repossessions

pauliefc

Just thought I'd share. My husband lost his job due to a serious illness. I got a full time job and rang the finance company to tell them the story. We were 2 months behind on payments. I told them at the end of this month I would catch up on one and a half payments, and the rest next month. They were not willing to consider my salary as the finance was in my husbands name, so they have repossessed our car.

we got advice, so I wanted to pass it on for anyone else who is unfortunate enough to have this happen to them.

1. The person who comes to repossess your car can not remove it from your property without permission. (if it parked outside your property they can just put it on the truck without informing you).

2. If the are treatening at all to you you can ring the police, report them to the financial regulator who will investigate.

3. DO NOT SURRENDER YOUR CAR the first time they call, try to negotiate payments with the bank first.

4. You can refuse to have them repossess it from your home, and arrange to meet them somewhere else, it saves a seen in front of children and neighbours.

NB
5. if the bank are determined to take your car, tell them you are surrending it under the HALF RULE. This means that you are now only responsible for half the original finance, AND, they have to deduct any previous payments made against this sum, not the original, and also whatever they recieve at auction eg. your get finance for 20,000, surrender under half rule, you owe 10,000, you've already paid 2,000 they get 7,000 at auction for the car, you now owe 1,000. And if you can only afford €2 a week to pay back, there is absolutly nothing they can do about it.

Also.... if you have paid a third of the loan to date they can not repossess the car...

I hope this helps people in these hard times..

Bandara

sorry about your trouble Paulie, however just to be claer that if the bank want to repossess your car your agreeing or not will not matter an iota to them.

Friend of mine does all the work for Ulster Bank and is currently repossessing multiple cars everyday. They are given very clear instructions, to drive to the location, open the car with the set of keys they have and drive it away.

They are never going to be threatening etc as they have no interest in any sort of confrontation etc.

But if your car is down to be taken back it will be taken back. No court is going to give you the car back because the finance company took it back without your permission. Once you miss a payment YOU are responsible for forfeiting the contract and the company can take steps to recover their property.

pauliefc

I know that if they want it they will get it, and YES they can be treatening, and were to us.
I just wanted to let people know their rights. When surrending the car if you do under the half rule, you reduce what you owe them. And they can't just open the car. The financial regulator is very clear on what they can and can't do, but people do not know their rights.
And we are ok, I got a loan from the credit union and bought a car today. Like I said I had the means to catch up, so now the bank is well out of pocket because I knew my rights. Makes a change the banks normally are the ones scammimng.

pauliefc

but just ring the financial regulator if you need any other advice, its them we got ours from...

junkyard

But to be fair, if your struggling to pay for the car you might as well hand it over, they'll take it sooner or later, there's not much point in fighting about it.

mickey mac

pauliefc wrote: »

We were 2 months behind on payments. I told them at the end of this month I would catch up on one and a half payments, and the rest next month.

Fooking Hell!!!!!! they were very quick of the mark, missed 2 payments and an offer of 75% payment turned down! They really wanted that car back!!!

pauliefc

junkyard wrote: »

But to be fair, if your struggling to pay for the car you might as well hand it over, they'll take it sooner or later, there's not much point in fighting about it.

Yes but the half rule means you don't have to pay as much back, you still have the loan to pay when they repossess it... and if you miss money then, they can get county sherifs to take stuff from your home to repay it then!

pauliefc

mickey mac wrote: »

Fooking Hell!!!!!! they were very quick of the mark, missed 2 payments and an offer of 75% payment turned down! They really wanted that car back!!!

because we told them my husband was on illness benefit and no longer working and it was in his name. The guy who came to take the car said he has repossessed 26 cars this past week. The recession they are taking no chances....

junkyard

It looks like everyones out to rob everyone now, it really is a sad state of affairs the way things are going in this country. If your down they'll kick you hard and stamp all over you.:(

Hotwheels

5. if the bank are determined to take your car, tell them you are surrending it under the HALF RULE. This means that you are now only responsible for half the original finance, AND, they have to deduct any previous payments made against this sum, not the original, and also whatever they recieve at auction eg. your get finance for 20,000, surrender under half rule, you owe 10,000, you've already paid 2,000 they get 7,000 at auction for the car, you now owe 1,000. And if you can only afford €2 a week to pay back, there is absolutly nothing they can do about it.

Not too many people would be aware of that, and I doubt many lending institutions would tell you about it...

Wish you well pauliefc

pauliefc

it is a sad state of affairs, but it is called survival.... you do what you have to. The banks don't care about other people, especially when your luck is down, so why should we care about them. I think people need to know their rights.. if it stops people having to pay a loan for something they no longer have, and possibly putting their other belongings at risk, I don't feel guilty about it. Sure they screw us over with interest...what goes around comes around...

unkel

I'm disgusted that they repossessed so quickly. You only defaulted 2 months and you came up with a proposal to pay what you owed in full over the next few months. Surely it would have been in the finance company's interest to gave you a chance to do so? Everybody loses out in a repossession.

Anyway - thanks for sharing, pauliefc and take care.

HashSlinging

Sounds like you were on a contract hire as two months is very short.

The people who work as collection agents are the lowest form of scum ever to exist on this planet. They thrive on picking on average people as it makes them feel important. If you are anyway decent (like wash) they will be in their element..

I once worked in a bank and heard one of the collectors boasting about repossessing a young family's car and that they lived in a fairly big house with kids. The house was probably average sized as this guy had the IQ of a worm, actually ..SNIP..

Alzar

Have a look at this, around pages 14 & 15. explains the half rule:
http://www.itsyourmoney.ie/files/publications/p_20080128041858Car%20Finance%20Jan%2008.pdf

Al.

kazul

HashSlinging wrote: »

Sounds like you were on a contract hire as two months is very short.

The people who work as collection agents are the lowest form of scum ever to exist on this planet. They thrive on picking on average people as it makes them feel important. If you are anyway decent (like wash) they will be in their element..

I once worked in a bank and heard one of the collectors boasting about repossessing a young family's car and that they lived in a fairly big house with kids. The house was probably average sized as this guy had the IQ of a worm, actually had red birthmarks all over his big ugly face, hence the comparison.

Have met this guy through my old job a couple of times, never struck me as the type to boast about his job. You might want to be careful about slagging off people who are identifiable to others.
It's a ****ty job but, unfortunately, somebody has to do it.

pauliefc

HashSlinging wrote: »

Sounds like you were on a contract hire as two months is very short.


I once worked in a bank and heard one of the collectors boasting about repossessing a young family's car and that they lived in a fairly big house with kids. The house was probably average sized as this guy had the IQ of a worm, actually had red birthmarks all over his big ugly face, hence the comparison.

Sounds like the same bloke, treatened to pull my husband out of house and just take the keys!!! he backed down as soon as my hubby reported him to the bank and financial regulator.
but he was nasty

yellow012

Excellent information to know in these current times.
This is the relevant section from that doc:
**************************************
If you no longer want to keep the car, or find that
you cannot afford the repayments, you can end a
hire-purchase agreement at any time. However,
you must:
• give notice in writing and return the car;
• pay half the hire-purchase price, less the
total of your payments to date (including
any deposit you paid). This is sometimes called
the 'half rule' - see page 14; and
• pay the cost of any repairs needed if you
have not taken reasonable care of the car (see
page 16).
**************************************
An example from the doc:

(1) Half the hire-purchase price of
€16,390.69 = €8,195.35
Less: Amounts paid off to date:
25 payments of €270.92 €6,773.00
Deposit +€400.00
Documentation (or set-up) fee +€72.00
(2) Total paid so far €7,245.00
Amount Joe still owes (1) - (2)
(€8,195.35 less €7,245.00): €950.35
Month 25 : Joe sends his lender written notice
to end the agreement and arranges to give back
the car. If he ends the agreement in month 25, Joe
will have to give back the car. He will owe an extra
€950.35 to bring his payments up to half the
hire-purchase price.

guil

that was a bit harsh whatever the reaon behind the repossession OP
i have finance on a 05 car, bought it in june 07 and have missed a lot of payments since then, i was out of work for 8-10 months,
they threathened repossession but never went through with it and are deferrin the arrears, for how long i dont know

seasam

Surely the finance companies have something in the T&C to stop you using the half rule for a car ?

Mena

seasam wrote: »

Surely the finance companies have something in the T&C to stop you using the half rule for a car ?

T&C's can't override the law, which the half rule is.

Essentially, if your loan is on HP, once you've paid back half the HP price you can hand the car back no strings attached. Not sure what the effect on your credit rating is, think you get an S on your record, for surrendered.

Word of advice for anyone contemplating using the half rule. When they grab the car, they may ask you to sign a voluntary surrender form. This form signs away your rights under the half rule. Whatever you owe them minus what they sell the car for is what you have to pay. Simply don't sign it.

Alzar

On page 21 on the doc I linked to earlier:

"If you end a hire-purchase agreement early, give

back the car and pay back what you owe, your credit
record will not be affected. The agreement will be

shown as completed."

Al.

guil

Alzar wrote: »

On page 21 on the doc I linked to earlier:

"If you end a hire-purchase agreement early, give

back the car and pay back what you owe, your credit
record will not be affected. The agreement will be

shown as completed."

Al.

that is very very interestin

Voodoomelon

How does it differ if you got a bank loan for your car and are unable to keep up with the payments? Presumably the bank will give you more than two months to make suitable payment?

L1011

Voodoomelon wrote: »

How does it differ if you got a bank loan for your car and are unable to keep up with the payments? Presumably the bank will give you more than two months to make suitable payment?

Depends on the bank and your circumstances/future circumstances; and also if the loan is secured on the car or unsecured.

TimAllen

pauliefc wrote: »

Just thought I'd share. My husband lost his job due to a serious illness. I got a full time job and rang the finance company to tell them the story. We were 2 months behind on payments. I told them at the end of this month I would catch up on one and a half payments, and the rest next month. They were not willing to consider my salary as the finance was in my husbands name, so they have repossessed our car.

we got advice, so I wanted to pass it on for anyone else who is unfortunate enough to have this happen to them.

1. The person who comes to repossess your car can not remove it from your property without permission. (if it parked outside your property they can just put it on the truck without informing you).

2. If the are treatening at all to you you can ring the police, report them to the financial regulator who will investigate.

3. DO NOT SURRENDER YOUR CAR the first time they call, try to negotiate payments with the bank first.

4. You can refuse to have them repossess it from your home, and arrange to meet them somewhere else, it saves a seen in front of children and neighbours.

NB
5. if the bank are determined to take your car, tell them you are surrending it under the HALF RULE. This means that you are now only responsible for half the original finance, AND, they have to deduct any previous payments made against this sum, not the original, and also whatever they recieve at auction eg. your get finance for 20,000, surrender under half rule, you owe 10,000, you've already paid 2,000 they get 7,000 at auction for the car, you now owe 1,000. And if you can only afford €2 a week to pay back, there is absolutly nothing they can do about it.

Also.... if you have paid a third of the loan to date they can not repossess the car...

I hope this helps people in these hard times..

I was surprised when I read this post originally and then researched it (even started another thread on the topic). The part I couldnt believe is highlighted in bold above and I have now found out that this is UNTRUE. You do not get to reduce the amount you owe by the amount the finance company gets for the car at auction, once you surrender the car under the half rule, the finance company gets to keep the proceeds of the cars subsequent sale and you must pay half of the original HP price (inclusive of interest). So this scheme isnt as attractive as the OP alleged.

mumhaabu

Jeez they are quick to go after your car for two missed payments, yet the old boys club "The Golden Circle" aka Fianna Fail gets 70million written off for them by the newly Nationalised Anglo Irish.

Best of luck, OP hopefully things will improve for you are your other half!!

Cookie_Monster

pauliefc wrote: »

Just thought I'd share....

Car gotten on hire-purchase? You may want to clarify this as the "half-rule" applies to hire purchase only and seems confusing to mention it out of context

Timallen wrote:

So this scheme isnt as attractive as the OP alleged.

+1, it's misleading,

Mena

If you've already passed the halfway mark in payments on the outstanding HP then it could be attractive for some. If not, you have to make up whatever the difference is, to ensure you've paid 50%.

fm

Mena wrote: »

If you've already passed the halfway mark in payments on the outstanding HP then it could be attractive for some. If not, you have to make up whatever the difference is, to ensure you've paid 50%.

if you did go the half rule method would your credit rating be affected?

Anan1

Of course, if you borrow money and don't pay it back then the banks understandably won't want to know you for a long time.

Dartz

Forgive me for being ignorant, but I'd imagine it'd be in the company's interests to be less pissy about repossessions? I mean, they're not going to sell that car for much more than what you owe them, if they can sell it at all. The same as a bank suddenly finding itself with a tonne of rapidly devaluing houses it's trying desperately to sell....

And with a load of banks trying desperately to sell... the house prices go lower. So they all loose out.

But 2 months in arrears is not a lot... It's what? 2 missed payments that you would be able to make up? There has to be more to it.

Don't be afraid of 'em...

Eoin

MYOB wrote: »

Depends on the bank and your circumstances/future circumstances; and also if the loan is secured on the car or unsecured.

Yep, from what I can tell - despite them selling you what they call a "motor loan", these are just personal loans that are not secured on the car at all.

Dampsquid

TimAllen wrote: »

I was surprised when I read this post originally and then researched it (even started another thread on the topic). The part I couldnt believe is highlighted in bold above and I have now found out that this is UNTRUE. You do not get to reduce the amount you owe by the amount the finance company gets for the car at auction, once you surrender the car under the half rule, the finance company gets to keep the proceeds of the cars subsequent sale and you must pay half of the original HP price (inclusive of interest). So this scheme isnt as attractive as the OP alleged.

+1 - seemed too good to be true.. and it was.

daithimac

I think in most cases if the car is returned under the half hire purchase the bank are will give the amount owed based on which is lower. the gap between what was paid and the half hp price or the balance owed less the the sale of the car after its returned.

unless the car is over the half hp price when it is returned then there will be an effect on the persons credit rating. that effect will continue until they clear the balance left by either of the above and they would need to speak to the lender to make sure that they will remove the credit rating when they do clear the debt as they are not obliged to do so for 5 years after the last payment.

I don't think that it has been pointed out yet either that this is only relevant to consumer Hire purchase agreements. If you have a lease or loan or took out a commercial agreement i.e. through the business or as yourself trading as whatever then this does not apply what so ever.

If you are in a consumer hp and have paid over the half and cannot afford the payments then this is well worth considering but if not there are a lot of options to weigh up.

guil

daithimac wrote: »

I think in most cases if the car is returned under the half hire purchase the bank are will give the amount owed based on which is lower. the gap between what was paid and the half hp price or the balance owed less the the sale of the car after its returned.

unless the car is over the half hp price when it is returned then there will be an effect on the persons credit rating. that effect will continue until they clear the balance left by either of the above and they would need to speak to the lender to make sure that they will remove the credit rating when they do clear the debt as they are not obliged to do so for 5 years after the last payment.

I don't think that it has been pointed out yet either that this is only relevant to consumer Hire purchase agreements. If you have a lease or loan or took out a commercial agreement i.e. through the business or as yourself trading as whatever then this does not apply what so ever.

If you are in a consumer hp and have paid over the half and cannot afford the payments then this is well worth considering but if not there are a lot of options to weigh up.

why bring up a 10 month old thread