Help! Car was impounded and now the lender has it

Mza123

So basically what happened was my car was recently impounded as it was taken by someone without my permission and they got stopped randomly and car was seized as they weren’t insured.

The next day (Friday) I went to retrieve the vehicle and went to the station with my proof of licence owenership etc but my insurance company were being funny as I no longer own a home and forgot to mention this to them so i was told to come back on Monday after I have proved I did own a home at the time of taking insurance out.

So on Monday I went back with my insurance rectified and when I got to the station I was told the finance company (blue motion) have collected the car on the Friday.

Of course I contacted them and am now being told if I want the car I must clear the settlement, or it will be auctioned off and I’d have to foot the difference.

They said I had breached my contract as the car wasn’t in my possession the moment it went into the compound (even though this wasn’t my fault)

I even asked him if I went on holiday would I have to take the car with me for it to stay in my possession and he replied yes.

I’m not in a position to foot the bill for the whole car or even pay the difference if it were to be auctioned off (depending of course how much it sold for)

I’m wondering if there is anything I can do about my situation as it seems very unfair

AdrianC

The car was impounded.
The finance company (the legal owner) freed it.
That does not seem at all inappropriate - after all, it's their asset which is impounded.

When you say "clear the settlement" - do you mean repay the amount they've paid to release the car, plus their costs? Seems fair. Read the Ts & Cs of your finance contract - I bet this is exactly what you agreed to.

If your beef is that the lender stepped in due to the delay caused by your failure to properly notify your insurer of your change of circumstances, then - again - that hardly seems unfair.

Frankly, I'd have thought you'd be happy that your car was secure so quickly after being stolen.

TonyMMM

Whats is happening about the person who took the car ... are they being prosecuted, presumably for taking the vehicle, and driving without insurance ?

Potentially that will influence the finance company's attitude to the situation. Sounds like they don't think this is a straightforward case of taking a vehicle and are suspicious about the events leading up to the incident.

missile

I suspect there may be more to this story than OP is letting on?

System

So how far behind were you on the payments on the car finance? This is literally the only scenario in which they'd take back the car in such an event. Finance companies aren't in the habit of taking back cars that've been impounded for parking or road tax offences or been recovered from being stolen if you're not in arrears.

angrycrow

The other situation the finance company would take the car back is if they found the agreement had been set up fraudulently and the op who took out the finance had done so for somebody else who was unable to get finance.

As an example

Person A, disqualified driver with poor credit history gets their friend, person b, to buy the car on finance but gives the car to person A. Person b takes out insurance on the car in their name to stop the aprn cameras flagging the car as uninsured. Person A theoretically gives person b the finance and insurance costs each month.

These cases fall apart when person a stops paying, has an accident or does something stupid and gets pulled over.

If the police stop the car they will spot very quickly that person A has no licence or insurance and impound the car.

If this is what happened here it appears the police tipped the finance company off that the finance was taken out fraudulently and the finance company cancelled the agreement requiring person B to pay the balance immediately.

Hope for op that this is not what they have done. If not op needs to make sure the driver is prosecuted for taking without consent.

AdrianC

angrycrow wrote: »

If not op needs to make sure the driver is prosecuted for taking without consent.

If the OP is reluctant to support that, then there's likely to be questions over whether the driver DID have the OP's permission, and the OP was therefore causing or permitting driving without insurance - IN14 on the licence, same penalty range as IN10 for the driver themself.

arcon5

Taken by someone without your permission?
Presumably a friend or relative or something?

marlot

>> ...my car was recently impounded as it was taken by someone without my permission
Had you reported it stolen?

>>> and they got stopped randomly
Randomly? Or because it was being driven badly? Or linked to you? Or to drugs etc?

>> car was seized as they weren!!!8217;t insured.
Not because it was stolen?

>> my insurance company were being funny as I no longer own a home and forgot to mention this to them
I'm surprised they asked. You're not telling us the whole story?

>> when I got to the station I was told the finance company (blue motion) have collected the car on the Friday.
Were you behind on the payments?

>> They said I had breached my contract as the car wasn!!!8217;t in my possession ...
Sounds like they suspect it was a 'pool car'

>> I!!!8217;m wondering if there is anything I can do about my situation as it seems very unfair
Without knowing the whole story, I can't comment.

missile

.... OPs first post ............ and last post? :money:

Mza1234

AdrianC wrote: »

The car was impounded.
The finance company (the legal owner) freed it.
That does not seem at all inappropriate - after all, it's their asset which is impounded.

When you say "clear the settlement" - do you mean repay the amount they've paid to release the car, plus their costs? Seems fair. Read the Ts & Cs of your finance contract - I bet this is exactly what you agreed to.

If your beef is that the lender stepped in due to the delay caused by your failure to properly notify your insurer of your change of circumstances, then - again - that hardly seems unfair.

Frankly, I'd have thought you'd be happy that your car was secure so quickly after being stolen.

No I mean repay the full settlement for the car. The car was seized Thursday night, I went Friday morning. I was told to ring my insurer and amend my policy and come back on Monday (the station don’t deal with impounded cars on weekends)

I came back today (Monday) after fixing the issue with my insurer only to find out the lender has already taken the car. I ring them only to find out as the car was out of my possession over the weekend this violates my contract and I must either pay the full settlement for the car, or they will auction the car and I pay the remainder.

I have been up to dates on my payments for the car (infact I have over paid some months)


Ps my login for the other account doesn’t work for some reason hence why I made a new one