bought car with outstanding finance

sofronia · 15 June 2019 at 12:09AM

Hi, I bought a car half year ago without knowing that it was under finance until the finance company came and knocked. They demand us to compensate their financial loss which is nearly tripe of what I paid for the vehicle. After we showed that we have good faith (but they rejected our proof) they now want us to return the car, or meet us at court. We called Citizen Advice saying we can keep the car, but their reply in email say finance company can take the car and we cant stop, only way for us is to chase back the seller for a refund; and obviously the seller has disappeared.

what can we do, and what are our rights??? can they take our car????

if there were a document of ownership for vehicle, i believe no one would fall into this situation anymore
From this experience, we now know to do HPI check before buying a vehicle.

waamo · 15 June 2019 at 12:24AM

What kind of finance is owed, is it HP, logbook loan or other?

sofronia · 15 June 2019 at 12:55AM

we have no idea at all, the finance company have provided nothing even we asked, they just gave us a HPI report showing finance with their name.

neilmcl · 15 June 2019 at 9:23AM

Private purchase or from a dealer. At the end of the day you've been negligent in not doing an HPI check you when you purchased the car so you can't really expect anything else other than to hand the car back over and chase the seller for your money back.

sofronia · 15 June 2019 at 10:17AM

hi neilmcl, we purchased it from a private seller. we didnt know anything about HPI before, although HPI is not required by law as we googled it later on, we now know to do HPI in the future in order to avoid scam.

We are honest people, we didn't have any doubt when this family man with his children sold us the vehicle telling us there has no finance on it. We did buy it honestly and in good faith, and we think the finance company should chase their client who sign the contrat/agreement with them, insteading of coming to us threatening to have tripe of what we paid, or take us to court.

waamo · 15 June 2019 at 10:36AM

Check out section 27 of the Hire Purchase Act. You might be in luck.

In saying that you need to find out what kind of finance it is.

bris · 15 June 2019 at 3:22PM

Only the courts can make you hand it back. They may decide you're an innocent purchaser they may not.

The will want proof of what you paid in relation to the value of the car, if you got it to cheap you are in trouble, if you paid market value you have a chance.

Similarly if you know the seller then you are in trouble as they will suspect collusion.

Bottom line wait until the court papers come through and take it from there.

sofronia · 15 June 2019 at 10:17PM

yes this is what they tried to do.
they tried to argue that we bought the vehicle far too undervalued, we have proved that it is not, but they just reject to accept our evidence by giving nonsense reason.
we have no relationship with the seller at all.

yes, we are waiting for their court paper, but just to know what are our rights.

(apologise if these seem to be nonsense as these are my thoughs only), i just wonder why,
1) there is no document of ownership in this country, if there was, then no such scam would ever happen;
2) if we deserve this as we didnt do HPI check in advance so they are entiled to take the car and we can only chase the seller for refund, why cant the same theory apply to them, they didnt do background check of their client and borrow them the money (with gaining interest), finance company should bear the risk of it and should chase their client back for repayment, not chase us to recover their financial loss; we purchased a car with our hard earning money, just because someone is not honest then we ended up to be the victim who are forced to suffer all the consequences casued by them;
3) if HPI is so important it should be enforced by law that whoever sell vehicle, both privately and in trade, should enclose a HPI report in the advert
again, from this experience we will remember to do HPI check.

neilmcl · 16 June 2019 at 9:03AM

As already mentioned you need to write to the finance company and clearly state that you purchased the vehicle in good faith and you have good title. You have some protection, it's up to them to prove that you knew there was finance outstanding, let the court decide.

steampowered · 16 June 2019 at 11:26AM

As waamo stated, it is important to find out what the finance was, as this impacts whether they are entitled to get the car or not.

I would write back to the company asking them to explain what finance was in place and to provide evidence supporting that (such as a copy of the relevant finance agreement), in line with the court's pre-action protocol which requires the parties to provide the relevant information to understand each other's case before commencing court proceedings.

I would say in the letter that until such evidence is provided you will not be returning the car.

Wanderingpomm · 17 June 2019 at 6:29PM

They can’t take the car if you bought it good faith. They have to go over the person who actually borrowed the money.

The debt collectors are lying to you

bought car with outstanding finance

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