Welcome Car Finance Voluntary Termination

[yvette18]

Hi,

I thought I would start my own thread for this as I have just begun this process with Welcome finance.

I sent a letter informing them of my intention to VT, by recorded delivery on Monday 26th February, I copied a template letter from the National Debtline website, see link below.

National Debtline England & Wales | Debt Advice | Factsheet 16 How To Deal With Hire Purchase Debt

I received a phone call today from their head office in Nottingham acknowledging receipt of my letter and asking what I wanted to do and why did I want to terminate. She asked if there was anything they could do to help me get another car! I can't afford this one never mind another one!

She said I will get a call from a representative of the RAC who will arrange to come and "check the car over" and make a report, if they find anything wrong that I should have rectified I will be charged for the work for it. Following that a garage will call to arrange the "Lifting" of the car from my possession.

I will need to return the log book (V5), it has to have a valid MOT and tax, service history if I have it, and it has to have been kept in good order apart from usual wear and tear. If any documents are missing they will charge £75.00 each for them. As it happens the MOT expires 02/03/07, so I've booked it in for Saturday, so anything that needs sorting should show up there hopefully?

She told me on the phone how much I would still owe on the agreement after the car has been returned. When I asked for a breakdown of what that entailed she said "we don't do that over the phone", so I asked for everything in writing including a breakdown of the amount still outstanding. I made a quick reckoning of what I should owe based on the information on the National Debtline website, and it is a little less than she quoted me.

She ended the call by saying that if at anytime during this process I change my mind I can call her and cancel it. (I don't think I will change my mind though!)

I am now awaiting a call from the RAC and a letter with the outstanding amount details.

I will post again when I know more details.

Yvette

[discarnet]

I think you are lucky to get that far, I have a car from Welcome that i tried to VS and was completly ignored, on my third letter they phoned me to say i could not VS the car as i hadnt paid enough (the amounts stated on the finance forms are wrong), further cominication with them resulted that i could not return the car as there was 1 months payment missing.

I origanly tried to return the car after 3 months as a lemon as engine managment had a serious fault all brakes are shot the gearbox expolded after 4 weeks and the car spent most of the first 3 months on the back of a tow truck (including twice the day i bought the car)

I still have the car in the garage the car is unsafe to drive and has been for 3 years, i havent paid them for 2 years, and i am preparing court papers .
I owe £6000 they offered final setlement for £1,200
I very politly told them where to stick the offer.
After that they are now trying to reclaim the full amount via debt collectors

welcome have a history of things like this and you may find this website of some use i know i have

www.saynotoyes.co.uk

set up to close yes car credit (and sucseeded) they are now moving on to other firms like welcome and direct car finance

Discarnet

[sad sack]

i to have a car from welcome i pay 250 a month i got told after two years the car is paid off and the rest is intrest and that after two years i could hand the car back and ow nothing. but as i missed two payments as was out of work they wont let me hand it back.
so now i have to struggle to pay each month for the next two years.any body no what i should do?

[yvette18]

Hi Sadsack,

Read the details on this website, I have arrears amounting to around £900.00 due to unexpected circumstances.

National Debtline England & Wales | Debt Advice | Factsheet 16 How To Deal With Hire Purchase Debt

I followed the process on this site, if you have a hire purchase agreement they cannot refuse you the option to VT, unless I've misread the details that is?

Yvette

[discarnet]

you you are quiet right You can VT at any point during the life of the agrement.
however They can and will reclaim any missing payments and you would be liable for the money up to the value stated on your contract under your rights to terminate(the latter will not apply to you if you have had the car over 2 years)

If like me and many others, Welcome will not put in writing that they will not let you VTthis can make it difficult to claim that the policy has been misreperesnted or missold in the first place
let us know how you get on

Discarnet

[discarnet]

now heres a thought

If we can find enough people with problems when they try to VT to Welcome we could bring a coletive court case against them Cheaper for all of us and more chance of winning the case

[rodenal]

Well i'm about to start this process with welcome too, i plan to have my own inspection done on the car by a garage to flag up any items that they dont consider wear and tear - and im also going to get a repair estimate for these items as i can see welcome taking the p*ss and i dont intend to take any nonsense off them.

[yvette18]

Hi,

My car inspection is booked for this Saturday 10th March at my house, with someone from the RAC! Welcome sent a letter telling me if I missed the appointment for inspection they would charge me £45.00!

I had my MOT done on Tuesday a little work needed but passed afterward. I've had my exhaust and tyres checked independantly, (just making sure) all ok. I've given it a thorough clean and polish inside and out and will take it to a car wash on Friday night so it is nice and clean for Saturday.

There has been no damage caused to the car (so far, fingers crossed!!). So I will post here on Saturday to let you know how it went.

Yvette.

[sequenci]

hey there.

make sure you take plenty of photos of the car just in case they try and blag you about damage, usually with a VT you may have to return the vehicle to a given destination. so long as you've not had a default and the agrement was regulated under the consumer credit act then you'll have the right to VT.

[yvette18]

Hi,

I thought it was "too good to be true!"

I'm in the process of Voluntary Termination of my HP agreement, but today I came home to a letter from Howard Cohen & Co. Solicitors!

They have been instructed by Welcome Financial Services to recover the full amount outstanding on my agreement within 7 days or court action will be taken.

I called the solicitors and explained the process I was going through, she said unless and until Welcome write to tell them to stop proceedings then they will continue with the process and next friday I will receive court papers taking me to court for the money!

I called Welcome head office in Nottingham, the VT department, who I have spoken to on a number of occasions regarding my Voluntary Termination, she said they had nothing to do with the finance side of things, they just put the car back into auction! She said to contact my local office. I did, he said he knew nothing about my account being passed to a solicitor, there was nothing on the system to say who had sent it or why?? He told me to contact the VT department, I said I had, he said well phone the solicitors to explain the situation, I said I've done that too, you are the last one I was referred to! He didn't have an answer for me or who to contact or a number to ring!

Any advice on how to proceed? I'd be most grateful!

Yvette

[JWhite]

I don't understand why you are being taken to court do you have arrears on your account.

I'm at the same stage as you but I have done all my communications with them via letter, or have asked for what we have agreed on over the phone to be sent by post "as I have a bad memory"

If you have started the return of the car, have kept payments and come to an agreement of return, I can't really see what they can do....

... Or have you stopped your DD when starting this??

[yvette18]

Hi,

Yes, I stopped paying a while ago. They have agreed to the VT, and told me how much I will owe at the end of the termination. The final figure includes all arrears that I owe, so I don't know why they have taken this action.

If I return the car, and arrange to pay off what I owe that should be that. If they continue with the court action I will end up paying twice.

Yvette

[JWhite]

Ahh I see, try to get it i writing if you haven't already that you and WCF agreed to stop the DD with your Bank, and all remaining ££ would be settled upon return of the Car

I've gone the other way and agreed with them to keep my DD open until the final figure has been reached

[yvette18]

Hi,

Well then! I had an appointment today with the RAC to do an inspection of my car before it goes back to Welcome, between 9 & 1pm I was told they would call to my house.

Welcome sent a letter to tell me that if I failed to keep the appointment they would charge me £45.00! So, can I now charge them for my wasted half of Saturday? I doubt it!

I called the office that had arranged this appointment and they don't work weekends, so I have to wait until Monday morning now to arrange a new appointment!

Yvette

[Yasmin]

Hi Yvette,

Sure you must have a good chance of claiming from them for time wasting! I would definitely do it, especially in view of the warning you received from Welcome. You'd think they'd get their facts straight....o whats new there however...

[yvette18]

Hi,

Had my car inspected by the RAC today! It was quite painless, he didn't highlight anything that they should charge me for?? But we will see.

I now await Welcome contacting me about collecting/delivering the car back to them.

Still have to wait for them to sort out why they sent my account to a solicitors for full collection? Called them all today on that matter and was told it is all in hand I will receive a letter soon. Had a call yesterday from my local branch wanting to know when I was going to make a payment? When I said I was in the process of VT he said he knew nothing about it?

I'll be glad when it's all over and done with!!

Yvette

[cats]

Originally Posted by discarnet

now heres a thought

If we can find enough people with problems when they try to VT to Welcome we could bring a coletive court case against them Cheaper for all of us and more chance of winning the case

Count me in on that-I'm with GE money though.

[yvette18]

Hi,

I got a call today from P & A receivables, about the collection of my car.

I didn't get the chance to talk much as I was on my mobile at work, she just checked my name, address, car reg: and asked if it was drivable? She said someone would be in touch within 24 hours regarding collection.

I will post again when I have more info.

Yvette