Close Assistance

[Save A Tree]

Hi there

 

Hub got behind with his car payments (3 missed) with Santander and they passed it to this bunch of cowboys.

 

When he rang them last week to make a payment for 1 month missing they refused to take apayment saying he had to wait for someone to come out and they would assess the car and see if they would allow him to keep it and work something out payment wise.

 

Cue plenty of phone calls back and forward between hub and Santander and hub and Clsoe assistance with them EVENTUALLY taking a payment for one month.

 

Hub was then told by Santander that he would then have to wait for a call back to see what would happen next. Hub said if there is any way that he doesn’t have to deal with the idiots at Close assistance he’d be very grateful, esp as he cannot afford to lose the car as it would have a MASSIVE impact on his livelihood and all he wants to do is get his payments straight and they seem to make it EXTREMELY difficult and clearly want to come out to visit so they can add this to his costs….

 

All we’ve had is another letter confirming his appointment (which is Monday).

 

What can we do to avoid having to deal with idiots….?

 

On the upside hubby has modified the hell out of the car and its covered in decals promoting his modifying business. A friend in a similar situation got to keep his car as it would’ve cost the finance co a fair bit to put the car back to standard.

 

Any help greatly appreciated

[pt2537]

Hi there

 

How many payments are outstanding now?

 

also is it a loan secured on the vehicle or did you just take out a loan and then go out and but the car with the money

 

who are close assistance are they a debt collection agency?

 

as far as i am aware( and im sure someone will correct me if im wrong) they have no legal right to enter onto your property in this situation. i you dont want to deal with them you can simply tell them that its private property and they are not welcome. if they refuse to leave then you will call the police as the are tresspassing

 

regards

paul

[pt2537]

Oh, from now on, i would do everything in writing.

 

i do not take calls from any creditors. the thing is if its in writing you have a hard copy of what has happened and whats been said which they cannot deny. however over the phone, its your word against theirs.

[Save A Tree]

Hi pt2537 - sorry we've been offline all weekend

 

Well, there is only 2 payments outstanding now and yes the finance was taken against the car.

 

Yes CA are a DCA and i've discovered through looking on here that the guys who come out to you get commission on what they collect when they visit hence the fact we had to quite literally fight to get them to take a payment last week.

 

Speaking to hub about it over the weekend i discoveered that they were coming to home to visit and i told him in future he must never agree to anyone coming out as i understand you have to make an appt in order for them to be 'allowed' to visit you. Added to this, hub works for himself, it is a new business and consequently if he's not at the garage, he's not working and can potentially lose customers if he's not there to deal with an enquiry. As he has work booked in today it is ridiculous for them to expect him to turn custom away so he can wait in for this cowboy to ride up on his flamin' donkey If he's losing work he'll never be able to cathc up!?

 

We'll just have to wait and see what happens now he has broken the appt....

 

thanks for your help

[oneofakind]

If this was an HP agreement for your vehicle, then it cannot be repossessed without a court order if you have paid more than one third of the payments.

 

Please bear in mind that the doorstep collection monkeys have no more legal authority than the people who stick pizza menus through your letterbox. They cannot take your vehicle without authorisation, nor are they entitled to enter your property against your wishes.

 

Tell them to 'please leave my property': if they refuse call the police and tell them a breach of the peace is being committed.

 

[conar686]

Use this in a letter to tell them not to bother calling

 

Please note that I am only prepared to communicate with you in writing. Should it be your intention to arrange a "doorstep call", please remember that there is only an implied license under English Common Law for certain people to visit me on my property without express permission; the postman and people asking for directions etc (Armstrong v. Sheppard and Short Ltd [1959] 2 Q.B. per Lord Evershed M.R.)

 

Therefore take note that, I revoke any license under English Common Law for you, or your representatives to visit me at my property and if you do so without my permission, you will then be liable to damages for a tort of trespass. You would also be conspiring in a trespass if you sent someone to visit me nevertheless.

[oneofakind]

I was looking for that! Thanks for saving me the bother, Conar!

 

[Save A Tree]

[wave] OoaK - you pop up all over here, don't you! Thankfully

 

Unfortunately hub only got the car in Jan this year, shortly before he got made redundant and then set up on his own (as he had no other options).

 

Fortunately we have to rather over-affectionate dogs who tend to go flying at the door whenever someone knocks so i don't think they'd be too keen to step over the threshold anyway but worth remembering that we dont have to let these people in anyway - it's just human nature which makes us feel obliged to let people in!

 

Thanks conar686

 

great letter will endeavour to get this to them as no doubt they'll be contacting us very soon.

 

Just for info - when i went home for lunch they'd left a message saying their guy had been held up due to an accident on the m/way (which i had heard on the radio) so not only had he had a wasted journey but he'd had to sit in a ma-hoo-sive traffic jam too

[oneofakind]

Think I misread your post a bit - I thought '2 months outstanding' was 2 months to the end of the agreement, sorry.:o

 

I think I read somewhere about repossession being denied if the vehicle was vital to your business... which yours obviously is. BUT I can't remember if that just related to a Court Order being granted...

I'm off to look for it now. (I pop up all over the place, you know )

 

Be back later, I hope.

[UtterlyScrewed]

I've got Close Assistance coming out to visit me tomorrow too. They want me to be at home at 17:00. I have been offered overtime tomorrow so I really want to do it and start getting payments for my car back in order. They want me to lose money and possibly even my job just so that they can come out and make money on me!

 

They are very direct and won't speak to me about it over the phone, insisting on a home visit. Hopefully I will be able to get my payments to Black Horse sorted out now, but I'm sick with worry about Close Assistance. I'm hoping they will send my case back to Black Horse now.

 

Printer isn't working either. I'll have to get a copy of that letter typed out for tomorrow.

[sequenci]

Have they served you with a default notice?

[Save A Tree]

Hi All!

 

Thanks OoaK - again! His car is an ad on wheels for the business TBH and he has to have a car for errands etc and i need mine for my work too as we live in a rural aread.

 

US - how far behind are you? No they won't talk on the phone - it's so frustrating, they are so not working for the Finance Co. i cannot understand why people use them - they POINT BLANK refused to take a payment of us and Santander said that of course they want their money so if we were in a position to pay even 1 installment they would want it. I need to find the piece of legislation which says they MUST NOT refuse even a nominal amount... Anyone??? If they get funny cos he wasn't there for their 'meeting' he'll say he got home for 11, and got the message saying the guy was in traffic and then a customer rang to say he was outside the garage so he had to go - tough - it's their fault they were late not ours! He's running a business, it's not something he does fo rfun, its to pay our bills FFS!!

 

sequenci - no, no default as of yet and if it comes to it i can just about afford to squeeze another payment on a credit card if i have to - i don't really want to but if it means he's only one payment out then i'll do it - surely they cannot reposses over ONE missed payment and to be fair it is only c.£200 which by the time they went through the legalities we could scrape the majority together i reckon anyway.

 

I'm just sort of waiting to see what lands on the door mat today!!!

[conar686]

I've got Close Assistance coming out to visit me tomorrow too. They want me to be at home at 17:00. I have been offered overtime tomorrow so I really want to do it and start getting payments for my car back in order. They want me to lose money and possibly even my job just so that they can come out and make money on me!

 

They are very direct and won't speak to me about it over the phone, insisting on a home visit. Hopefully I will be able to get my payments to Black Horse sorted out now, but I'm sick with worry about Close Assistance. I'm hoping they will send my case back to Black Horse now.

 

Printer isn't working either. I'll have to get a copy of that letter typed out for tomorrow.

 

Send them a letter with the info in post 6 above, I'd start your own thread

[MikeSplicer]

Not sure of the legal situation here but......

 

Someone of whom I am aware once bought a brand new car made one payment and lost his job.

 

He went through all the hoops for non payment and when they come to repossess the vehicle he basicly hid the car.

 

In the end they took him to court the court ordered him to pay a niminal amount on the outstanding amount until he was in a position to pay more.

 

The car was then his the credit company had no right over it etc.

 

As I said before I don't know the lagal position but if the car is not available they cant take it.

 

And in all likleyhood if they take it and you bring the account upto date they will then charge you for taking it and bringing it back.

 

My opinion is they are more likely to talk to you in a civilised manner if they know they cant get the car.

[Save A Tree]

Thanks MikeS - great advice - yes , i think i have heard of this.

 

With Hubby owning a garage it would be easy to 'lose' the car for a bit

 

We could cope for a few days without a car but not indefinitely.

 

We're a funny ol' nation aren't we; someone says 'I'm coming round your house for my money' or 'give me your car' and we go all limp and say 'OK then'!!! We're too polite to say 'actually, no mate you're not, get the eff off my doorstep and take yer own effing car home not mine!!!!'

[MikeSplicer]

Unfortunatly this is the way DCA's work they are agressive and bullying. I have fallen for this in the past and now regret having crumbled under the empty threats and bullying tactics. Its only since I found this site that I have had the gumption to stick up for myself (and my legal rights).

 

Now because of sites like this I think DCA'a are gunna have to change the way they do business, I completly ignore the treats now and will only respond to letters that are polite and correct, if i don't agree with anything in the letter its gets ignored.

[payingonlyencouragesthem]

Close are not really a DCA. What they will try and do is sweet talk you into handing the keys over. I had their rep round and he gave me all the court / repossession spiel and how it would be much more sensible just to hand the car over. I said yes it probably would but I need it so I can't goodbye.

[Save A Tree]

Unfortunatly this is the way DCA's work they are agressive and bullying. I have fallen for this in the past and now regret having crumbled under the empty threats and bullying tactics. Its only since I found this site that I have had the gumption to stick up for myself (and my legal rights).

 

That's it MikeS - thanks again for your advice

 

And thanks 'Paying....' we just have to remember that its our name on the logbook and not there's. If some Joe in the street came up and said (in a somewhat menacing manner) 'give me your keys' we'd tell him in no uncertain terms where we would shove the keys if he didn't go away swiftly As far as I'm concerned its the same thing.

 

thanks all for you advice and support x

[UtterlyScrewed]

Great discussion. Thanks.

 

I was told over the phone by a woman who seemed pretty uninterested in my situation that I only had one more chance (to have a meeting with one of ther people after I cancelled my first one when I got a new job and couldn't make it). She said that if I 'messed up again' they would send the file back to Black Horse who would begin legal action.

 

I didn't come home for the meeting (did some overtime instead) and I'm going to phone Black Horse tomorrow to tell them I want to pay £100 and another £100 when I get paid on Thursday, and then catch up with my account.

 

If they want to start being nasty over it, I'll have to do what other people here have done and park the car elsewhere and offer nominal payments in court, etc.

 

I think I've paid just over 1/3 of the agreement so they can't repossess it anyway without going to court first.

 

I called Close assistance to try to cancel my appointment because I would be in work, but the woman is pretty aggressive in the way she handles customers and she just wouldn't listen, so her colleague ended up coming to see me for nothing. They messed up last week and sent the same fella out after I'd already cancelled it with them. He can't be happy.

 

Maybe he should get a different job.

[sequenci]

You should mention to Black Horse that as there hasn't been a default they should not be passing the account to third parties to chase you. That is something to consider complaining about.

[Save A Tree]

Hi Guys

 

Just to update you - i got home and there is a message for us to call some bird from pre-legal before the weekend.

 

this is the first we heard from them since the message to say they'd be late - i told hub his defence is that he couldn't hang around for them and is it was their fault they were late it was not HIS obligation to make contact.

 

On another point i notice on another post something about postcards saying 'please call urgently...' etc. We had one of these from these guys - what's the coup there - are there grounds for something here...?

 

TIA

 

SaT

[linz2011]

subbing in exactly the same position but I told them in no uncertain terms that if someone turns up at my house I will call the police - I have requested the CCA and they returned my £1 cheque so the clock is ticking

 

Good luck with yours

[spursdude]

Hi All..

I have read all of the above and would like to share my own experience with you about these nasty jokers...

I have a car loan with Blackhorse and have paid over 50% of the loan until I lost my job and had to find temp work... I did write to Blackhorse and explain my situation and made an offer of payment that would cover the monthly payment and pay off the arrears to which I have had no response..

Then out of the blue these jokers called me and said i have to deal with them from now on and not to contact Blackhorse...

The have pestered me with phone calls 7 days a week to try and book an appointment for "one of their sales advisers" to come to my home and go through my personal finances...

I told them NO.. And i had no intention of discussing my finances with a complete stranger... They persisted and persisted with this line of attack until I told them TAKE ME TO COURT...

I asked them to confirm everything in writing but they refused as they do not do send out letters...

Then they said I'd incur more charges and I could hand the car back without any more charges being levied against me... But "a sales agent" needed to visit me at home to go through all the details...

I ask them for a settlement figure to which they replied "we have to contact Blackhorse about that" and would call me back the next day...

Well today they did ring back and guess what???

No settlement figure just the same old spiel about a sales agent calling on me...

I told them again TAKE ME TO COURT...

She got nasty with me and I hung up... Within seconds my phone rang again she said we got cut off... I said No I Hung Up...

She again started the "need to book an appointment" and "I want to help you"

I replied TAKE ME TO COURT...

Her reply "OK THEN WE WILL"

She hung up on me LOL...

Don't get bullied by these thugs they DO NOT HAVE ANY LEGAL RIGHTS OVER YOU...

If they do take me to court my defence will be based on the fact that I have tried to sort out the problem with Blackhorse but they have not bothered to reply to me and these thugs have been harrassing me none stop over the past few weeks and have not done anything to resolve the matter...

 

I will keep you all informed....

Just waiting for the phone to ring again hahahaha...