Log book loan - help!

[america]

I went home yesterday to discover that our car was gone! It turned out that DH has made some stupid things and taken out a log book loan to cover it up. He had paid all the repayments he says (but late nearly every time as it seems) and the car was taken by the debt collectors to cover the default charges. We were left with a three page summary of charges such as "one telephone call 12£" etc.. In other words, they have collected our car to cover the expenses related to the debt, not the debt itself which was paid in full last spring. What can we do now? To make things worst, our pushchair, car seat and some other stuff were in the boot of the car. Can anybody advise?

The CAB will probably be used to these. I assume that they didn't bother with a court order before getting the car seized?

Did your dh sign a contract? What are the terms and conditions? Is there a clause which effectively gives the lender a lien over the car in case of outstanding debt?

If not, contact the police and report it as a theft. If you owe them money, they cannot just remove your goods. They have to go through the courts like anyone else and obtain a judgement which they can then enforce through bailiffs.

good advice by Freckle.
And once you have done that, divorce him!
hope you manage to get it sorted, must have been an awful shock for you

I have a bad feeling about the whole thing. Having googled the company name it looks like they are pretty cruel and that the contract has a clause that gives them a right over the car in case of non-payment. But assuming that DH had paid the debt but not the charges, do they still have the right to take the car? Really grateful for any help. I feel like crying...

Take the contract to your local CAB and get them to look at it. You could also contact trading standards to see if they have had any dealings with the company.

Which one of you bought the stuff in the boot? If you can trace it back to your account and not DH's then you may be entitled to have it returned.

In fact - who bought the car?

Money from my account but car was on his name... Stupid me...

How was the car in his name? Was it just on the logbook? Because that is just the name of the registered keeper, not the owner. If you can show that you paid for the car, then I think you can argue that the car is yours.

Thanks Frecle. We are now so pressed with time before the auction that we will have to decide to either let them proceed with the auction or pay a huge amount of money. These guys operate without any respect to consumer credit legistlation BTW, we were in touch with CAB and CCCS and unfortunately the company seems to know all the loop holes and it is all legal.

But if the car is yours (you say you paid for it), then (a) your DH had no right to enter into this agreement and (b) the company has no right to take it.

As I said before, the log book merely shows the registered keeper who is not necessarily the owner. Do you have any evidence that you paid for the car?

Bank statement. But who should I tell this to? To the loan sharks?

Tell the loan sharks. See what they say. Then I would contact the police. Tell them that, although dh is the registered keeper, you are the owner of the vehicle. Tell them that you have informed the loan sharks of this and they are refusing to return the vehicle, so you want to report a theft.

I gave CCCS a quick call to ask this and they said that as long as the vehicle was registered on DS's name and the loan was on his name, there is nothing I can do about this... I will try to call the loan company though, I guess it doesn't cost me anything to try. Thanks again for your help.

I gave CCCS a quick call to ask this and they said that as long as the vehicle was registered on DS's name and the loan was on his name, there is nothing I can do about this... I will try to call the loan company though, I guess it doesn't cost me anything to try. Thanks again for your help.

ups, sorry for posting this twice.