Car finance payment holidays

C.w_Wilson

Grumpy_chap said:

If she is self-employed, the first SEISS grant was for 80% of 3 months.

There was a second SEISS grant.  She may have missed this.  If she did not claim it, I understand it is now passed.

The third SEISS grant is also 80% of 3 months.  It requires an impact in the period Nov-Dec-Jan and that the profits have been substantially impacted.  Given she is a sole-trader mobile hairdresser, it is obvious that the criteria will be met.  If she is eligible to claim this, then she needs to act quickly as the close date is at the end of this month (29th I think).  Based on what you have said, that will be £3k again and I am sure very welcome.

Thanks for the reply.

I’m very sorry I should have been more clear. When I say she has had £3k since March, I mean that she has already claimed all 3 grants, this amounted to £3k (roughly) collectively. Hence why we have burned through our savings trying to keep afloat.

Grumpy_chap

If she has received the three SEISS grants, that is (based on past averages):

• 80% of 3 months = 20% of 12 months
• 70% of 3 months = 17.5% of 12 months
• 80% of three months = 20% of 12 months

Total SEISS grants = 57.5% of the year.  
As a hairdresser, she must have been very busy in the non-lock-down periods.  How much % of normal profits has she managed to achieve in that time?

Jonesy1977

Jeremy535897 said:

See https://www.moneyadviceservice.org.uk/en/articles/coronavirus-covid-19-car-payment-holidays
"If they feel that a payment holiday would obviously not be in your best interests, you might not be able to get a payment holiday."

A payment holiday is not an automatic right. The lender in your fiancée's  case presumably wishes to establish whether increasing her debt with more interest is in her best interests (and theirs).

The above is the answer you need.  I personally would immediately provide the evidence that they are asking for (you can redact any sensitive payments on the statement if you like) and the ball will be in the lenders court.  You can request up to 6 months, it is not the case that this will certainly be forthcoming.  
Is the car on a Personal Contract Hire (Lease) or a Personal Contract Purchase (with a balloon payment) ?  If it is the latter you could look into voluntary termination if you have paid off more than (roughly) 50% of the car purchase price and then look to perhaps buy something cheaper as things pick up?

diggingdude

Thrugelmir said:

C.w_Wilson said:

Thrugelmir said:

C.w_Wilson said:

 I feel like she is being punished by the finance company for something that she can’t control.

Alternatively you could take the view she has something she cannot afford. The arrears will simply mount and put pressure on future earnings. As the amount to repay every month increases. 

Normally people get upset and start venting when they've something to hide when it comes to financial matters. Showing the finance house the bank statements to prove financial difficulty should be a straightforward task. 

She can definitely afford it. She has had the car for 4 years and never missed a payment. The difficulty arises when you are told you can no longer work. All she has received from the government since March £3k, bearing in mind we have a mortgage to pay etc. I challenge anyone to go from March until January with next to no income without feeling the pinch.

Having an emergency savings pot has always been a core element of managing ones own finances. Up to people themselves how they choose to spend their money. Culture these days is want it now.  When times get hard for whatever reason. Then people run into problems. Covid has simply highlighted the extent of the issue. 

Are you for real? Many people have been able to work little for the best part of a year. How much do you think people have in savings. A recommendation is 3-6 months. 

Aylesbury_Duck

diggingdude said:

Thrugelmir said:

C.w_Wilson said:

Thrugelmir said:

C.w_Wilson said:

 I feel like she is being punished by the finance company for something that she can’t control.

Alternatively you could take the view she has something she cannot afford. The arrears will simply mount and put pressure on future earnings. As the amount to repay every month increases. 

Normally people get upset and start venting when they've something to hide when it comes to financial matters. Showing the finance house the bank statements to prove financial difficulty should be a straightforward task. 

She can definitely afford it. She has had the car for 4 years and never missed a payment. The difficulty arises when you are told you can no longer work. All she has received from the government since March £3k, bearing in mind we have a mortgage to pay etc. I challenge anyone to go from March until January with next to no income without feeling the pinch.

Having an emergency savings pot has always been a core element of managing ones own finances. Up to people themselves how they choose to spend their money. Culture these days is want it now.  When times get hard for whatever reason. Then people run into problems. Covid has simply highlighted the extent of the issue. 

Are you for real? Many people have been able to work little for the best part of a year. How much do you think people have in savings. A recommendation is 3-6 months. 

In Thrugelmir's defense, OP said they had £3k of emergency savings, which may be a substantial sum, but it's surely not 3-6 months of household expenses.  That does lend weight to Thrugelmir's query about whether the car was affordable in the first place.  The whole point of emergency savings is to get you by for 3-6 months in the event of no income at all.  It's prudent to buy or lease a cheaper car until you can build your emergency savings to the 3-6 month level.

Tokmon

C.w_Wilson said:

Thrugelmir said:

C.w_Wilson said:

 I feel like she is being punished by the finance company for something that she can’t control.

Alternatively you could take the view she has something she cannot afford. The arrears will simply mount and put pressure on future earnings. As the amount to repay every month increases. 

Normally people get upset and start venting when they've something to hide when it comes to financial matters. Showing the finance house the bank statements to prove financial difficulty should be a straightforward task. 

She can definitely afford it. She has had the car for 4 years and never missed a payment. The difficulty arises when you are told you can no longer work. All she has received from the government since March £3k, bearing in mind we have a mortgage to pay etc. I challenge anyone to go from March until January with next to no income without feeling the pinch.

I would say that she cannot afford the car because together you don't seem to have had at least 3 months of outgoings in an emergency fund as is recommended. Personally myself and my partner could not have any income for over a year without any issues, there is over 12 months over overpayments in the mortgage so i could not pay that for a year without any problems. So it's probably best to get rid of the car or she should really have looked for another job by now if you were struggling because there have been plenty of jobs out there and just sitting at home complaining about having no income helps no one.

Michael_Bear

So grant of £3000 which was 57.5% of her annual pay. So she was earning £5200 per annum. So with virus being rough 9 months work that leaves her short only £900 (5200x9/12 minus 3000 grant). Seeing as you had 3000 in saving you should now have £2100 (3000 minus 900).
Have I missed something here, but you should be fine?

Have there been any other impacts (such as your work, increased spending ect?)

Apologies in advance if something is off but it seems to me the government support will have left her £900 down if she hadn't earned a penny in last 9 months (over heads maybe?)

mattyprice4004

diggingdude said:

Thrugelmir said:

C.w_Wilson said:

Thrugelmir said:

C.w_Wilson said:

 I feel like she is being punished by the finance company for something that she can’t control.

Alternatively you could take the view she has something she cannot afford. The arrears will simply mount and put pressure on future earnings. As the amount to repay every month increases. 

Normally people get upset and start venting when they've something to hide when it comes to financial matters. Showing the finance house the bank statements to prove financial difficulty should be a straightforward task. 

She can definitely afford it. She has had the car for 4 years and never missed a payment. The difficulty arises when you are told you can no longer work. All she has received from the government since March £3k, bearing in mind we have a mortgage to pay etc. I challenge anyone to go from March until January with next to no income without feeling the pinch.

Having an emergency savings pot has always been a core element of managing ones own finances. Up to people themselves how they choose to spend their money. Culture these days is want it now.  When times get hard for whatever reason. Then people run into problems. Covid has simply highlighted the extent of the issue. 

Are you for real? Many people have been able to work little for the best part of a year. How much do you think people have in savings. A recommendation is 3-6 months. 

Realistically I think the recommendation of 3-6 months has been proven to be 'not quite enough' over the last year or so - personally I've always felt closer to a year is a better bet.

Semple

Michael_Bear said:

So grant of £3000 which was 57.5% of her annual pay. So she was earning £5200 per annum. So with virus being rough 9 months work that leaves her short only £900 (5200x9/12 minus 3000 grant). Seeing as you had 3000 in saving you should now have £2100 (3000 minus 900).
Have I missed something here, but you should be fine?

Have there been any other impacts (such as your work, increased spending ect?)

Apologies in advance if something is off but it seems to me the government support will have left her £900 down if she hadn't earned a penny in last 9 months (over heads maybe?)

The numbers don't quite add up for me either. Assuming she did claim all three grants and got the maximum she was entitled to, that being nearly 3/5ths of her yearly pay, where are you now seeing massive shortfalls? 

dunstonh

mattyprice4004 said:

diggingdude said:

Thrugelmir said:

C.w_Wilson said:

Thrugelmir said:

C.w_Wilson said:

 I feel like she is being punished by the finance company for something that she can’t control.

Alternatively you could take the view she has something she cannot afford. The arrears will simply mount and put pressure on future earnings. As the amount to repay every month increases. 

Normally people get upset and start venting when they've something to hide when it comes to financial matters. Showing the finance house the bank statements to prove financial difficulty should be a straightforward task. 

She can definitely afford it. She has had the car for 4 years and never missed a payment. The difficulty arises when you are told you can no longer work. All she has received from the government since March £3k, bearing in mind we have a mortgage to pay etc. I challenge anyone to go from March until January with next to no income without feeling the pinch.

Having an emergency savings pot has always been a core element of managing ones own finances. Up to people themselves how they choose to spend their money. Culture these days is want it now.  When times get hard for whatever reason. Then people run into problems. Covid has simply highlighted the extent of the issue. 

Are you for real? Many people have been able to work little for the best part of a year. How much do you think people have in savings. A recommendation is 3-6 months. 

Realistically I think the recommendation of 3-6 months has been proven to be 'not quite enough' over the last year or so - personally I've always felt closer to a year is a better bet.

We always say 12 months of expenditure.     I understand from my mortgage guys that most people they deal with on residential mortgages have virtually none most of the time.  However, a good number of those have other finance agreements and car is the most common.    Along with expensive mobile phone contracts (phone bought via the monthly payment and is often more than they pay into their pension, which is usually peanuts).

In this case, the figures do not appear to add up.  £3000 total in grants, £3000 emergency fund plus the period when open (which our hairdresser said was manic in terms of workload).  Expenditure is down for most people.   So, whilst there may be a shortfall, the amounts would not suggest there should be an issue unless she was already living beyond her means.  In which case, dealing with the root cause may be more important than getting a sticking plaster.    So, popping over to the debt free wannabee section of this board, where there are some excellent posters there who are really helpful, could be in order.