Car repo help needed 'advantage' playing dirty

[davisj003]

I took out car finance last summer of 9K.

 

Unfortunately most payments have been late due to the fact that my bank account cancelled the DD and

 

having completed about 8 direct debit forms advantage use the same reference number

and therefore the DD always gets returned as cancelled.

 

I have telephoned the bank about this on numerous occasions who say that can't see a problem their end.

 

I then have to make a payment by cheque or debit card though this has then cost me in charges.

 

My regular payments are 320 per month.

 

In December I missed a payment and agreed to pay £500 but only ended up paying £250.

 

January a payment did not go through but

 

in February I paid £620 and

 

at the beginning of March £100 and sent a cheque off for £300.

This then would have cleared my arrears.

 

Last week I received an email saying to call them urgently,

I was very busy at work so did not call until 2 days after the email.

 

I was told that my car was being repossessed and there was nothing I could do.

 

I asked why and they claim they did not receive a cheque in March from me and I was again in arrears.

 

I did not receive a termination notice from them or a default notice.

 

I offered to pay the outstanding amount and they have refused.

 

I wonder if anyone can help me - where do I stand?

 

I have tried to negotiate with them to no avail.

 

At present my car is parked on my drive - can they just come and take it away?

 

I have told them that I feel they are breaching the FLA lending code but they still wont budge.

 

Should I have got a termination notce and a default notice?

 

They are saying they sent a default notice on 25th March.

 

I really need the car as my husband has heart problems and I need to transport him around.

 

Help as I am at a loss of what to do.

 

As I say I have offered to pay the arrears and they have said my contract is terminated.

 

Can they just take the car from my drive?

 

Can they do this without me receiving a DN or termination letter?

 

If I have agreed to pass the arrears can they say no???

[dx100uk]

yes they have to send DN & TN.

 

advantage are a law to themselves.

 

those arrears or penalty fees can be reclaimed.

 

have you all the statements and the agreement?

 

they cannot take the car from any private property without a court order

 

have you paid more than 1/3rd?

 

see the reverse of the agreement.

 

dx

[davisj003]

Thank you.

 

They say they sent DN but dont mention TN

- do they have to send TN before repo?

 

No I havent paid 1/3 - do they still need a court order?

 

The email I received this morning from them says:

 

With regards to a default notice

please be advised this was issued on 25/03/14 which gave 18 days for your account to be brought up to date.

 

Due to no payment your account has now been terminated and passed through for repossession of ????.

 

It is urgent you contact directly on xxxxxx to arrange collection of the vehicle

failure to do so will result in your account being passed to our legal department

to commence with a Return of Goods Order via the courts.

 

Any costs in obtaining a Return of Goods will be added to your outstanding balance.

 

I haven't contacted the repo guy just ignored his messages as I want to get my facts straight.

 

So does it mean that if I ignore them they wont come searching for the car

and remove off my drive and just take me to court

(which will be a good think as I can explain my story!)

 

Thanks again for any help

[dx100uk]

they cannot repo from your drive without a court order.

 

a repo guy is NOT A BAILIFF.

 

they have NO SUCH LEGAL POWERS.

no matter what they tell you.

 

unless they have a return of goods order

which has not yet happened.[obv]

 

take off the outstanding balance any repo fees

default penalty fees

etc etc

 

what do you owe and could you pay it.

 

you might have to plead with advantage [who are the pits just read here about them]

 

if you pay the true arrears, can we get things back on track again

 

however it might be better, if finance are crap in the longer term

to let the car go

 

but if you do request voluntary termination

 

that way you'll only have upto 50% if the HP to pay

minus what they get for the car at auction.

 

not too sure if you can VT though if they HAVE terminated the agreement.

 

dx

[davisj003]

No cannot pay the full loan amount but am willing to pay the arrears which they won't accept.

When would I be likely to get the RO?

 

I did read in another forum they can take off your drive - is that incorrect?

 

Also from the email from them which I posted earlier,

 

to me it sounds like they will take me to court if I don't return the car

- surely the court will look at this and see they have been totally unprofessional and just let me pay the arrears?

 

I thought that they didn't need a court order if you havent paid 1/3 of the loan.

 

I can keep up with the monthly repayments that isn't a problem,

 

just their refusal to accept payment.

 

Thank you

[theoldrouge]

they cannot take from your drive without a court order in hand,

which they must produce on request, whatever you have paid.

 

They may try and persuade you to hand over the car and docs ,

but you must refuse them permission to do this and instruct them to leave your premises,

as they have terminated you cannot vt.

 

As regards Advantage not accepting arrears quote them this from the Financial Conduct Authority

include it in a letter headed Formal Complaint-

 

Proportionality

 

CONC 7.3.14

01/04/2014

FCA

 

(1) A firm must not take disproportionate action against a customer in arrears or default.

 

[Note: paragraphs 7.14 (box) of ILG and 3.7t of DCG]

(2) In accordance with (1) a firm must not, in particular, apply to court for an order for sale or submit a bankruptcy petition, without first having fully explored any more proportionate options.

[davisj003]

Can anyone help with a letter to send them please as I don't really know what I can say legally and whether what they are saying is true?? I would be enormously grateful

[sequenci]

Hello there,

 

If you have not paid more than 1/3 they can try and take the vehicle back without a court order.

 

If the car is taken from a private driveway the only route of recourse you might have is an action for breach of statutory duty

- which in reality would be pennies as it is, afterall, their asset.

 

Ultimately, although they shouldn't take the car from your 'premises' - the chances are they will probably try it.

 

Do you want to keep the car?

[theoldrouge]

yes,

will help you with a draft letter in the next day or so,

 

but could you please answer the following first-what are the exact arrears?,

 

please list and itemise the charges they have levied,

 

did the cheque that you sent in march clear through your bank?

 

were you sold any addon insurances when you accepted the finance?

[theoldrouge]

for reference in case of anyone trying to take car from private property

- s92 cca1974,

 

Recovery of possession of goods or land.

 

(1)Except under an order of the court,

the creditor or owner shall not be entitled to enter any premises to take possession of goods subject to a regulated hire-purchase agreement,

regulated conditional sale agreement or regulated consumer hire agreement.

 

(2)At any time when the debtor is in breach of a regulated conditional sale agreement relating to land,

the creditor is entitled to recover possession of the land from the debtor,

or any person claiming under him, on an order of the court only.

 

(3)An entry in contravention of subsection (1) or (2) is actionable as a breach of statutory duty.

[sequenci]

And as I've already said, the damages are negligible at best - so it's a bit of a pointless argument to try and put to a creditor.

[theoldrouge]

whilst I agree that its a pointless argument to put to the creditor, I feel that it is useful to know when dealing with a repo agent on your doorstep. As regards the argument to be put to the creditor, imo:-), would be the FCA one of "proportionality" especially as the op has the means and wishes to pay the arrears, and thereafter the account

[sequenci]

I think the OP would do well to investigate a Time Order: https://www.nationaldebtline.org/EW/factsheets/Pages/06C%20EW%20Time%20order%20-%20hire-purchase%20or%20conditional-sale%20agreement/Default.aspx

 

I think it's far safer to get a court-backed arrangement in place rather than be reliant on Advantage.

[davisj003]

Thanks so much for all your comment.

 

My worry is that they will just take back the car without it going to court.

 

Obviously if it were to go to court I can explain that I was willing to pay but was refused.

 

My arrears are £457.

 

The charges have been approx. £16-£30 per month.

 

They have not cashed my cheque send in March.

 

Add on insurances were GAP,

mechanical breakdown and

motor protect plus (I paid an extra £50 per month approx. for these which is included is the 320 I pay per month.

 

Funnily enough today I get home from work and receive a "notice of termination" letter stating that

 

"I am no longer in possession of good with their consent.

If they are not made available for collection we shall apply to the county court for their return".

 

What shall I do next any ideas?

 

Re a time order,

 

will that stop them doing anything with the car now??

[dx100uk]

hit back

 

have you all the payments of these extras listed?

 

if you have

 

make a spreadsheet

 

CISheet v101.xls

 

put EVERY MONTHLY payment towards all the extras in it

 

then their in rate in cell D15

 

that's your reclaim.

 

it might pay you to type in

 

advantage finance

 

in the search of our greytool bar up top

 

and read

 

dx

[sequenci]

Re a time order,

 

will that stop them doing anything with the car now??

 

Yes, it can do exactly that.

[davisj003]

put EVERY MONTHLY payment towards all the extras in it Thanks - so as it all the insurances and the charges ?Sorry for being stupid but how will this help me?

[theoldrouge]

as keeping the car and its use are obviously very important to you,

 

I would agree it would be far better to have the protection of the court via the time order,

and once in place to follow up with a formal complaint to advantage as regards the charges etc,

most of which seem to have been caused by them.

 

Then if they disagree to refund,

this complaint can be forwarded to the fos.

 

In this regard it would also help if you could scan in the original agreement,

and insurance requirement assessments with personal details removed

[dx100uk]

**you can post up images/letters by this method immediately..you don't need 10 posts**

.

set your default scan page size to A4 less than 300DPI [150 will do]

scan the required letters/agreements/sheets - as a picture[jpg] file

don't forget you can use a mobile phone or a digital camera too!!

'

BUT......

ENSURE: remove all pers info inc. barcodes etc

but leave all monetary figures and dates.

.

************************* ************************* *******

{DO NOT USE A BIRO OR PEN OR USE SEE THRU TAPE OR LABELS]

************************* ************************* ***********

.

DO IT IN MSPAINT.EXE or any photo editing program

goto one of the many free online pdf converter websites ...

http://freejpgtopdf.com/

http://www.convert-jpg-to-pdf.net/

..

if you have multiple scans/pics

put them in a word doc FIRST and convert that to PDF

or http://www.freepdfconvert.com/

or

use www.pdfmerge.com

 

convert existing PC files to PDF [office has an installable print to PDF option]

..

it would be better to upload a multipage pdf if

you have many images too rather than many single pdfs

.

or if you have PDF as an installed printer drive use that

or use word and save as pdf

try and logically name your file so people know what it is.

though DONT USE BANK NAMES or CAG in the title

i'e Default notice DD-mm-yyyy

.

open a new msg box here

hit go advanced below the msg box

hit manage attachments below that box

hit the add files button on the top right

hit select files, navigate to your file on your pc

hit upload files

...

YOU DONT have to put a link to the attachment in the msg box..just upload it ..job done

.

dx

[davisj003]

Thanks all you have been great.

 

So what shall I do now with regards to contacting Advantage?

 

Shall I send them a formal letter saying that I have applied for a time order via the court???

 

I want to send them something in writing so they don't think I am sitting here

doing nothing and am going to allow them to take the car

[dx100uk]

last line post 18 please

 

dx

[davisj003]

Further develops,

 

my hubby just called me and said the repo man is at our house.

 

He was a very nice guy but said he is repossessing the vehicle

so it is best to hand over the keys or he will just remove it off the drive as I haven't paid 1/3.

 

Luckily my hubby phoned me and I spoke to the repo man

and said that if he removes it off my drive it is private land and he will be prosecuted for this.

 

He said he is being told what to do by advantage and would I call them.

I told him no I am fed up speaking with them as they take no notice so am doing everything in writing.

 

He then said that he would call them.

 

he called them and said that they have told him to leave it

but they will be submitting a "return of goods order".

 

What does this mean - will they need to take me to court (if so I can't wait!!)?

 

Also I am guessing he can take the car if it isn't parked on a drive or private property??

 

Do I need to watch when I am out where to park it?

 

I really need to get this letter sent off to them.

 

Thanks again for any advice

[theoldrouge]

yes they can take it if not on private property,

and yes they will have to go to court for a return of goods order

-When a creditor goes to court for a ‘return of goods order’,

you can ask for this to be suspended on the condition that you pay a fixed amount per month.

 

This will usually be to pay the normal monthly instalment, plus an amount to clear the arrears.

 

If the court agrees to your request, the effect will be the same as if they had made a time order.

[sequenci]

Do consider hiding the car on someone else's drive for a while.

[davisj003]

yes they can take it if not on private property, and yes they will have to go to court for a return of goods order-When a creditor goes to court for a ‘return of goods order’, you can ask for this to be suspended on the condition that you pay a fixed amount per month. This will usually be to pay the normal monthly instalment, plus an amount to clear the arrears. If the court agrees to your request, the effect will be the same as if they had made a time order.