HELP! Car Repossession

[Daisy70]

Hi All

 

Please help!

 

We have a car with FGA Finance and have a third of car payment made. We missed repayments in July and August with arrears of £600

 

29Aug We paid £300 off arrears and offered to pay outstanding ammount of £300 on 25 Sept. FGA suggested we borrow money from friends

 

30Aug Started getting calls from CodeRed Collections who said it was too late to do anything and we owed £8800

 

31Aug Received letter from FGA looking for full ammount of £8800 - they advised that debt would pass to external collections agency - although we had already been receiving calls

 

10Sept Phoned FGA and tried to negotiate - advised that contract had been terminated and car would be repossessed in 30days

 

Please help would be grateful for any advice

[sequenci]

Hello there.

 

I'm assuming the vehicle is on hire-purchase? If you have made more than 1/3 of the payments (you can check the 1/3 figure on the contract) they will need to seek a court order to repossess the car (unless you choose to hand the var back, don't do this!).

 

At the hearing you will either be able to make an offer to pay the regular instalment plus a tiny bit extra OR the court may allow you to pay a reduced amount for a period of time; this is knjown as a Time Order.

 

More info here:

 

http://www.nationaldebtline.co.uk/england_wales/factsheet.php?page=16_hire_purchase_debt

 

and

 

http://www.nationaldebtline.co.uk/england_wales/factsheet.php?page=06c_time_order_hire_purchase_or_conditional_sale_agreement

 

n.b. If you haven't quite paid 1/3 of the finance you might want to hide the vehicle for a while, to stop them 'snatching' it back.

[i hate bailiffs]

as above if you have paid more than 1/3 they will need a court order to get the car back

 

they will sometimes try to get you to surrender the car and sigh paperwork to save them the hassle of court

if they were going down the court route it would take months rather than weeks as a slow process

[Ell-enn]

You need to write to them with your proposal to pay off the remaining arrears and remind them that they need a court order to repossess the car. Also inform them that you will not be handing over the car to any of their agents and that if necessary you will defend any court action taken. If you need help with the letter please let me know.

[Daisy70]

Thanks so much for that - it feels like a weights been lifted knowing that at least we can do something

 

Would appreciate a 'template' letter if you have one that I can edit accordingly

 

Thanks

[Ell-enn]

OK, will post one on here this evening Can you have a look at your finance agreement - it should say how much you need to have paid before they need a court order to repossess.

[Daisy70]

Hi

 

According to finance agreement the ammount payable by us before a court order may be issued is £5123.53

 

We have paid £6323.31 (plus arrears of £300)

 

Also clipped onto the back of agreement is a page entitled 'Customer Acknowledgement of Monthly Credit Protection Insurance'. This is neither signed, nor dated but a total ammount of £73.31 is listed on the form. Are we therefore paying PPI? We neither asked for, nor wanted this and as far as I can see we are not entitled to it anyway.

 

Thanks,

[sequenci]

That sounds very much like PPI, which means that you have a possible reclaim.

[Ell-enn]

Do you have a scanner? if so could you scan the agreement and post on here? you would have to edit out your name and account number or anything else that could identify you.

[Daisy70]

Hi

 

Finally managed to scan FGA Finance Agreement and am posting here

 

Thanks

[Ell-enn]

Hi, I have removed your agreement as it has your name etc on it. However, looking at it I can't see PPI anywhere on the agreement. How much are you paying each month?

[Daisy70]

Hi

 

Paying £187 per month. On page 11 of agreement (last page) is the reference to ppi but the form is neither signed, nor dated?

[Ell-enn]

The agreement states payments on the HP are £187 so it doesn't look as if you've been charged for PPI otherwise your payments would have been £73 more per month (scandalous amount!) perhaps the form is just to say they made you aware it was available.

 

I'll get the letter posted on here when I get home and if you send it recorded delivery tomorrow they should get it first thing on Monday.

 

If you get any more contact from CodeRed Collections, tell them you are aware of your rights and that a court order is required to repossess the vehicle - make sure you leave them in no doubt you will not be handing over the car to them under any circumstances.

[Daisy70]

Great

 

Thanks for that

[Ell-enn]

Quick question - if your payments are £187 and you only missed July and August, how are your arrears £600 ?

[Daisy70]

Hi

 

Been through all our FGA correspondance, bank statements etc., to discover we missed June, July and August! Also, £25 has been levied for each missed payment as well as £295 for engaging CodeRed.

 

Please help! Will lose employment without car

 

Thanks

[Ell-enn]

Hi, ok understand now - will affix letter in a few minutes

[Daisy70]

Hi

 

Just to clarify we missed payments for June and July and because of this FGA said they wouldn't take any more direct debit payments until the arrears were cleared - this is when we offered to pay £300 immediately and the balance owing on Sept 25th, and for them to resume direct debit payments.

 

Sorry this sounds so confused but we both have had dealings with FGA and CodeRed. I thought we missed August payment but the money was there for August payment FGA just didn't take it.

 

Thanks

[Ell-enn]

Hi, don't know what happened - I affixed the letter last night and now it's not showing............. will investigate

[Ell-enn]

Hi, letter affixed now - you need to add your address, their address and date. When you print the letter out make sure your printer is set for A4 paper (not letter size) so it all stays on one page.

 

If you can afford it, send by Special Delivery (just over £5). Keep a copy of the letter for yourselves and then check on the royalmail website a few days after posting to print off the signature receipt, then staple it to your copy of the letter in case we need it to go with a court defence.

 

If CodeRed contact you again, make them aware that you know your rights and you will not give up the vehicle without a court order.

 

[Daisy70]

Thank-you so much - letter now ready to go..

 

Quick question - have a name of someone in collections dept - should I address to that person? Also address given is a P.O.Box - will such post be signed for?

 

Thanks

[Ell-enn]

Hi, is it FGA Capital, Slough ? 240 Bath Road, Slough SL1 4DX

[Daisy70]

No P.O. Box 108, Leeds LS27 OWU

[Ell-enn]

Only thing you can do is phone them and ask for their street address rather than a PO Box.

[Daisy70]

Will do

 

Thanks