Car Repossession by Welcome

[caz_1967]

dont know if i am posting in the correct place but here goes.............on 2nd July 2 bailiffs came to my house and said they had come to repossess my car on behalf of welcome finance. i was completely shocked, as i have had no communication from them re default notice or court order. I question this but the bailiff said all the paperwork was in order and pointed at his clip board. I was so gobsmacked i just allowed them to take the car. I bought the car in may 2005 and i have missed 5 payments. I have calculated all my payments and i have definately paid over a third...in fact my payments total £9448 and the total balance repayable is £16090. I definatley did not receive any default notice or any court papers. I have written to Welcome yesterday requesting copies of the default notice and court details and i posted this by recorded delivery. In my letter i have asked this be sent by return of post, i have also expressed my concern that they have repossessed the car unlawfully........i would be grateful of any advice u could give me and any action i can take. thanks

[postggj]

hi new welcome fighter
your in the right place
tell me you say you missed five payments
first of all was your account up to date when repo took place

and no
if you have paid the ammount stated they cannot repo with out a court order

did they say they were baliffs
normally its just a collection firm

[caz_1967]

The account wasnt up to date when they took the car.

They didnt say they were bailiffs but one had an id badge in his top pocket and i could see the word bailiff written on it

they left me a document which was a vehicle condition report from Welcome finance which i had to sign...on it it says agents name is Countrywide.

i was in process of contacting Welcome to come to a payment arrangement after seeking advice from CAB as i have had to deal with Mortgage arrears too...i am employed as a community support worker and i need a car for my job otherwise i cannot work, i am currently on 2 weeks leave so i am urgently trying to buy a runaround which really i cant afford..the money i spend on it would have been best put towards my payment arrears on the car.

[postggj]

sorry for the questions but need to be sure
take it from me i know
i had welcome up in court for there anticts
how many months were you in arrears
did you get a default notice
did they inform you they were going to repo the car
i know its 20 questions but knowing how these cowboys operate is in your favour

[caz_1967]

i was 3 months in arrears....no default notice was received...nor any court order.....and no i received no notification that they were going to repossess the car.....if i had done i would have acted immediately.....the 1st i knew of any repossession was when the guys turned up to take the car.

[postggj]

thats what i wanted to hear
you can calm down now
to do any enforcement action on an account, the account needs to be defaulted
i dont normally recomend this but check your credit file on line, its free for thirty days.
this is to check if welcome have put a default on your credit file.
if they have no worries as you should have received a default notice first.
you should have received a repo notice, again a no no from welcome.
this is all in your favour, welcome have acted illegally, not to mention they needed a court order in the first place.
you need to send welcome an Subject Access Request. this will cost £10
that will give you your agreements and everything they have on you.
as its 2005, welcomes agreements then were mostly toilet paper and you are covered by the old cca regulations.
come back when you have the info from the credit ref agency and i will post a letter for comments to send to welcome

its looking good

[caz_1967]

thank you....i will do all that now...and come back once i have the information. Is it true that if they have acted illegally, am i in my rights to claim back all monies i have paid under the agreement?

[postggj]

claiming back payments is a dodgy area and not my area. some one else will be along on that score
the very least is adaquate compensation from the court or a replacement vehicle and damages
be warned, welcome are notoriouse for ignoring you and releasing documents, this could take six months to sort out but you have now got thousends of people behind you

[caz_1967]

i just viewed by free credit report as u advised and for Welcome its stating 1 payment late and no evidence of default it says as below:

In the last 35 months of account activity, the number of status 1-2 is 1 and the number of status 3+ is 0 the outstanding balance on the account is £5128.

[postggj]

print if off and keep in a safe place
welcome have broken more legislation than they did with me
do you have your old agreement to hand
the secret now is not to tip your hand
softly softly catchy monkey

[caz_1967]

will have to dig deep for the old agreement...but will try my best to find it.

[postggj]

your Subject Access Request request will produce one
saying that in my case, do they have an agreement
welcome back then were lousy with administration, and even if they have one, an agreement being enforceble is another story
if you locate your agreement dont tell welcome (never) there is a reason for this
to post the agreement, minus personel details google photo bucket which is free
the agreement can then be checked

[sequenci]

Hello there.

If the agreement was Hire-Purchase and regulated by The Consumer Credit Act your goods would have been 'protected' providing you have paid over 1/3 of the total finance. This means that, for repossession, the creditor would need a court order to take the car back UNLESS the lender has YOUR consent.

Have you signed anything? Did you read what it said?

If they have taken your vehicle in breach of s90 of The Consumer Credit Act 1975 then:

a) the agreement is terminated

b) you are released from ALL liability

c) you are entitled to all sums that have been paid under the agreement

It may also be possible to claim damages (e.g. for extra transport costs)

[caz_1967]

the only thing i signed was the vehicle condition report that the bailiffs/representatives brought, i have a copy of it here with me and all it is is a list of checkpoints that they ticked when they assessed the condition of the vehicle before they took it away.

[caz_1967]

also....they asked for the vehicle registration document V5...which i refused to hand over.

[postggj]

there you have it just as i thought
you have them by the short and curlys
ill post a letter for every body to go over for you to send to welcome

happy

[caz_1967]

yeah i'm feeling so much more optimistic now.....many many many thanks to everyone

[postggj]

drafting letter
come back about 9

[postggj]

edited