Volkswagen hell!

NadineJade

Hi could someone please shed some light on this situation for me please. This is a rather long post I do apologise. 

On the 19th March I contacted VW financial services to ask what help i could get with my finance as 21st March I was made temporarily jobless (self employed hairdresser, rent a chair within a salon) I spoke to them several times with them saying everytime that payment hllidays aren't available at present. I called again 1st April to say I couldn't make my months payment (4th April) to which I was asked to fill in a form and someone will be in touch. Well no one got in touch. 

I emailed the email addresses I had previously heard from still getting nowhere, I emailed them to say I would need to cancel my direct debt (not the correct thing to do i know but I did forewarn them it would be happening) this put me in arrears which I knew it would of done. Someone emailed me back on the 7th April and nothing since. 

I filled in the form on the 27th April on their website for a payment holiday and I made it through the initial checks which i thought was a good sign, they emailed me to say I'd made it through initial checks on the 29th April. As I was told to wait to hear more i got an email 2 days ago saying my agreement was being terminated in 10 days time and my finance would start up again in 10 days time. 

I got through to someone yesterday and he was supposed to call me back but he didn't. So I made another call today and he called me late afternoon. He explained that because my direct debt is taken early in the month (4th each month) that while they were looking at my holiday payment request it had thrown me into a second month of arrears even though he stated my account was suspended while they looked into it. He openly admitted that if my payment would of been after this week it would of been accepted as they dont accept people who have 2 months of arrears. The company won't give me a holiday payment, wont let me make smaller payments towards my aggreement and the only options they have given me are 1. Privately sell my vehicle and pay any shortfall or 2. Voluntarily terminate my agreement and pay the arrears back this figure is just below £10,000 for termination and arrears. Oh and my car can be repossessed if I don't pay! 

Is there really nothing else that can be done? Their website says the amount can be paid over 12 months, extend my contract by 6 months, and give me 60 days breathing space. But i have not been offered any of these options. 

He also didn't want to say it but the way he was talking about my job it was as if he was saying im high risk and I feel I'm being penalised because I chose to set up on my own. May I add ive NEVER missed a single payment on my car finance. 

Please someone help me! I'm an emotional wreck and have no clue on where I stand! 

John_

Legally you are obliged to make all of your payments in full and on time. You didn’t agree to pay if and when you could, so that’s not something that you can insist on.
Practically there’s not much that will happen if you run a bit behind on your payments. As long as you don’t get too far in arrears, and keep laying something, the finance company are likely to wait for you to get back on your feet rather than going to the expense of taking action.
This isn’t to say that you shouldn’t try your hardest to get back on track. Your credit file will be recording your late payments, you may be accruing charges, and it will all have to be paid back at some point, and the earlier you can manage the better.
Have you anything that you can sell, or are you able to take on some additional work?

MinuteNoodles

Being blunt you are high risk and you can't afford the car. The April payment was due just a fortnight after you stopped working in March and your finances are so precarious that you couldn't afford to pay it. Only those living hand to mouth without any form of emergency fund would have been in a situation where they were unable to pay their normal bills barely a fortnight after last working. Losing a couple of weeks income was just the final straw that broke the camel's back and this would have happened without the CV-19 pandemic if you ever ended up being unable to work due to illness or business took even a short term downturn or if an unexpected expense came up such as the fridge freezer packing up or you needing an emergency plumber.

It may be time to accept that you need to address why you're in such a precarious position and try to put yourself in a better one. Posting for help on the debt free wannabe board may be a good start.

You don't say how long you've been self employed but have you made sure you've got any help you're entitled to for the schemes for self employed people during this or put in a claim for universal credit?

fred246

I was under the impression that VW financial services would have had to assess her credit worthiness before they lent her the money.

Ditzy_Mitzy

fred246 said:

I was under the impression that VW financial services would have had to assess her credit worthiness before they lent her the money.

Yes they would - but they aren't required to factor in the possibility of the applicant losing the primary source of income she had at the time the application was made. That risk exists with anyone applying for credit, and would make the entire business of lending money impossible. 

Herzlos

Are you in a position to negotiate the return of the vehicle? It would get rid of the millstone, though you may struggle to get them to collect it at the moment.

AdrianC

Herzlos said:

Are you in a position to negotiate the return of the vehicle? It would get rid of the millstone, though you may struggle to get them to collect it at the moment.

I'm reading the OP as not wanting to get rid of the car... just not wanting to pay for it, either.

motorguy

fred246 said:

I was under the impression that VW financial services would have had to assess her credit worthiness before they lent her the money.

What gives you the impression they didnt?

motorguy

NadineJade said:

Hi could someone please shed some light on this situation for me please. This is a rather long post I do apologise. 

On the 19th March I contacted VW financial services to ask what help i could get with my finance as 21st March I was made temporarily jobless (self employed hairdresser, rent a chair within a salon) I spoke to them several times with them saying everytime that payment hllidays aren't available at present. I called again 1st April to say I couldn't make my months payment (4th April) to which I was asked to fill in a form and someone will be in touch. Well no one got in touch. 

I emailed the email addresses I had previously heard from still getting nowhere, I emailed them to say I would need to cancel my direct debt (not the correct thing to do i know but I did forewarn them it would be happening) this put me in arrears which I knew it would of done. Someone emailed me back on the 7th April and nothing since. 

I filled in the form on the 27th April on their website for a payment holiday and I made it through the initial checks which i thought was a good sign, they emailed me to say I'd made it through initial checks on the 29th April. As I was told to wait to hear more i got an email 2 days ago saying my agreement was being terminated in 10 days time and my finance would start up again in 10 days time. 

I got through to someone yesterday and he was supposed to call me back but he didn't. So I made another call today and he called me late afternoon. He explained that because my direct debt is taken early in the month (4th each month) that while they were looking at my holiday payment request it had thrown me into a second month of arrears even though he stated my account was suspended while they looked into it. He openly admitted that if my payment would of been after this week it would of been accepted as they dont accept people who have 2 months of arrears. The company won't give me a holiday payment, wont let me make smaller payments towards my aggreement and the only options they have given me are 1. Privately sell my vehicle and pay any shortfall or 2. Voluntarily terminate my agreement and pay the arrears back this figure is just below £10,000 for termination and arrears. Oh and my car can be repossessed if I don't pay! 

Is there really nothing else that can be done? Their website says the amount can be paid over 12 months, extend my contract by 6 months, and give me 60 days breathing space. But i have not been offered any of these options. 

He also didn't want to say it but the way he was talking about my job it was as if he was saying im high risk and I feel I'm being penalised because I chose to set up on my own. May I add ive NEVER missed a single payment on my car finance. 

Please someone help me! I'm an emotional wreck and have no clue on where I stand! 

Out of curiosity, were you self employed when you got the finance?

I think you've unfortunately put yourself in a position of not making the payments before you had agreement to stop making them via a payment holiday.  This has clearly set alarm bells ringing all over the place because they've now deemed you high risk.  

Could you genuinely not make the payments or did you assume you'd get a payment holiday and it would cover all this?

Are VW amenable to you paying whats in arrears to get caught up or are you now not in a position to do that, and not in a position to continue making payments anyway?

Have you not been able to furlough yourself?