is of course after the halfway point in time.

SeanG79

Nearlyold wrote: »

Actually its not unlikely, for straightforward HP provided the deposit is equal or greater than the Option to Purchase Fee the half way point in paying the total amount payable will be on or before the halfway point in time. I think you might be getting confused with the point at which half the principal has been paid off which is of course after the halfway point in time.

You are correct. My mistake, majority of the vehicle finance I assist with has a balloon payment, which skews the 50% mark to later than half the payments. Marsh wont be offering a balloon on their finance.

smj43

SeanG79 wrote: »

After you missed the payment, they would have had to issue a default notice, you will have then had to have missed the deadline on the default notice. If you never received a default notice, they could not terminate the agreement.

Did you receive the default notice? How long after the missed payment did you make the actual payment?

BTW. you VT at the 50% of total agreement having been paid, not 50% in terms of time. Often the VT point is after the halfway point of the agreement, although you can VT at any time, you will be liable for any shortfall.

I do not recall receiving any default notices or notice of termination. The finance company have provided a copy of the termination letter however it has the incorrect address on it (not an old address, a WRONG address) so I would never have received it.

In terms of the missed payment I believe I came to an agreement to pay slightly more each month to catch up which has now been brought up to date. There is nothing in any terms and conditions which would indicate I would lose my right to VT having missed a payment so I still don't understand how they can refuse?

Also to be clear, 50% of the balance payable has been paid now.

SeanG79

A missed payment will not remove your right to terminate. You will lose the right to VT, if a default notice is sent and you fail to bring the account up to date within the 14 days and then the funder terminates the agreement.

I would send a SAR (Subject Access Request) with £10 to the lender and then depending on what they send, you can determine the best way forward.

Sounds like they are trying it on.

smj43

The lender has claimed that due to the missed payment, they sent out a notice of default. This expired without remedy therefore they terminated the agreement.

I didn't receive any notices. If they had sent anything as they claim, I would not have received it as they had the incorrect address for me (through no fault of mine). I'm more than certain the lender is trying it on as I can see several issues, I just don't know where I stand legally and how best to represent myself?