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UrgentHelp
Posts: 5 Forumite
in Loans
Just wondering if I could get some urgent advice on how best to proceed in regards to a car finance debt agreement that I had with a company back in 2016. I am willing to pay them back the amount of £4114 that I owe them but they are unwilling to compromise with the reporting negative information with the credit reference agencies.
They will be reporting default notices until it's all cleared. I don't have any missed/late payments on my credit file as I've paid everything on time and the account was settled once the car was written off and my insurers paid them the settlement amount but they reopened the account as an outstanding debt.
However the car should of been rejected a couple weeks into the agreement as it was not fit for purpose and they were unwilling to help, the DSG automatic gearbox needed replacing and I was without the car for 2 months, (car went back two times before finally being fixed)
When the car was written off by the insurers, I went to my bank and claimed a few months payments back as they failed in their duty to live up to the credit consumer act in regards to rejecting faulty goods. First radiator went pop, then shortly after, the gearbox went pop too.
Anyway her last email outlines her stance to the credit reference agencies. I have made a commitment to pay it all back within a year but I'm not happy with her unwilling to compromise with my credit file. CCJ or default, either way my credit file will be trashed for 6 years.
Should I just take it to court and argue my point in regards to them not rejecting faulty car and them unwilling to compromise to settle this debt by trashing my credit file in the process? Many companies come to suitable agreements in regards debts and are willing to compromise in regards to not trashing consumer credit files if that means they get their debt repaid.
i can't post links as I'm a new user but this is our convo of our emails exchanged.
ME: Hi Stephanie, the details are correct.
Going forward can you confirm no court action will be commenced as long as I stick to the agreement set up with you today and no negative reporting will be passed on to the credit reference agencies such as missed payments or credit agreement default reporting.
Finance company Rep:
Dear xxx,
No court action will be taken if you maintain payments as agreed. Reporting to credit reference agencies will continue as a default as the account is in arrears and once this is reported as a default this cannot be altered.
Me: Hi Stephanie, I am committed to keeping up with the repayments, I am on job seekers allowance at the moment as I'm still suffering injuries from an accident that happened a couple months ago and at the moment I only get £57 pw out that I've got to pay gas and electric, water amongst other things, however I am setting aside other debts to pay you £100 out my benefits to get this cleared with a view of clearing the FULL amount no later than June - July 2018.
However part of this means a default notice isn't viable for myself, I plan on going into the banking industry and a default means there's absolutely no chance of securing the employment. I spoke to all three credit reference agencies and they all said reporting is optional, so a default doesn't have to be reported from your end.
A default notice is just like a CCJ and I couldn't accept this as this will affect my ability to obtain work in the financial industry for the next 6 years.
I kindly ask that you can agree that no default notices/miss payments notices will be filed with all three credit reference agencies going forward should no agreement is broken from now until June 2018 - July 2018 which will be the timeframe when the debt should be cleared in full.
Finance company rep:
Dear xxx,
Whilst we appreciate your repayments, the account is in considerable arrears. In fact the account is only in default because you claimed funds back via your bank.
I’m not sure which credit reference agencies you spoke with but we are obligated to report defaulted accounts to give a true reflection of the account and cannot just remove it upon request.
Me:
Dear Stephanie,
I made numeorus complaints very early into the agreement that the car was not fit for purpose, the car could of very easily been returned to the dealership for a refund or a replacement as per the credit consumer act as the vehicle was faulty, I had given them more than one chance to fix it and it still had faults, I asked those at advantage finance to contact the dealership to resolve the dispute in the form of returning the car for a refund as it had been twice attempted repaired before it was fixed, by which it still had faults and I did not have the car back over 2 months, and those who I spoke to at advantage finance failed to contact the dealer in the timeframe I persistently asked them to do so which meant the legal timeframe in which I could of rejected the car had passed.
All three of the credit reference agencies have confirmed lenders can at their own choice can report whatever they wish to them in regards to customers accounts so a default does not have to be registered, it's simply at the discretion of the company who reports monthly feeds to the CRA's. Many companies come to agreements with thousands of their customers over situations like this.
What was loaned for the finance agreement, that was actually paid by directly from my insurance company, they paid yourselves £10,200 back when the original sum lent was £9800, what I owe is simply interest, (not that I'm disputing the amount or that I'm unwilling to pay)
Now I am agreeing to back this back however at the simply request that no negative reports in the form of monthly defaults or missed payments are sent over to the credit reference agencies, if we cannot come to an agreement in regards to this, I feel court action should you wish to take it up is the best course of action you can take, as I'm offering an amount far above I can afford to make to pay back.
Had I been listened to when I made the complaints that the car was not fit for purpose we certainly would not be in this position today as the car could of been returned under the credit consumer act had I had a bit more support from Advange Finance.
Regards
Finance company rep:
Dear Xxx
I am not willing to discuss the CRA position any further. The position is clear that we are required to report an accurate position. If the funds had not been reclaimed by you then there would not be an outstanding balance.
Further, the satisfactory quality issues cannot be raised as an issue at this stage given that you continued to have use of the vehicle and I will not comment on this further.
If you are not willing to make repayments as per our agreement we will continue with legal action for the outstanding balance. We await your payment of £100 due today. If you do not make payment we will issue county court proceedings tomorrow without further notice to you.
They will be reporting default notices until it's all cleared. I don't have any missed/late payments on my credit file as I've paid everything on time and the account was settled once the car was written off and my insurers paid them the settlement amount but they reopened the account as an outstanding debt.
However the car should of been rejected a couple weeks into the agreement as it was not fit for purpose and they were unwilling to help, the DSG automatic gearbox needed replacing and I was without the car for 2 months, (car went back two times before finally being fixed)
When the car was written off by the insurers, I went to my bank and claimed a few months payments back as they failed in their duty to live up to the credit consumer act in regards to rejecting faulty goods. First radiator went pop, then shortly after, the gearbox went pop too.
Anyway her last email outlines her stance to the credit reference agencies. I have made a commitment to pay it all back within a year but I'm not happy with her unwilling to compromise with my credit file. CCJ or default, either way my credit file will be trashed for 6 years.
Should I just take it to court and argue my point in regards to them not rejecting faulty car and them unwilling to compromise to settle this debt by trashing my credit file in the process? Many companies come to suitable agreements in regards debts and are willing to compromise in regards to not trashing consumer credit files if that means they get their debt repaid.
i can't post links as I'm a new user but this is our convo of our emails exchanged.
ME: Hi Stephanie, the details are correct.
Going forward can you confirm no court action will be commenced as long as I stick to the agreement set up with you today and no negative reporting will be passed on to the credit reference agencies such as missed payments or credit agreement default reporting.
Finance company Rep:
Dear xxx,
No court action will be taken if you maintain payments as agreed. Reporting to credit reference agencies will continue as a default as the account is in arrears and once this is reported as a default this cannot be altered.
Me: Hi Stephanie, I am committed to keeping up with the repayments, I am on job seekers allowance at the moment as I'm still suffering injuries from an accident that happened a couple months ago and at the moment I only get £57 pw out that I've got to pay gas and electric, water amongst other things, however I am setting aside other debts to pay you £100 out my benefits to get this cleared with a view of clearing the FULL amount no later than June - July 2018.
However part of this means a default notice isn't viable for myself, I plan on going into the banking industry and a default means there's absolutely no chance of securing the employment. I spoke to all three credit reference agencies and they all said reporting is optional, so a default doesn't have to be reported from your end.
A default notice is just like a CCJ and I couldn't accept this as this will affect my ability to obtain work in the financial industry for the next 6 years.
I kindly ask that you can agree that no default notices/miss payments notices will be filed with all three credit reference agencies going forward should no agreement is broken from now until June 2018 - July 2018 which will be the timeframe when the debt should be cleared in full.
Finance company rep:
Dear xxx,
Whilst we appreciate your repayments, the account is in considerable arrears. In fact the account is only in default because you claimed funds back via your bank.
I’m not sure which credit reference agencies you spoke with but we are obligated to report defaulted accounts to give a true reflection of the account and cannot just remove it upon request.
Me:
Dear Stephanie,
I made numeorus complaints very early into the agreement that the car was not fit for purpose, the car could of very easily been returned to the dealership for a refund or a replacement as per the credit consumer act as the vehicle was faulty, I had given them more than one chance to fix it and it still had faults, I asked those at advantage finance to contact the dealership to resolve the dispute in the form of returning the car for a refund as it had been twice attempted repaired before it was fixed, by which it still had faults and I did not have the car back over 2 months, and those who I spoke to at advantage finance failed to contact the dealer in the timeframe I persistently asked them to do so which meant the legal timeframe in which I could of rejected the car had passed.
All three of the credit reference agencies have confirmed lenders can at their own choice can report whatever they wish to them in regards to customers accounts so a default does not have to be registered, it's simply at the discretion of the company who reports monthly feeds to the CRA's. Many companies come to agreements with thousands of their customers over situations like this.
What was loaned for the finance agreement, that was actually paid by directly from my insurance company, they paid yourselves £10,200 back when the original sum lent was £9800, what I owe is simply interest, (not that I'm disputing the amount or that I'm unwilling to pay)
Now I am agreeing to back this back however at the simply request that no negative reports in the form of monthly defaults or missed payments are sent over to the credit reference agencies, if we cannot come to an agreement in regards to this, I feel court action should you wish to take it up is the best course of action you can take, as I'm offering an amount far above I can afford to make to pay back.
Had I been listened to when I made the complaints that the car was not fit for purpose we certainly would not be in this position today as the car could of been returned under the credit consumer act had I had a bit more support from Advange Finance.
Regards
Finance company rep:
Dear Xxx
I am not willing to discuss the CRA position any further. The position is clear that we are required to report an accurate position. If the funds had not been reclaimed by you then there would not be an outstanding balance.
Further, the satisfactory quality issues cannot be raised as an issue at this stage given that you continued to have use of the vehicle and I will not comment on this further.
If you are not willing to make repayments as per our agreement we will continue with legal action for the outstanding balance. We await your payment of £100 due today. If you do not make payment we will issue county court proceedings tomorrow without further notice to you.
0
Comments
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If the account is in arrears, then it is correct that the defaults are showing. The sooner you pay, the sooner your file will start to improve.
I couldn't understand the issue around rejecting the car.0 -
UrgentHelp wrote: »Just wondering if I could get some urgent advice on how best to proceed in regards to a car finance debt agreement that I had with a company back in 2016. I am willing to pay them back the amount of £4114 that I owe them but they are unwilling to compromise with the reporting negative information with the credit reference agencies.
They will be reporting default notices until it's all cleared. I don't have any missed/late payments on my credit file as I've paid everything on time and the account was settled once the car was written off and my insurers paid them the settlement amount but they reopened the account as an outstanding debt.
However the car should of been rejected a couple weeks into the agreement as it was not fit for purpose and they were unwilling to help, the DSG automatic gearbox needed replacing and I was without the car for 2 months, (car went back two times before finally being fixed)
When the car was written off by the insurers, I went to my bank and claimed a few months payments back as they failed in their duty to live up to the credit consumer act in regards to rejecting faulty goods. First radiator went pop, then shortly after, the gearbox went pop too.
Did you claim back £4114 from your bank?
Regardless of the issues with the faulty car, the finance company is a separate matter - you are confusing the 2 issues.
The finance company is going to mark your credit files as late payments, then a default and then they'll take you to court to hit you with a CCJ. The only way to avoid this is to pay the arrears and clear your balance. No ifs, buts and maybes.
Your issue with the faulty car is a matter between you and the dealership/whoever sold you the car in the first place. Clear your balance with the finance company to restore your credit history as best you can and then take the dealership to court.I'm a Board Guide on the Credit Cards, Loans, Credit Files & Ratings boards. I'm a volunteer to help the boards run smoothly, and I can move and merge threads there. Any views are mine and not the official line of moneysavingexpert.com0 -
Hi yes I did reclaim the money back from the bank, after the finance was cleared my insurers and it showed as settled on my credit file. I was *******ed off as they weren't helpful in bringing a case in me rejecting the car with the dealership after the two separate faults happend, gearbox and radiator) and me not having the car for two months, by then after waiting for the finance co to get back to me in regards to the he complaint I made, it was too late to reject the car.
Taking the dealership to court is probably to late now anyway as the incident with rejecting the car happened well over a year ago, I no longer own it too.
I'm willing to pay then back but I feel they are being unreasonable in trying to resolve this so both parties are happy.
If i pay them back, I will end up getting a default, which means my credit file is trashed for 6 years. If I don't, they take me to court and my file is trashed for 6 years regardless.
Many companies are willing to compromise with defaults and late payment markers if the consumer agrees to pay the debt back and don't go back on the agreement, they are saying they have to report a accurate reflection of the account, well they don't have to, it's not a mandatory requirement and they don't have to, it's up to their discretion and many companies use this discretion to order to get their clients to keep to agreements to clear debt off.0 -
From what you've posted, you already have a default. And a settled efault would be far better than one that remains unsettled, or worse, goes to a CCJ.
Lenders do have an obligation to ensure the data reported is accurate.
You're in a very weak position with them.0 -
Just to clear things up. I don't have a default. I have all green ticks as I made the payments with them on time. It showed as settled with no defaults or missed payments as I paid on time and the insurers cleared the debt off.
It's only when I went to my bank and explained to them why I reclaiming and got a couple of the payments back, they reopened the account as a balance, just a balance and no negative reporting.
I'm going to go back to them with an offer £1000 up front that my friend is willing to lend to me and full amount cleared by march 2018, see what they say.0 -
What happened to the money the bank reclaimed from them (and presumably gave back to you)?0
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You created this situation yourself by claiming the money back from your bank. That was not the right way to go about resolving your problems with car. You should have taken the dealership to Court if necessary.
What did you think would happen when you claimed that money back? They certainly weren't going to forget about it.
Your not really in a position to negotiate and they are not obliged to.
Just because you believe you are right doesn't mean a court will see it that way you could end up owing a lot more by the time costs are added.
The time to seek advice was before you claimed that money back. I hope you still have it to go towards the repayment.0 -
Just paid them the £4114 to clear it off in full. I didn't spend the money, that's their interest. I feel absolutely sick.
Well it's been cleared anyway, guess what's done is done.
They said what I did is fraud and they said they was going to register a cifas fraud marker, I said to them well it's not fraud really is it, I claimed it back from my bank and I explained to them why, under the credit consumer act the car was unfit for purpose and I had a chance to reject it and I they were unhelpful.
Anyway, I asked them to send me an email there won't be any defaults or late payments going forward. This is the email I got:
Further to our recent communications I can clarify that upon payment of £4213.50 your account will be settled in full.
I will be going back to them if they register it as a default that's been settled or/and a fraud cifas marker
This will be reported to the relevant credit reference agencies around the middle of August 2017 (these are updated once a month) and will show as ‘settled’.
Kind Regards,0 -
UrgentHelp wrote: »Just paid them the £4114 to clear it off in full. I didn't spend the money, that's their interest. I feel absolutely sick.
I know you think it was their interest, but it wasn't. It's capital and interest owed.
I think you've been pretty lucky here if your credit file is unscathed.0 -
I made the payment on the phone and I asked someone else to confirm nothing else with happen in regards to reporting any default/missed payments and she said yes. I didn't record it but did screenshot the timestamp in case they 'forget'0
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