Good news I suppose. Finance company have agreed to take the car back and full and final settlement. One less debt to deal with now.

Fortunately it isn't that simple. Whilst the agreement is indeed an Unregulated one the way they have conducted affairs is very much in keeping with that of a Regulated agreement. Why have they done this when like you say they needn't bother? That's the grey area that needs exploiting but unfortunately my legal eagle partner isn't around to expand upon that. I believe something to do with Unregulated agreements closely resembling Regulated agreements in form are an issue. I also believe there are other circumstances in which an Unregulated agreement actually becomes a Regulated one and not just for varying the terms contained within. I've been down this road before with Mercedes Benz Finance who conducted the matter in a very similar way for an Unregulated agreement and made similar mistakes along the way. On that occasion they took the car back in full and final settlement and to be honest it was a blessing in disguise as the agreement was again coming to the end of its term. I've proposed to Audi that they do the same and am awaiting their response. Anybody out there with real world/first hand experience of these kind of issues please?

Hi and thanks for reading So I have an Unregulated Credit Agreement with Audi Finance and I've been unable to find the balloon payment that was due at the end of February 2012 despite trying to sell the car on two occassions through Auto Trader. I asked Audi Finance to refinance the balloon payment over a 3 year term but they refused because I'd fallen in arrears in the past though had caught up again. This particularly grated as I have 10 years finance experience with Audi/VW Finance haven't missed a payment ever before the financial crisis. Anyhow I appealed the decision and sent them a letter which they ignored and then appointed their collections team to keep ringing me. On 28th March 2012 in one of these calls they said they were intending to give me a 7 day notice of termination letter. I received nothing until 20th April 2012 when two letters dropped through my letter box. Letter 1 - dated 21st March 2012 but franked 19th April 2012 is a FINAL REMINDER - "Unless we receive payment of the full arrears of £xxxxx within 7 days of the date of this letter we will have no option other than to issue the required documentation to allow us to commence repossession of our vehicle" Letter - dated 18th April 2012 and franked again 19th April 2012 "We note that you are either unable or unwilling to make paymets on the date specified under the terms of the above agreement" "In Legal terms you have repudiated the agreement" etc Also, we are still awaiting details of the appeal letter outlined above and received a response from Volkswagen Financial Services customer support: Letter - dated 24th April 2012 from Customer Support "We have noted the issues raised and have started to investigate the matter. We will respond once our enquiries have been completed and do hope that w will be in a position to do so shortly. However, depending on the complexities of the issues raised it may take longer than we would wish and therefore request your patience and understanding if this is the case" As of today (9th May 2012) we are still waiting for a response to our appeal letter but this morning at 07:30 the repossession company arrived to take the car. I told them I wasn't handing it over as I am still awaiting a response to our appeal. So, looking at the above, I'd consider we have some kind of grounds to sue against wrongful repossession (can somebody point me to any information in that respect please) and would appreciate your advice and observations. Thanks again

Thanks Emanevs

Thanks Rob Unfortunately the agreement was signed before the £ 25k limit was removed. The terms and conditions are headed: Contract Purchase - Terms and Conditions - Non-Regulated Agreement (For use when hirer is a Corporate body or the balance financed exceeds £ 25,000) Can you expand upon your statement 'odd occasions where an agreement over £25,000 can be regulated' please? Many thanks

Unregulated is when, at the time of my agreement, the amount borrowed was over £ 25k, meaning the agreement is not covered by the Consumer Credit Act.

I have an unregulated HP agreement for a vehicle through Mercedes Benz Finance. I'm behind on my payments (3 months) but just 10 months from maturation of the agreement. I was issued with a Default Notice and now a chap from a vehicle repossesion company has attended. Why I smell a rat is this: This is an Unregulated agreement so there is no need to issue a Default Notice Why bother asking me to sign a Voluntary Repossession document when it isn't necessary. Under an Unregulated Agreement they can just take the car away Why the need to now go to court in order to have me give up the vehicle? There's something here that just isn't right. An Unregulated agreement means that as I'm behind on payments, they are entitled to just take it back, so why not just take it? Why would they want me to sign a form? Why, when I refuse to sign the form, do they then have to go through the laborious process of going to court when they don't need to. Anybody please?

Just a note to say thanks for the replies. I'm resigned to the fact that the car is going and to be honest I couldn't really care. It's more hassle than it's worth and the longer it goes trying to keep hold of it with a view to paying the arrears off the more pressure I'm putting on myself to catch up when I do eventually get some income. At the end of the day it's a 3 year old piece of metal that needs a £ 750 service and an MOT, and nice as it was, it's dictated my life for the past 3 years (work all hours to pay the bills). This whole episode has taught me not to buy something I can't afford to pay cash for. I'm sure plenty other people in this country will be adverse to credit after this downturn. Thanks again.

I'm talking about the Repo man, out to repossess your car I have an Unregulated HP agreement, with a Default Notice that will expire tomorrow. The repo man will return and oddly, this is an Unregulated agreement, ask me to sign a Voluntary repossession document. He can take the car anyway but needs this because if I DON'T sign it, there is the possibility that if they repossess if unlawfully, for whatever reason, they have to reimburse me all payments paid under the agreement. So, my question is has anybody out there had experience at negotiating with the dark side? There's probably a shortfall of £ 6k between amount owed (including expenses) and what the car would fetch at trade value, obviously a little less at auction. I'm going to agree to sign the agreement under the condition that repossessing the car is in full and final settlement of the agreement. They run the risk of a £ 24k loss if I don't sign and they didn't execute the repossession correctly. Would they risk that on a perceived £ 6k gain, which they wouldn't get anyway as I'm in a Debt Management Plan with CCS and I'd be proposing £ 1 a month as I'm in such a dire financial situation. This is against a background of the first Default Notice being completely incorrect (wrong amount) and the second one giving me 7 days being issued 1 day after it was printed (I have the frank date to prove it). In short, what would the repo man's response be? Keep watching this thread as I'll post the response very soon.

apologies for bumping this back up but this is seriously affecting my health and mental state. Anglia are due to call back towards the end of this week and I need to know what to expect and where I stand. This is an Unregulated agreement. Is the guy coming back to persuade me to sign some documentation so he can take the car away? If so and I don't sign does he need to go to court in order to take the vehicle? What if I were to hide the car elsewhere? I'm trying to buy time here so I can bring the arrears up-to-date. Many thanks for reading.

My finance company has issued a second default notice due to expire this week. The first default notice was actually incorrect (wrong amount quoted) so I wrote to them advising I didn't accept it. In the interim period they appointed a vehicle repossession company (Anglia) and a representative knocked on my door earlier this week. He was after me signing some documents so that the car could then be taken away. I phoned the finance company and pointed out the error. They said they would issue an amended default notice and whilst I have not yet received it, I am told it will expire on Wednesday 25th February. I have a number of issues here: 1. Is there any way I can delay matters because of the incorrect default notice? 2. I live on a private estate so isn't this guy trespassing if he comes back? 3. If I refuse to sign the documents, whatever they are, won't he have to apply to court to repossess the car? I only have 10 out of 42 payments remaining on this deal so it would be terrible for the car to be repossessed and sold for a song with the resultant debt being dumped on me. I have every intention of honouring the debt and will catch up as soon as I am back in employment. 6 years with Mercedes Benz Finance and never missed a payment until now. Counts for nothing. Tried to pay them £ 500 yesterday but unless I can satisfy the default notice amount fully, they couldn't give a stuff. Thanks for reading and any help would be very gratefully received.

yes, I still have copies of both, as much as I'd love to put them on the log burner

On both occasions I signed up in the showroom with a shiny new car in the corner of my eye.

Hi and thanks for reading. As part of wider financial problems I'm having I have two unregulated HP agreements: 1) Mercedes Benz Finance 2) Audi Finance It is only recently when I've been having difficulties meeting the monthly repayments on these agreements that I actually found out there are two types of agreements (regulated and unregulated). I had no idea when I took these out. Several years ago I had an agreement with Volkswagon Finance and in the agreement was a clause where if I'd paid over 50% of the amount due under the agreement I could hand the car back. Sadly this is apparently NOT the case with unregulated agreements. Had I been told when I signed up for both these deals that they WHERE NOT REGULATED BY THE CONSUMER CREDIT ACT, I'd definitely have though again. I'd have needed to find out more. I was naive I guess but shouldn't the dealer be forced to outline just what you are signing up for. I'm just a layman after all. How I'd love to return these cars, particularly as both are well past the 50% mark but I can't do this. I'm already two months behind with each (approx. £ 2,500 in total) and I fear that if they repossess the cars they'll sell them cheap at auction and impose other fees on me. In short I'll be left with even more debt. Do I have any comeback on the selling of the credit agreement (or mis-selling)? Thanks

Hi and thanks for reading. I've been living beyond my means for a while now and it's finally come to a head (October 2009). I'm self-employed and over the last few years have earned in excess of six figures each year. Consequently I've lived quite a lavish lifestyle and have foolishly stored nothing away for a rainy day. I've fallen behind on every monthly payment imaginable (mortgage, 2 x HP car agreements, council tax, credit cards, etc). The worry of all this is starting to affect my health and the health of my wife. Constantly hounded by my creditors by phone and letter I finally conceded that I needed help so I telephoned CCCS and arranged an interview (next week). I'm quite confident I can get back on my feet again and will once again be bringing in well over £ 100k. As a consequence I will catch up with my outstanding debts, assuming it's not too late for some of them (the unregulated car agreements). My question here is whether a CCCS is right for me? The idea that the credit card companies can go and whistle, especially with the exhorbitant interest rates they are charging me and fines they are imposing for late payments, is VERY appealing. I really resent paying all my money just to make the minimum payments. My fault I know but the banks have had a hand in this too, pushing easy credit down the throats of people like me who don't have much self-restraint. Just what would a payment plan achieve for me in terms of these credit card debts (I have around £ 30k)? Does it reduce the debt? Will it stop the interest building up? What about the fines? If I entered into a plan like this I understand it is reviewed periodically. What would they say when my monthly income goes from £ 256 currently to over £ 3,000? Will this buy me time to store up the interest payments I would otherwise have been making and then just throw them at the debt? Would the interest have still been building up all along or would it have somehow frozen it? What about interest rates? I'm currently on near 30% with the Halifax, which is scandalous. Finally, how long would the payment plan last? Until the debit is cleared or a predetermined period of time? Any advice you could give would be very much appreciated. Thanks