Car payment holiday - unable to get through

[newyearsresolution2010]

I'm trying to get a payment holiday on two cars I have (both in my name but one my husband pays for).

I have been on hold for hours and can't get through. One came out today (£680) and the other is due on the 3rd (£253).

I don't know what to do in terms of stopping the payment on the second. I know to not cancel the DD but also am panicking if it goes out.

Please don't judge what we pay out each month for this, we can easily afford the cars in 'normal' circumstances, and have paid for them every month for nearly 3 years without any issues or struggle.

I am a company Director, so at best I can close my business (not ideal but it's recruitment so no work) and claim the £575 (after tax) per month, but that isn't going to pay for much.

Do I just keep trying? With a 2 year old not in nursery I don't have hours to spend on the phone as he needs attention.

You earn £3-6k, husband gives you£1300... your mortgage is pennies and yet you only have £1k in the bank. That’s bad management.

Also. Paying yourself £719 ( min wage) and therefore avoiding tax is shit. People have been doing it for years, laughing at HRMC/government... only now they are expecting help now their earnings are down the drain. 80% of minimum wage isn’t very much

@Redtartanshoes people who pay themselves a divided pay plenty of tax! Dividend is only paid from profit which has already been taxed at the corporation tax rate of 19%. Then they pay a lower rate of tax on the dividend of 7.5%.

Don’t forgot on the cars op, if you take a payment holiday the monthly payment will go up when it restarts to claim the money back you put on hold.

Are you taking advantage of the assistance available to Company Directors? Extract from my accountant's guidance email below:

oronavirus job retention scheme
Under the coronavirus job retention scheme, all UK employers who would otherwise have dismissed employees during this crisis can access payments for part of the employees’ salary. This is a grant which employers do not have to pay back. The scheme will run for three months but may be extended as necessary.

The details we have so far are as follows:

HMRC will pay 80% of furloughed workers wages, up to a cap of £2,500 per month.
HMRC are setting up a new online portal for reimbursement.
the pay will be backdated to wages payable from 1 March 2020.

The employees must be consulted and agree to being furloughed (those whose employer can not cover staff costs due to coronavirus, and as such they have been asked to stop working but have not been made redundant). Changing the status of employees always is subject to existing employment law.

1. VAT deferral

No business will pay VAT to HMRC until the end of June 2020 VAT return. Amounts deferred between now and then will be payable before the end of the financial year.

1. SSP

Government have advised that the SSP would be paid to people who need to be off as they or their family have symptoms. People should be able to obtain a sick note from the NHS 111 online or the NHS website rather than getting one from a GP. You must self-isolate for at least 4 days to be eligible.

The rules were also changed so that those people would be eligible for SSP on their first day away from work, instead of having to wait until the fourth day as used to be the case.

The businesses with fewer than 250 employees would be able to claim back from the government two weeks of SSP paid to staff affected by coronavirus.

Makes me sad, who on earth takes out a payment of 680 a month for a car?

I genuinely hope the OP sorts it out, but I cant get my head round this. This is like a Range Rover on PPI, who needs that? You can’t afford a Range Rover cash? Buy a Fiesta.

I’m not judging I just fucking despair of this image generation.

Whenwillthisbeover - it’s not about image, it’s about needing a big car. We had a child, buggy and two dogs. The dogs have died. The child no longer needs the buggy. We had a smaller Range Rover before this one, we could afford both.
No one predicted this. We could afford the payments, have done for almost 3 years. This is a ‘couldn’t even predict would happen’ event.

Anyway, I’ve got my 3 months payment holiday. Thank you to all of those who have offered advice. And we should always remember to be kind, seems people have forgotten that....

Be kind people, no one knows what is going on at home, so don’t judge on things you don’t know the full story about. And if you do, just be kind. Kindness costs nothing.

You're missing the point.

No one could predict Covid 19 sure, but smart people know you always need savings... for things you can't predict 🙄

This is being kind OP - start planning for your savings account! Although as you're in recruitment (as am I) I think those ££ won't be seen again for a long time.

Lots of people have dogs and kids and manage just fine without a brand new rangerover. Anyway glad you got the break but its probably worth making a plan for if it ends and we are still in lockdown.

Just as some further advice for OP, the rules about furloughing are understood to apply to company directors also, so definitely worth looking into

OP, 6ouve clearly been foolish to enjoy a luxurious lifestyle with the naivity that nothing could get in the way of your success. Any employment is a potential risk, self employment much more so.

However, you've been given a hard time here. You must be in a very uncomfortable situation and quickly learning your errors. I hope you find a way and things get better from you.

How hard it is, it's better to learn such a hard lesson now than many years down the road when recovery would be harder. I wish you the best to get back on your feet.

dontdisturbmenow - Thank you. Yes I’ve learnt a big lesson, and going forward I will be putting more aside just in case something happens again.

I’ve had some good news, the car company will let me have a 3 month holiday, and I’ve also been accepted to get one of the council business grants.