Car Repossession advice

sodapopzxx112

Hi 

need some advice - took out finance on a car back in march 2021 with oddly car finance. Car was £28,600 + oodles interest total amount £42,209. Monthly payments were £702 per month. 

Mid 2023 i was diagnosed with some medical conditions and had to have a considerable amount of time off work (8months). I still kept up with payments with no late payments or missed payments since my contract started. I returned back to work but looked for alternative employment that would better suit my medical needs. I eventually got another job and started this in jan 2024.

Cut a long story short, i subsequently lost this job due to my medical conditions and ended up claiming UC at the backend 2024. I did alert my car finance to this, and i sent them all my medical notes, doctors notes, universal credit notifications etc. I was conscious that i needed to seek employment, which i did do and started employment worthy them in February 2025 (just over 12wks ago now).

I was worried about not making payments on my car finance so asked whether i could make regular smaller payments as and when i could afford to - i advised them i have access to the mobile app and portal so can do this. They advised that until I’ve paid my priority debts they wouldn’t be able to accept payments or set up a payment plan and that i was to contact them again when i had sorted out my priority debts first. I’m unsure whether they provided me with a deadline for this as due to my medical conditions i cannot recall.

I decided to make payments on the agreement and i made a payment on my car finance back at the end of march - with a view to setting up my regular direct debit again and arranging to settle the arrears on my next payment dater - which was April 28th. 

After paying priority debts and calculating just how much ni could afford to pay on my arrears straight away and moving forward i received a letter from them terminating my agreement and asking for the car to be returned. 

I called them up immediately and was told that unfortunately it’s gone to a stage where either can not be reversed even if they wanted it to. It’s been sent on to bailiffs to recover the vehicle. 

What can i do about this as the amount remaining is £13,200 and as of today the agreement (without any payment issues) only has 16months remaining. 

I have made £29,000 in payments on that car towards the finance alone - that is the amount the car cost to initially buy ……. £13,200 represents their total amount of interest they placed on the loan initially (yes I accepted this) 

If my car is repossessed then i will be forced to give up my job as i have no way of travelling the 60+miles to/from work each day, if i lose my job then i cannot afford to pay anything. 

Surely there is a law to protect this, yes i signed a contract, yes it’s my responsibility to follow that contract. I realise i messed up ands my medical conditions have made the situation worse, but i want to continue paying for the car i need at the rate set by them. 

Please any advice is greatly appreciated. 

Nasqueron

If they are repossessing the car then you might as well look for a cheap second hand runaround to get you to work - can you move any closer than a 30 mile each way drive, rent locally etc?

molerat

What type of finance is this ?  Have you paid in excess of 1/3rd the value of the purchase ?  Have they got a court order to repossess the car ?  Can you hide the car away anywhere ?  It may be worth getting proper advice as to the legality of their actions.

https://www.payplan.com/debt-info/collection-of-debts/creditors/car-repossession/

If you have paid one third or more of the monies borrowed your goods will then be classed as “protected”. This means that goods cannot be repossessed without an order from the court.

Unfortunately these lenders often use cowboy lift the car in the middle of the night operators and once they have it you have pretty much lost.

ManyWays

What were these other "priority debts" that you had in February this year when you started work? 

sodapopzxx112

Nasqueron said:

If they are repossessing the car then you might as well look for a cheap second hand runaround to get you to work - can you move any closer than a 30 mile each way drive, rent locally etc?

But why would I look for another car when I’ve paid off over £29,000 in payments to them in the last 4years. 

I’ve lived in my current property for over 20years - I do not have the finances to be able to pay for a 2nd property - I would need the best part of £2000 to put down as a deposit then I’d need removal costs and then there’s the fact I’ve got to actually locate a suitable property - all of which cannot be done in a week. I’ve also got family that I rely on for support and who also rely on me

chubsta

In the very short term I would suggest getting advice as mentioned above, but also bear in mind they can’t take a car they can’t find - any chance you could park it each day a mile away and walk home?

Nasqueron

sodapopzxx112 said:

Nasqueron said:

If they are repossessing the car then you might as well look for a cheap second hand runaround to get you to work - can you move any closer than a 30 mile each way drive, rent locally etc?

But why would I look for another car when I’ve paid off over £29,000 in payments to them in the last 4years. 

I’ve lived in my current property for over 20years - I do not have the finances to be able to pay for a 2nd property - I would need the best part of £2000 to put down as a deposit then I’d need removal costs and then there’s the fact I’ve got to actually locate a suitable property - all of which cannot be done in a week. I’ve also got family that I rely on for support and who also rely on me

Because that's what will keep you moving and getting to your job

The £29,000 is immaterial, with a PCP deal unless you buy it at the end you lose that money regardless

sodapopzxx112

Nasqueron said:

sodapopzxx112 said:

Nasqueron said:

If they are repossessing the car then you might as well look for a cheap second hand runaround to get you to work - can you move any closer than a 30 mile each way drive, rent locally etc?

But why would I look for another car when I’ve paid off over £29,000 in payments to them in the last 4years. 

I’ve lived in my current property for over 20years - I do not have the finances to be able to pay for a 2nd property - I would need the best part of £2000 to put down as a deposit then I’d need removal costs and then there’s the fact I’ve got to actually locate a suitable property - all of which cannot be done in a week. I’ve also got family that I rely on for support and who also rely on me

Because that's what will keep you moving and getting to your job

The £29,000 is immaterial, with a PCP deal unless you buy it at the end you lose that money regardless

This isn’t PCP it’s a normal car finance whereby I’m paying a monthly fee towards the car finance 

car cost £28,600 
oodle paid this and I owe them the money in addition to their fees of £13,200 = a grand total of £41,800 

the  car finance was to be paid in 60 monthly payments - at the end of the 60 months I’ve paid for the car and £13,200 in interest fees that I owe to oodle. 

With only 16months left in my 60months contract as stated I endured some medical issues which has meant for the last 6 months I’ve been struggling to make the monthly payments. 

Because of this oodle have terminated the finance agreement and now want to take the car back or I pay the remaining balance which is £13,200 

do you see now why I have such a big issue in throwing away nearly £30,000 and buying a cheap run-around…… make that make sense please….???????? 

WaffleCakes52

I’ve been through having my car finance terminated and even the car take. Away and managed to get it back but there is only one way you can do it.

You must call them up and ask for a suspended return of goods order. What they will do is go to the courts and ask that they suspend the order to return your goods as long as you keep up your original payments from that point (they will be slightly higher as they !!!!!! a standard court cost to your bill). However this way does mean that if you are in any arrears you must find the funds to pay this off before they start any of this process.

Let me know if you need any more advice on this matter

Thanks

sheramber

You haven’t paid £28 ,600 for the car.

Each month you have a sum of  money towards the interest and the balance towards the car cost. 

Nasqueron

sodapopzxx112 said:

Nasqueron said:

sodapopzxx112 said:

Nasqueron said:

If they are repossessing the car then you might as well look for a cheap second hand runaround to get you to work - can you move any closer than a 30 mile each way drive, rent locally etc?

But why would I look for another car when I’ve paid off over £29,000 in payments to them in the last 4years. 

I’ve lived in my current property for over 20years - I do not have the finances to be able to pay for a 2nd property - I would need the best part of £2000 to put down as a deposit then I’d need removal costs and then there’s the fact I’ve got to actually locate a suitable property - all of which cannot be done in a week. I’ve also got family that I rely on for support and who also rely on me

Because that's what will keep you moving and getting to your job

The £29,000 is immaterial, with a PCP deal unless you buy it at the end you lose that money regardless

This isn’t PCP it’s a normal car finance whereby I’m paying a monthly fee towards the car finance 

car cost £28,600 
oodle paid this and I owe them the money in addition to their fees of £13,200 = a grand total of £41,800 

the  car finance was to be paid in 60 monthly payments - at the end of the 60 months I’ve paid for the car and £13,200 in interest fees that I owe to oodle. 

With only 16months left in my 60months contract as stated I endured some medical issues which has meant for the last 6 months I’ve been struggling to make the monthly payments. 

Because of this oodle have terminated the finance agreement and now want to take the car back or I pay the remaining balance which is £13,200 

do you see now why I have such a big issue in throwing away nearly £30,000 and buying a cheap run-around…… make that make sense please….???????? 

Call it whatever you like, PCP or car finance, you said in your first post it's at the point of bailiffs trying to reclaim the car. You asked if there is a law to stop this - no, it's standard practice when you take out finance secured on a car that if you stop paying it, they will seek to reclaim the car