please help!outstanding finance on car

[lisa h]

hi
would really like some help if poss. Was in bad car accident last week (all ok thank god!) but my car is a right off. I have just received a letter today from my solicitor telling me there is outstanding finance on my car, is it mine etc? He isn't in until Friday but I am in a complete panic !!!!!I bought this car off a friend and I know she didn;t have finance on it and I know she wasn;t aware of it either. The car is 10 yrs old.Please help as I don't know legally where i stand. Many thanks
Lisa :conf used::sh ock:

[slick132]

Hi Lis and welcome to CAG.

Hopefully your sol'r may be able to give you some advice about this in a free initial consultation.

I'll move your thread to Vehicle Retailers and Manufacturers forum where there are many posts about vehicle finance, so you should get further advice there.

Also, your insurance may offer you the benefit of free legal advice which may assist you in dealing with this without using, and paying for, your solicitor.

[lisa h]

spoke to the solicitor and tld him that it wasn't my finance and he said he would check whose it was and for how much. He did say it could even be a admin error BUT if there was finance then any money paid out would for to them.OMG!Is there anyway around this. I'm not going to be getting much but I can't afford not to have it!Any advice greatly apprec!
Certainly taught me a lesson when buying a used car...always do HPI check!
Many thanks
Lisa

[slick132]

Lisa,

I assume any work your sol'r does on this will be charged for so be very careful about what you need the sol'r to do.

Have you checked with your insurer to see what legal cover you have, if any, to help with sorting this.

[raydetinu]

Why are you using a solicitor anyway?
Your insurance company should handling all claims, liabilities etc.

[slick132]

Exactly - whatever the hourly rate, £100 or more I guess, sol'rs cost will be prohibitive and unnecessary.

I'd tell sol'r NOT to do any work on this just now - that is why you have Ins'ce Cover.

[ReasonableRon]

Why not pay the few quid it costs to have a HPI check done on your car? The results should tell you for sure who (if anyone) has an interest registered. It will also provide an agreement number and telephone number so you can speak to them (anonymously) to see if there is still an outstanding balance.

Even if there is, and the car has not been stolen in the past, you've got no worries as you can prove good faith - escpecially since you know who you bought it off and can therefore no doubt provide a receipt.

Don't waste any money on a solicitor for this matter.

[lisa h]

hi thanks for all your help guys I really haven;t got a clue what I am doing here
I am using a solicitor as I was only third party fire and theft. My insurance told me that they wouldn't have anything to do with it (which I have since found out is rubbish- but that is a whole different stry!)
Apparently according to the sol'r finance was taken out on the car in Dec 2006. My friend owned the car at that time but she purchased the vehicle in Jul 2005and I know she paid for the car in full as I was with her!And I don;t see how a finance agreement can be taken out on a car she already owns. Anyway I spoke to the sol'r told him all this and he didn;t really say anything of any use just that any money recovered from the vehicle would go to Volkswagon Financial Services. I then took it upon myself to contact them direct and they told me they have no finance registered against this car!What the hell!My friend also phoned them and they confirmed the same to her. She was obv worried in case someone had taken finance out in her name.I haven't phoned the sol'r back up yet I just don't understand what the hell is going on!Does it sound dodgy to you?I don;t know whether to just tell him to stop doing the work and i 'l sort it out myself. (I've done most of his work anyway!LOL)
thanks again for your input.

[scousegeezer]

Lisa,
YOU SIMPLY MUST DO AN H.P.I. CHECK YOURSELF. DO IT ON-0LINE AND IMMEDIATELY. You have to find out if the solicitor is ripping you off. Then when you next speak to him you can state that you have the H.P.I. check infront of you and it states....... ??? whatever.

Scousegeezer

[lisa h]

thank you i am going to do one now..will keep you posted

[JonCris]

If there is any outstanding finance you MUST write recorded to your insurer telling them you have just found out about the lien & they must not pay out to the finance co until the matter of ownership is resolved That way if they ignore you you can demand compensation to the equivalent sum

[slick132]

Lisa,

I just think you have no need for a solicitor who will be expensive to use in finding out stuff you can do yourself.

I'm not suggesting for 1 second that he's ripping you off - however, it will cost you money you probably don't need to spend.

Is there a specific reason the sol'r was involved - maybe you were injured and the accident was caused by the other driver - in which case the sol'rs costs may be covered if you can prove the other driver was at fault.

[lisa h]

hiya yes the accident was the other persons fault. He lost control of his car and all i could see was coming sideways at me on my side of the road , nothing i could do to avoid him. Just so grateful that my daughter or my mother weren't hurt badly.My mother got broken ribs and whiplash , my daughter absolutely fine just quite distressed. Luckily the car behind me saw what was happening and didn;t go into the back of me but the car behind him went into him .And to top it all off the boy that hit me landed in someones house!thats why the sol'r is involed as he will reclaim the costs from the guys insurance (and i'm sure they will be alot of costs!)I have done the HPI check and am waiting for them to send via email so will have to wait and see.its all a bit of a nightmare as I haven't really a clue what I am doing!

[lisa h]

thank you all again for your help!

[slick132]

Hi Lisa,

Well now we can all stop panicking on your behalf as no doubt the sol'r is provided by the insurers at their cost, which they'll recoup from the other side. Just check this is so to avoid yourself being liable for ANY solr's costs.

I'm delighted to hear no one was more seriously hurt.

Carry on with your own checks re finance of the car so you know if what you're being told is right. Also, you need to find out why the sol'r thinks there's outstanding finance on the car, when nobody else does.