British Credit Trust - Car Repossession

[BIGMAN2708]

Hi James, thanks for the update. So get things straight in my head, if I Voluntary Surrender the vehicle they will take me to court for any outstanding balance? What if I were to offer them a suitable repayment plan that I can afford, which is only what I would do if it went to CCJ. I have a budget sheet set-up with all outgoings, which I could send to them if I VS. Does this sound feasible?

[Gaston Grimsdyke]

There is some conflicting advice on here. You can VT any time you like, even if there are arrears. After giving the car back, you would have to pay them the arrears (unless there was also some damage to the car). It is not a condition that you pay the arrears before you VT, and you do not need them to "allow you" to VT. They have no choice. However, if BCT have already terminated the agreement because of arrears then you have lost the right to VT and your only option is to VS, which will leave you with a bigger liability. It is therefore crucial for you to establish whether they have terminated the agreement or not.

[Jamesx81x]

They may surprise you and accept your offer of repayment but in my experience if it is a large balance they like to do it through the courts so you have less chance of defaulting on an arrangement.

 

Send them your offer of repayment and await their response, thats all you can do really.

 

In the mean time start regular payments of what you can afford, even if they havent agreed a plan by then just make the regular payments and if they did try and take you to court it wouldnt put them in a very good light.

 

James

[postggj]

there is some conflicting advice on here. You can vt any time you like, even if there are arrears. After giving the car back, you would have to pay them the arrears (unless there was also some damage to the car). It is not a condition that you pay the arrears before you vt, and you do not need them to "allow you" to vt. They have no choice. However, if bct have already terminated the agreement because of arrears then you have lost the right to vt and your only option is to vs, which will leave you with a bigger liability. It is therefore crucial for you to establish whether they have terminated the agreement or not.

 

you fail to mention the 50% mark needed to do a vt

 

you can voluntary surrender at any time, not vt

 

you continue to post this nonsense so to end this may i ask the

 

statute legislation you are relying on to validate your post on doing a vt at anytime with arrears outstanding and owe nothing

 

ime talking a vt not a vs

Edited May 16, 2011 by postggj

[Gaston Grimsdyke]

No, you are wrong about that again. You do not need to have paid 50% before you VT either. You can VT 10 minutes after signing the agreement if you like. I would respectfully suggest you read sections 99 and 100. Try s99(1): "At any time before the final payment by the debtor under a regulated hire-purchase or regulated conditional sale agreement falls due, the debtor shall be entitled to terminate the agreement by giving notice to any person entitled or authorised to receive the sums payable under the agreement." Nope, nothing there about having paid 50% or not being in arrears.

 

And s99(2): "Termination of an agreement under subsection (1) does not affect any liability under the agreement which has accrued before the termination." In other words, if there are arrears when you terminate, you will have to pay them afterwards.

 

Of course, you could have looked this up in 30 seconds flat before you posted your ill-advised diatribe. However, you are in good company as many finance companies are similarly ignorant about how the VT rules work.

[postggj]

On any hp agreement may i suggest you look at the section

 

termination and your rights on ending the agreement early

 

YOU ARE TALKING OF A VS AND NOT A VT

 

I MYSELF HAVE DONE 2 V T IN THE PAST

[Jamesx81x]

Before a Hire Purchase will let you VT an agreement they will request you pay a specified amount. This will be detailed in your Agreement!

 

If you are over that figure you can VT for no further cost and walk away. If there are arrears on the account at the time you want to do a VT the creditor will request you pay that amount first or they will not allow you to do so.

 

Its that simple!

[Gaston Grimsdyke]

On any hp agreement may i suggest you look at the section

 

termination and your rights on ending the agreement early

 

YOU ARE TALKING OF A VS AND NOT A VT

 

I MYSELF HAVE DONE 2 V T IN THE PAST

 

Thanks, but I am thoroughly familiar with the difference. Done your job for you again - here's the statutory wording from the Agreements Regs 1983 that has to appear on the agreements:

 

"You have a right to end this agreement. To do so, you should write to the person you make your payments to. They will then be entitled to the return of the goods and to half the total amount payable under this agreement, that is £. If you have already paid at least this amount plus any overdue instalments and have taken reasonable care of the goods, you will not have to pay any more."

 

In other words, you can terminate when you like and when you do, you will have to a) hand back the car and b) then make a payment of the arrears (if any) and any further sum to make up half the total purchase price. If you have already paid at least 50% and you are not in arrears, you pay no more.

 

Finance companies who insist you make the payment first, or want to do an inspection of the vehicle first are simply wrong. They cannot stop you terminating (unless they have themselves terminated first).

[dx100uk]

eve guys

 

i see the GG has appeared

 

dx

[postggj]

100 Liability of debtor on termination of hire-purchase etc. agreement.(1)Where a regulated hire-purchase or regulated conditional sale agreement is terminated under section 99 the debtor shall be liable, unless the agreement provides for a smaller payment, or does not provide for any payment, to pay to the creditor the amount (if any) by which one-half of the total price exceeds the aggregate of the sums paid and the sums due in respect of the total price immediately before the termination.

 

THE KEY IS HALF OR 50 %

 

 

[Gaston Grimsdyke]

Wow, notoriety?

[Gaston Grimsdyke]

100 Liability of debtor on termination of hire-purchase etc. agreement.(1)Where a regulated hire-purchase or regulated conditional sale agreement is terminated under section 99 the debtor shall be liable, unless the agreement provides for a smaller payment, or does not provide for any payment, to pay to the creditor the amount (if any) by which one-half of the total price exceeds the aggregate of the sums paid and the sums due in respect of the total price immediately before the termination.

 

THE KEY IS HALF OR 50 %

 

Correct. But look at the order of the words - the termination appears before the requirement to pay half. Therefore, the 50% requirement is after the VT has occurred, not before it as this creditor appears to be arguing.

[Jamesx81x]

immediately before the termination

 

Clue is in the title so to speak!

[postggj]

No matter how many times i read this it still says

 

pay the 50 % mark before you have the option to request a voluntary termination

 

i have also been in court with welcome finance on just this issue and all due respect

 

ill abide by the wording of a district judge

[Gaston Grimsdyke]

Again, quite right. All this says is that the calculation is performed with the figures as they were just before the termination. It doesn't say that the sums have to be paid before the termination. That is why, if you want to VT, the best time to do it is the day before an instalment falls due.

[Gaston Grimsdyke]

No matter how many times i read this it still says

 

pay the 50 % mark before you have the option to request a voluntary termination

 

i have also been in court with welcome finance on just this issue and all due respect

 

ill abide by the wording of a district judge

 

Well whoever represented Welcome misled the judge and the DJ screwed up. There is absolutely no requirement to make the payment before you VT. Just the simple order of words in the Act establishes that. If you don't want to take my word for it, read one of the texts like Goode.

[postggj]

We will be at this all day and your argument just does not compute

 

we will agree to disagree me thinks

[Gaston Grimsdyke]

BTW I'm trying to help the OP here. He's being railroaded into VS-ing (and a higher liability) when he still might be able to VT.

[postggj]

well whoever represented welcome misled the judge and the dj screwed up. There is absolutely no requirement to make the payment before you vt. Just the simple order of words in the act establishes that. If you don't want to take my word for it, read one of the texts like goode.

 

 

what a district judge and barrister

[postggj]

btw i'm trying to help the op here. He's being railroaded into vs-ing (and a higher liability) when he still might be able to vt.

 

 

i advocate never to do a voluntry surrender

 

may i sugest this cagger speak to a contracts solicitor

[Gaston Grimsdyke]

We will be at this all day and your argument just does not compute

 

we will agree to disagree me thinks

 

Fair do's. I've won the argument dozens of times against finance companies FWIW. The penny always drops in the end.

[BIGMAN2708]

I purchased a car with finance through British Credit Trust, borrowed £6800 over four years in 2008. I fell into financial difficulty after being made redundant and out of work for over six months. During this period BCT did nothing but hound me hassling me to make payments I couldn’t afford. I borrowed money from family to cover payments of £280 per month. As I was only getting £60 a week in benefit from the Job Centre.

 

They never really offered any help or follow any of the OFT guidelines in regards to my debt. Eventually I got things back on track for a short period only to suffer more finance issues as my wife fell seriously ill with Meningitis and her salary stopped. At this point I had paid back more than a third of the loan so was entitled to hand the car back but wanted to keep hold of it as we needed it as my wife suffered severe walking difficulties from her illness. Again they hassled for money. Then one day I received a letter stating that BCT had now been taken over by Target Loans in Wales. They contacted me to try and resolve the arrears but never suggested that I should hand back the car and that would be the end of the account as I had paid enough off the loan. This went on for about a year, not many payments were made so in the end I had no choice but to give the car back. But as a Default Notice had been issued I still had to pay back £5600 to clear the balance, even though I had already paid over £7000! The car was auctioned and only raised £1200 at auction. I had offered to BCT/Target to sell it privately as this would have sold for at least £2500 but they refused and said they had to sell it.

 

I cannot afford to pay back the £5600 at a reasonable amount each month, it would be a bare minimum payment. Having done my calculations it would take another 10 years at least to clear. Can I write to BCT/Target explaining their lack of help when my finance troubles started and ask them to write off the debt, considering the amount I have already paid. Having this on my credit report really doesn’t help matters either. Or am I stuck with the whole amount and an eternity of monthly payments?

 

Any useful advice or help would be greatly appreciated.

[BIGMAN2708]

I purchased a car with finance through British Credit Trust,

borrowed £6800 over four years in 2008.

 

I fell into financial difficulty after being made redundant and out of work for over six months.

During this period BCT did nothing but hound me hassling me to make payments I couldn’t afford.

I borrowed money from family to cover payments of £280 per month.

As I was only getting £60 a week in benefit from the Job Centre.

 

They never really offered any help or follow any of the OFT guidelines in regards to my debt.

 

Eventually I got things back on track for a short period only to suffer more finance issues as my wife fell seriously ill with Meningitis and her salary stopped.

 

At this point I had paid back more than a third of the loan so was entitled to hand the car back

but wanted to keep hold of it as we needed it as my wife suffered severe walking difficulties from her illness.

Again they hassled for money.

 

Then one day I received a letter stating that BCT had now been taken over by Target Loans in Wales.

 

They contacted me to try and resolve the arrears but never suggested that I should hand back the car

and that would be the end of the account as I had paid enough off the loan.

 

This went on for about a year,

not many payments were made

 

in the end I had no choice but to give the car back.

 

But as a Default Notice had been issued I still had to pay back £5600 to clear the balance,

even though I had already paid over £7000!

The car was auctioned and only raised £1200 at auction.

 

I had offered to BCT/Target to sell it privately as this would have sold for at least £2500 but they refused and said they had to sell it.

 

I cannot afford to pay back the £5600 at a reasonable amount each month, it would be a bare minimum payment.

 

Having done my calculations it would take another 10 years at least to clear.

 

Can I write to BCT/Target explaining their lack of help when my finance troubles started and ask them to write off the debt, considering the amount I have already paid.

 

Having this on my credit report really doesn’t help matters either.

 

Or am I stuck with the whole amount and an eternity of monthly payments?

 

Any useful advice or help would be greatly appreciated.

[BRIGADIER2JCS]

How long ago did you take out this loan?

There are very few situation in which a debt

of this size would be written off, more probably

at some point it may be sold on again.

[BIGMAN2708]

Hi, the loan was taken out in May 2008. I am surprised that they have not sold it on yet. Not sure what route to take really.