Thread: Arnold Clark/santander

Hi all

I recieved a letter from my car finance company this morning about a transfer of registration plate on my car however we havent changed plates and on the letter the original plate is not ours if was suppose to be ours but arnold clark couldnt get the car from another garage so we got another one.

ours is xxxx ubz the one on the letter is xxxx uav how does this work? Does this mean technically I dont owe any money on my car and that I owe it on another car? Would I be able to now hand this car back to Arnold Clark?

I work for a motor dealer as their business manager so have a little experience with this.

The number plate issue is simply an admin error on either the motor dealer or the finance companies part. There is nothing you can do about this. Santander will still have registered the debt on HPI to the chassis number of the vehicle and you still have to pay.

However, you may still be entitled to hand the vehicle back depending on the type of agreement you have signed and the amount of money you have already paid.

Call Santander and ask them how much is the minimum amount they require before you can VT the agreement.
Once you have the figure you can work out how much you have already paid and if you've paid more then the required amount you can hand it back.

However, VTing a Hire-Purchase agreement is not advisable if you plan on seeking motor finance at some stage in the future.
It will not damage your credit score but they will add a note to your credit file that states in RED "agreement VT".
Other finance companies are therefore unlikely to lend you money against another car unless you have a substanial deposit.

Also you need to check that the car is not worth more than you owe on it, as if this is the case you can sell it to a motor dealer and get cash back.

Hope this helped.