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Original poster

My SIL has had baliffs round demanding £6.5k for a car loan my brother has not been paying. She had no idea. What can she do?

15 replies

mrsmaidamess · 25/03/2009 17:48

Poor thing she is in bits. She thought he was paying it...he had been struggling to pay, not told her, ignored messages from the car loan people and today a 'nice' baliff appeared asking for £6500 or they lose the car. She has 3 kids , works, needs a car!

She doesn't know what to do. He hasburied his head in the sand (I think she has too to a certain extent) and they are really in the skids now.

Any advice??

OP posts:
OldLadyKnowsNothing · 25/03/2009 18:02

Give up the car, and buy a cheap banger for cash. There are lots of really cheap, reasonably low-mileage cars around now under £1000.

Lulumama · 25/03/2009 18:03

don;t thikn there is much you can do? if it has gone this far, then it is too late?

calling the car company and making an offer of some payments?

if i were her i would be wondering what else was not being paid

runnyhabbit · 25/03/2009 18:06

The thing is, if the car does get taken, it will go to auction to be sold to pay off the debt. If, after them selling the car, there is still a balance outstanding, then the bailiffs may well come back

(Used to work in collections for a car finance company)

Agree about the deals you can get now, if you've got the cash

TequilaMockinBird · 25/03/2009 18:08

This happened to me a couple of years ago when XP hadn't been paying our payments

I rang up the car loan people and explained what had happened. I begged them not to take the car and they said that due to the circumstances, if I could come up with the money to cover only the missed payments (approx £700) then I could keep the car.

I actually borrowed the money off my Grandmother and paid them the next day.

The bailiffs were trying to get the full amount of the loan which there was no way I could raise. The loan company however, were more lenient with me and allowed me to just 'catch up'

I really feel for your SIL, its an awful situation to be in but I think the best advice is to speak directly to the loan people and try to avoid dealing with the bailiffs at all!

runnyhabbit · 25/03/2009 18:12

Also agree with lulumama about other bills.

On a practical note about the car, if she's taking control of sorting this out, she could start doing a few things -

If the agreement is in the dh name, then she needs to make sure that he gives the authority for her to talk to them.

Ask the collections/bailiffs is there any possibility of a payment plan? It may have gone to far, but it will not hurt to ask. If they do agree a payment plan, then please make sure it's a realistic one. She will have no second chances if she defaults payments again.

Although phone calls are quick, document them, and then write a letterr (recorded delivery) confirming whats been agreed.

runnyhabbit · 25/03/2009 18:15

She'll need to find out if the loan company still own the loan, or if they've sold it to the bailiffs.

As tequilamockingbird has said, you'll get the exact info from the loan company.

I hope for her sake, they haven't sold on the debt

Original poster
mrsmaidamess · 25/03/2009 18:18

Thanks for replies so far.

I've just spoken to her and she thinks they will let the car go ...it was costing them £220 a month they didn't have.

They hope to buy a cheapo one borrowing from my parents and paying it back slowly. What a mess!

She's more hacked off that he didn't say a word about the baliffs coming round.

OP posts:
TequilaMockinBird · 25/03/2009 19:17

It's all very well saying they'll let the car go but, as runnyhabbit says, they will sell the car at auction and will orobably still have to deal with bailiffs as it more than likely will sell for less!

I owed about £4k on mine and it was valued at only £2k. Therefore if I'd let it go to auction and it had sold for £2k, I would've still owed the bailiffs/loan company the extra £2k.

Letting go of the car isnt always the easiest/cheapest option - it depends on how old the car is and what the current valuation is against what is currently outstanding on the loan

TequilaMockinBird · 25/03/2009 19:17

probably

runnyhabbit · 25/03/2009 20:18

OK. Been thinking about this. And there may be another way. (obv don't know all the details, so might not be any good)

Find out exactly what is owed to bring the account up to date.
Find out how long the HP is for, and long they've got left to pay on it.
Reason being is there is a clause within most HP agreements called halves and thirds, where the customer can terminate the agreement (ie hand the car back), as long as they've paid half, or two thirds of the total amount/term. The account has to be up to date to this, but it might be a cheaper way out, in the long term, iyswim.

It's been a few years since I worked in this area, so it might not be totally accurate. Hope things get sorted out.

TequilaMockinBird · 25/03/2009 20:26

Thats what I ended up doing runnyhabbit.

It was a while after the bailiff scenario but I got a new job with a company car and as I had paid over half of the total amount of the loan on my car, I just wrote to the finance company and terminated the agreement. They sent somebody out a few days later to collect the car and I owed no more on it.

ABetaDad · 25/03/2009 20:39

mrsmaidamess - is your SIL a signatory on the loan agreement?

It may sound a simple/simplistic question but I did not see that information in the thread so far.

If not, then she does not have to pay back the money as she is not a party to the loan.

runnyhabbit · 25/03/2009 20:44

AbetaDad - Right in theory, but as said in the op, the sil needs the car for her work. Regardless of whose name the finance is in, the loan (assuming it's HP) will be secured against the car. The bailiffs will seize the asset that the loan is secured against.

ABetaDad · 25/03/2009 21:15

runnyhabit - OK. I thought that was the situation but just wanted to check before I said anything.

mrsmaidamess - if I were your SIL I would try and negotiate with the leasing company. They may well be willing to take a lump sum from SIL to buy the car rather than make a repossession and resale that may yield them less than just selling it to her.

She should of course make sure she is not accidentlly agreeing to guarantee or take over the original debt unless she absolutley sure she can afford it AND IT IS GOOD DEAL. Your SIL should make sure the baliffs understand she does not own the vehicle and so not seize her property to make up any short fall if they do repossess it.

It may be easier and cheaper to let the car go and just buy a second hand one. It all depends on what is outstanding and what type of car your SIL needs.

Original poster
mrsmaidamess · 26/03/2009 21:26

sorry my internet was down so couldn't read replies...but thanks for all your posts . I didn't realise 'giving' the car back might not necessarily mean the loan is paid off.

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