Help needed with ford credit

[guzzleguts]

Hi all

 

I need some help with a hp agreement i have with FCE.

 

Il try and keep it short, ive had to have an operation and therefore unable to work for about 4 months.

 

I phoned FCE to explain, and if i could pay £50.00 a month for a short period and make up the arrears over the remainder of the term.

 

I am on benifits until i return to work, and told them it was the best i could do.

 

There reply was unless i bought the account up to date it would be passed to a DCA for recovery, now ive paid about halve of the total credit, and really dont want to lose the car.

 

After we exchanged 3 letters or so, thier final letter/offer came today,we could pay £400 + over the next 3 months to get the arrears up to date, obviously thats not possible and they know it.

 

 

Im not trying to avoid the debt just trying to keep my car, i think they are being unreasonable, any advice/help would be most appreciated.

 

Thanks GG

[nevos]

HI, how much is the normal monthly payment? When was the car bought? how long is the agreement?

 

Cheers,

[guzzleguts]

Hi nevos

 

Normal payments £250 we are 2 and half yrs into a 5 yr agreement

 

Thanks GG

[Birmo0803]

This is irrelevant but, i have Ford credit over 4 years on a new Fiesta. Im paying £165 a month and ive been asking them can i reduce my payments and make them up due to unforseen events.

 

Basically short run, no. Although im still upto date with the payments, im scared if i fall behind my 4 wheels are going to be reduced to "pedal powah" =(

[chemboffin]

I used to work for Close Credit Management who Ford used as agents to home visit (by agreed appointment) Ford Credit HP agreements. The rules they lay out are very simple:

 

Full arrears or return the car.

 

The car has to be inspected by the adviser and a full report of the conversation submitted to Ford Credit within 48 hours. They do not compromise or take reduced offers in my experience even when we recommended it as best case scenario.

 

One good point is that no matter what you do, you only have to cover up to 1/2 of the original agreement or the arrears (if already past 1/2 way) if the car is given back which you can pay based on affordability and completion of an income and expenditure.

 

I know it is probably not what you want to hear and I have not worked for the company for 2 1/2 years now so things may have changed but after 2 years of working for motor finance companies (BHF, Online Finance, GMAC and Volkswagen were all clients at my time of employment) I did learn a few things that may be of use.

[guzzleguts]

Hi chemboffin

 

Thanks for info, on the back of the agreement section 8 says they can re-structure the payments at thier discretion, have you come accross that?

 

GG

[ReasonableRon]

Hi guzzleguts.

 

Sorry to hear about your problems. As another poster appears to state with some knowledge, it seems that FCE do not deal with arrears very sympathetically.

 

AFAIK FCE are a lender that only really operate at the very top end (known as Prime) of the market and expect their customers to pay on the nail. They know that if this is not the case then they canrecover the vehicle to mitigate their losses. I would imagine that the process of recovery would be even faster at the moment to offset the effects of rapid depreciation on cars (i.e. the quicker they sell the car the more money they get).

 

One important thing to remember is that, if they terminate the agreement in order to recover the car THEN YOU WILL LOSE YOUR RIGHT TO VOLUNTARY TERMINATE YOURSELF. As you appear to already be at the stage where you can do this, and FCE obviously don't appear to want to negotiate, if may be your best option to get your VT in first. Yes you will have to pay the arrears and you will lose the car, but this may be the better of two evils in the long run, because if they terminate the agreement the full balance will ultimately be payable. At the very least, it may motivate them into a more reasonable level of negotiation with you.

 

Hope that helps.

[nevos]

Hi nevos

 

Normal payments £250 we are 2 and half yrs into a 5 yr agreement

 

Thanks GG

Hi, this was my point as RR states.

 

What happens is this, you write to them and tell them your returning the vehicle under the clause XX in your agreement. Tough but, your out from under, it will slow them or stop them dead in their tracks.

 

They may send a guy from BCA( British Car Auctions) to inspect the vehicle at this point, your expected to sign for any scratches etc, dings, torn seats.

 

If this happens to you my advice would be to:-

 

1) Ensure the car is as clean as poss for his inspection.

2) Take a full set of pics for yourself.

 

The game here is this, BCA or whoever they send will try to make a report whereby the Finance co will bill you for any work required.

 

Then you save your pennies buy a cheap car and there are loads of bargains around now. Bob's your uncle, you won't need to find £3K per year for the car.

 

They will threaten to black list you and bS like that but, ignore them, it is their problem once you let them know your backing it.

[guzzleguts]

Thanks nevos and RR for your comments, they have stated that i could sell the car myself, long as i pay them back within 7 days of sale, it sounds abetter option than auction, where it might go for a trade price.

 

Would appreciate your veiws on this does it sound right that they would allow this.

 

Thanks GG

[ReasonableRon]

Thanks nevos and RR for your comments, they have stated that i could sell the car myself, long as i pay them back within 7 days of sale, it sounds abetter option than auction, where it might go for a trade price.

 

Would appreciate your veiws on this does it sound right that they would allow this.

 

Thanks GG

 

Be very careful about doing this. Consider the total amount outstanding against the amount you woudl realistically get for the car.

 

If you sell the car yourself you are voluntarily surrendering the vehicle, and remain liable for the entire outstanding balance. If you voluntary terminate the agreement, at the stage you are at now, your only liability will be the outstanding arrears, providing you have looked after the car.

 

Also bear in mind that if you sell the car yourself, you will not get much more than trade price anyway. People only pay top money for cars when they have the safety net of a dealer's SOGA obligations.

[guzzleguts]

Thanks again ron,after your advice we are going borrow off parents to try and pay off the arrears, but thankyou very much for your advice.

 

GG

[nevos]

Hi,

 

You will have to be careful if you sell it, any buyer may HPI the car and see it is on finance. This would put them off. A dealer would pay the money direct to settle the HP.

[chemboffin]

If I were you I would give it back, as it stands you will never have to pay more than the arrears if you have already paid 1/2.

 

If Ford terminate the agreement that wiull be marked on your credit file but they will only ask you to pay up to 1/2 or the arrears in either case so you only damage your credit worthiness by holding up what is probably ineviable. Ford usually send their cars to Ford Approved Retailers and sell them that way if in good nick but either way this will not affect what you have to pay back if you VT.

 

Good luck and give me a shout if you want to discuss it further.

[guzzleguts]

What about applying for a time order as our situation is only temp.

 

Thanks chemboffin

 

GG

[chemboffin]

Anything is worth a try if you can give exact amounts and dates they might consider it but if you neg on this they will have their pound of flesh. They are a ruthless bunch and do not have any concience when it comes to money.

 

Let me know how it goes....

[guzzleguts]

Thanks chem

 

will do

 

GG

[guzzleguts]

Thanks ron great advice

 

GG

[guzzleguts]

Things have gone up a notch,

 

Fords agreed to 3 monthly over payments to cover the arrears, this was nearly double what i was paying, that was their only attempt to help me.

 

Near the end of Jan they sent a letter stating that unless i paid £***.**

by 2nd Feb the DEFAULT NOTICE would expire, now i hadnt received a DN so was a little surprised. That expired so i was waiting for the DCA to get involved, but then received a DN IN THE POSTON THE 10TH FEB, with new terms on it (dates amount to remedy etc).

 

Would like some advice how to tackle this even though the first DN wasnt delivered i still have proof it existed by way of their letter stating it does.

 

Can anyone advise me, ive read x20 tale of a dodgy DN which is similar to mine, but i just need a bit of direction please.

 

Thanks GG

[ScarletPimpernel]

Can you post a scan of the DN, with personal details removed?

[guzzleguts]

wil do give 30 mins, il post up letter stating the first dn as well

 

Thanks GG

[guzzleguts]

Thanks SP

 

The first is the letter thats states about the first DN that wasnt received.

the other 2 are the 2nd DN. Thanks for your help. GG

 

 

 

Edited February 12, 2009 by guzzleguts

[guzzleguts]

Thanks steven

[steven4064]

I didn't actually do anything

[ScarletPimpernel]

I'm no expert in DNs, and will ask someone who knows more to confirm whether this one is correct.

 

The 'late letter fee' appears to be both an unfair/unlawful penalty and contrary to the OFT Guidance - this may render the DN invalid because the sum claimed is wrong, and may also provide cause for a formal dispute requiring suspension of collection activity.

[guzzleguts]

Thanks SP

 

Could you let me know about the letter stating there was a dn in place in jan that wasnt received.

 

GG