Help....strange issue with car finance on HPI

Penelopa.Pitstop

Buyer used fake invoice to get finance. Can't call it any other way, since seller didn't sell the car yet and didn't sign any documents. So finance was obtained in fraudalent way. Interesting, that finance company is not bothered by this and is not trying to sort it out.

They put the marker on a car and are satisfied that it won't change the owner. When it's resolved, I would take prospective buyer to small claim court to get any costs back.

Goudy

Try the Financial Ombudsman Service for advise, they seem to deal with a lot of car finance issues and they might have some sway with the other partys finance company.
https://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/

You might want to let HPi know what has happened to you as well.
They deal with lots of complaints about vehicles being on their register incorrectly and I am sure they will have heard your story before and point you in the right direction.
It shouldn't be hard to prove you're the keeper and legal owner and some other party has taken out finance against your property that they now have on their register, that's not really good news for them.

I think this pre finance thing the other party has performed is a bit of a scam to try and get you to part with the car for less, they were probably going to hit you with it after the test drive anyway and hold your car to ransom to under sell it.

Legally it's a bit of a mess, you don't need to be named on the V5C to be the legal owner, that just identifies the "keeper" of the vehicle, so they could claim they own it and you're just the keeper and have a right to take finance out against it, but if you have proof of ownership like the original receipt or invoice, you won't have trouble proving you are the rightful owner and therefore the other party is trying to scam you.

Obviously if it is a scam the Police should be interested in them holding this over you as some sort of blackmail attempt, particularly if you can back up the fact they are pressurising you to under sell the car to them due to them registering finance against it.

almillar

Just to throw out the alternate view - why not just sell him the car? What is the work that needs done?

Herzlos

How desperately do you want to sell the car? I'd be offering it to the buyer at full price - they've already got the finance for it. Make him sign something that absolves you of all responsibility for everything, because he's going to be a proper nuisance going forward.


If you want you can threaten him with a fraud marker once the finance thing has been resolved - if he's a trader I doubt he'd want to take the risk of finance companies regarding him as untouchable.



I'd write to the finance company with evidence that the car hasn't been sold - the autotrader listing, a photo of the car still in your possession and the blank V5 sections.



I'd also be contacting the police regarding the fraud - he's presumably faked up an invoice in order to do the finance company out of money.

AdrianC

almillar wrote: »

Just to throw out the alternate view - why not just sell him the car? What is the work that needs done?

There's certainly something unusual going on.

Why is somebody so absolutely adamant that they MUST be allowed to buy this particular used Renault?

marcusjames

To answer the various questions.


He has apparently supplied a sales invoice to gain finance. He never saw the car and I've not met him. I certainly didn't sell the car.


The car has been formally rejected and Renault will refund my purchase price from five months ago. Why would I sell to him for a lower amount. Regardless of this, would you honestly sell it to someone who is holding you to ransom? What's to stop him chipping the price by more once he knows I have no other option. It may be stubbornness, but I can't sell it to him. It would go against my principles.


The finance company have told me that the flag will be there for as long as he continues to pay the instalments. He then has the cash in his account to trade with other cars. If he stops paying, they will come and snatch back MY car.

DoaM

But it won't be YOUR car ... it will belong to the supplying dealer/Renault.

marcusjames wrote: »

The car has been formally rejected and Renault will refund my purchase price from five months ago.

marcusjames

DoaM wrote: »

But it won't be YOUR car ... it will belong to the supplying dealer/Renault.

I can't return it to Renault as it has outstanding finance. That arrangement can only happen if this guy removes the hpi flag. The car will remain in my possession until such a time that he defaults on repayments.

Penelopa.Pitstop

The only way to deal with it, is to send formal letter to finance company and resolve it. Waiting for the "buyer" to default, is not an option.

twhitehousescat

now the worrying thing here is that if the guy "does one" with the money and fails to pay anything off, the finance co will come and repossess the car

I cannot believe that checks are not in place for any tom !!!! or harry to (for example) choose a car at random after doing hpi check , and grab £5-£10,000 from a finance co , leaving the owner unaware that his car could be seized