Car Loan default marker

schnapsdrossel

Hi all wonder if you can help. Ten years ago I bought a new car and took out a loan with Santander Consumer Finance then in 2016 further to marriage break down I could repay and account defaulted with just over £3000 left to pay. At the time the situation was so dire I was facing bankruptcy and sought legal advice ...they looked through all documentation and said the car was bought using a personal loan therefore I didn't risk losing it for defaulting on it. I've been using it ever since until it now needs repairs that are beyond the value of the car, when I tried to sell it the buyer showed me that it comes up as having outstanding finance owing - it says loan, rather than Hire Purchase or Conditional sale but still a problem. Is there any way I can have this removed. This default is the only bad thing left on my credit file and due to drop in October ...I don't know if is be causing further problems contacting Santander about it ...i only have the front page of the finance agreement which doesn't help because it just says "your vehicle" several times which makes me think I'm the owner but the marker on it suggests otherwise ...am I allowed to request a copy of the agreement and would that be detrimental to me at all?

Thanks for any helpful advice in advance 

ontheroad1970

A conditional sale is still a form of HP.  The car wouldn't be yours until all payments are made.  Be careful with the cost of repairs  being more than the car is worth - you could easily buy something slightly newer that had more wrong with it than what you have, and have shelled out even more.

schnapsdrossel

Would it  say conditional loan on the paperwork or the credit file ? The Garage advised it would be almost £3000 to repair and no guarantee it would not have something else going wrong  

schnapsdrossel

It says personal loan on Experian 

ontheroad1970

Doesn't matter what it says on Experian - what it says on the contract is what counts.  I had a 3 year 0% Conditional Sale through Santander and it clearly stated that the car was not mine until all payments were made.

ontheroad1970

schnapsdrossel said:

Would it  say conditional loan on the paperwork or the credit file ? The Garage advised it would be almost £3000 to repair and no guarantee it would not have something else going wrong  

There is never a guarantee that something won't go wrong with any car, even one still under manufacturer's warranty.

Ectophile

It is possible for loans to be secured on things.

For example, when you take out a mortgage to buy a house, the house is registered in your name, but the loan is secured on the house.  A car loan can work the same way - the car is yours, but it's also security on a loan.

You would have to check the contract details on the original loan.  Personal loans could be secured or unsecured.

ontheroad1970

Santander conditional sale contracts are specific about the fact that ownership doesn't pass to the customer until the final payment clears.  They send a letter to confirm that they no longer hold any interest in the vehicle.  

Grumpy_chap

I am possibly misunderstanding something here, or there might be some information missing.

If the OP defaulted on the HP payments six years ago, it is odd that Santander did not take any enforcement action for the payments or to recover the vehicle at that time.

If the vehicle is now sold, the first £3k is still due to Santander.

The OP does say that they were "facing bankruptcy" but it is not clear whether that actually happened or was avoided.  If the OP did declare bankruptcy, then the car would often have been sold to go towards clearing the debts. 

If the OP did complete bankruptcy, that might mean that Santander cannot now claim the car.  I am not an expert.

This query looks like one for the "bankruptcy and living with it" or the "debt free wanabee" boards rather than motoring.

schnapsdrossel

I have spoken with Santander, they confirmed there should not have been a marker on the vehicle as they never had any financial interest on it , they have done the necessary to have it removed and said it would update within a few days. It was not a loan secured on the vehicle, it was unsecured ...they put the marker in error. Thank you all as your comments were really helpful. Apologies if it was on the wrong thread