How do I walk away from PCP after being made redundant

moono1980

Good evening everyone,  

Has anyone ever been in a situation where they have been made redundant due to COVID and had recently took on a car via PCP? 

The car company offered me a payment holiday which is great but now the only options they give me is to voluntarily terminate which leaves a giant payment to come up with to end the agreement or sell the car and pay the bill, which is another large deficit of money to be paid which we have not got due to being made redundant. 

I have explained many times that I cannot end the agreement via the above options due to financial reasons but they just do not listen and it is getting very stress full. 

I would have thought there would be a get out option due to the COVID epidemic? I would not have lost my job otherwise. 

Thanks in advance for any guidance on this 

The_Fat_Controller

Was there any mention of Covid-19 in any part of the contract ?

If not, you are liable as per that contract.

It's the same situation for anyone who loses their job due to redundancy, you still have to sort out your financial commitments.

If you default on what you owe they'll no doubt come after you for the balance.

Flight3287462

Unfortunately you will owe the money.  You will just need to figure out the best way of dealing with it.

Supersonos

If you can't keep-up the financial commitments to which you agreed, they will be able to persue you for whatever is outstanding.

If you can't pay it, then ultimately it will be bailiffs, court and, if you've still not paid what you owe, bankruptcy.

macman

Took on how recently? How long is the PCP for, how many months in?
You can't just 'walk away'. The car will have depreciated heavily in the first few months and your payments so far will not nearly have covered that.

foxy-stoat

I would find out the settlement figure and the 50% figure and what is the car worth on webuyanycar or local car dealer will offer.

If you cannot find the difference between the value and settlement figure then you will have to VT and have your credit file trashed for a few years or until you can pay up to the 50% point.

If you dont keep up the payments they will repossess anyway and it will cost you more money.

Herzlos

Your only real options after the payment holiday are:

1. Pay up to the 50% mark to hand it back. Probably the cheapest here

2. Buy the car from them and sell it again, privately or via someone like WBAC, and fund the shortfall.
3. Keep the car until the 50% mark.

How many payments do you need to make in order to get to the 50%?

ToxicWomble

On a 48 month term the 50% wouldn’t usually be reached until at least month 40 depending on the deposit paid at the start - for a 36 month term, it’s usually about after 30 months

neilmcl

ToxicWomble said:

On a 48 month term the 50% wouldn’t usually be reached until at least month 40 depending on the deposit paid at the start - for a 36 month term, it’s usually about after 30 months

Although that doesn't stop you from terminating at any time prior to this and making up your 50% liability.

Takmon

moono1980 said:

Good evening everyone,  

Has anyone ever been in a situation where they have been made redundant due to COVID and had recently took on a car via PCP? 

The car company offered me a payment holiday which is great but now the only options they give me is to voluntarily terminate which leaves a giant payment to come up with to end the agreement or sell the car and pay the bill, which is another large deficit of money to be paid which we have not got due to being made redundant. 

I have explained many times that I cannot end the agreement via the above options due to financial reasons but they just do not listen and it is getting very stress full. 

I would have thought there would be a get out option due to the COVID epidemic? I would not have lost my job otherwise. 

Thanks in advance for any guidance on this 

I sounds like you couldn't actually afford to take out the PCP in the first place if you didn't have any emergency savings just in case you lost your job which can happen even before COVID. 
Focus on getting another job (there are jobs out there even if you have to settle for a lower wage than before)

MinuteNoodles

moono1980 said:

I would have thought there would be a get out option due to the COVID epidemic?

Nope. Everybody still owes the money they owe. The only things that have been mandatorily put in place were payment holidays and suspension of enforcement of debt collecting which have come to an end. However even with the payment holidays lenders are allowed to continue to add interest for the months there are missed payments. 

There is no "I don't need to pay what I owe because Covid" option. The two options plus those suggested about selling the car yourself and making up the shortfall are the only ones available to you other than defaulting and them going through the courts to recover the money.