Car Repossession Urgent Help Please!

[egbb]

Hi, all got a car through British Credit Trust and stupidly missed some payments without talking to them due to financial difficulties at the time.

 

Repo man appeared today but didn't have the required court order so I refused to hand over the car.

 

I've written to BCT today offering them the normal monthly payment plus an amount towards the arrears that I can actually afford.

 

I am concerned that they will now go away and apply for the court order and come an get the car.

 

Would a court view my offer favourably should BCT refuse.

 

Is there any other way I can tackle this other than wht I have done. My wife needs the car and we can't afford to get another and be paying off BCT should the sell the car at auction.

 

Just to add, this all seemed to start after I wrote to them challenging their arrears charges etc.

[wannabedebtfreesoon]

Hello sorry you didn't get any replies when you needed it but your thread has now been moved to a new forum, if you still need advice please come back to your thread and I'm sure there'll be plenty of peeps around to help

[egbb]

Ok guys update for you. I was contacted by BCTsolicitors and made them an offer of repayment, I received tehir response dated 10th May this morning (21st May) stating that they will accept my offer providing payments are made monthly starting on the 17th and that they obatain a suspended return of goods order from the court.

 

Obvioiusly the 17th has passed and I won't have the money for the 1st payment til I get paid. I have e-mailed the soliciotrs and informed them, of this and asked that they accept payments from my payday and monthly thereafter.

 

One intersting point though is that I have never received a termination notice from them, so can they obtain a suspended return of goods order if I haven't received that notice. I am assuming that they did in fact send one but iut never got to me?

 

Any help or advice would be much appreciated as I am expecting to receive court papers any time soon

[wannabedebtfreesoon]

I doubt very much that they have any kind of court order let alone a suspended one!!!

For them to have anything of the sort they would have had to file a claim and you would have had notification from the court to attend a hearing.

 

Have you ever received anything regarding this from the court??

 

You say they haven't sent a termination notice??

For them to have been to court they would have to show that they followed the correct pre action protocol which wouyld involve letters before action, termination notices etc.

 

Have you had anything in writing from these alleged solicitors and have you still got the envelope today's letter came in??

 

Just need to double check that this is a regulted HP agreement and have you paid over a third or is the car parked on your premises??

[egbb]

I've paid over a third and it is a regulated agreement. Envelope got shredded with the other junk. Letter is dated 10th May accepting my offer of payments on the basis that a suspended return of goods order is obtained by them.

[wannabedebtfreesoon]

If you get any more letters it'd prob be best if you keep the envelopes cos then you can prove when they were actually sent.

With regard the solicitors I'd suggest you look them up, it's possible they're just an in-house dca for BCT.

 

In my opinion, there'd be very little use in them trying to obtain a ROG order. It'd cost them to make the claim in the first place and when you get to court there's the option for you to agree a repayment schedule whereby you keep the car and continue to pay an agreed amount. BUT.....the agreement is with the COURT and NOT with them AND it will be down to the court to decide a reasonable figure; so you may get the opportunity to make an offer which is LESS than what you have already offered!! As far as I can see the only benefit to them would be that they get to have the car back IF you don't keep up your future repayments; but that's a very big IF and quite an unviable risk for them to take!

I suspect they're banking on you not being aware of your rights, just like a lot of companies do.

However, if you do get court papers then you are still within your rights to ask the court for a time order whereby you can ask for an extension and reduced payments.

[egbb]

Hi all, apologies for not requesting this sooner but my computer has been bvroken.

 

Received court papers and acknowledged service stating that I intend to defend. Problem I have now is that my defence needs to be with the court by Friday and I have absolutely no idea how to word it.

 

I am basically defending on the basis that:

 

1. I never received a termination notice (despite one being attached to the court papers)

 

2. The charges levied on the account are unlawful

 

3. Mis-sold PPI

 

4. They have also agreed a repayment schedule but only if they getr a suspended return of goods order, yet they are not asking the court for that order

 

The amounts for the PPI and the charges are way in excess of what they allege my arrears are.

 

Any help with this would be greatly appreciated as I think I am way out of my depth here and don't want to get things wrong and look stupid in front of a Judge.

 

Hearing date is set for 2nd August

[wannabedebtfreesoon]

What is the hearing for??

[egbb]

They want a return of goods order, although when they agreed my payment offers they said they would be seeking a suspended order, but the paperwork from the court is for the return of goods

[wannabedebtfreesoon]

They want a return of goods order, although when they agreed my payment offers they said they would be seeking a suspended order, but the paperwork from the court is for the return of goods

It's just my opinion but I think the content of your defence should be more about how you've already tried to negotiate a repayment plan outside of court and so there was no need for a hearing as they haven't complied with pre action protocol; and that they already attempted an illegal repo without a court order.

 

Ideally it would've been better if you'd acknowledged and stated that you wanted time to pay and submit your proposal but not to worry now

 

Make sure you gather together all the correspondance that has gone between you so far.

[egbb]

Thanks I'll go down that route. Is there a specific court form that I use or should it be done on A4 with teh case reference number attached?

 

Also is there a specific way to word it or should it be a general statement type of document?

[Markiemark1]

I would suggest that if PPI has been missold, charges applied that could be unfair and potentially an unenforceable agreement these should be the backbone of the defence. The fact is that just trying to agree a payment plan that they haven't accepted is not a defence - you are in breach of contract. The illegal repossession is questionable too - they didn't repo, but they did try to encourage you to surrender the vehicle, although no doubt would not have advised you of you rights to apply under Section 129 of the CCA for a time order.

 

In order to get a suspended ROG order then you need to issue for a return of goods order, hence why they've gone down this route. Are you able to post up a copy of the agreement with the necessary personal info blanked out. It may be that with a bit of forcefulness you can get them to back down.

 

Hope that helps

 

MM

[egbb]

thanks for that, I can't post up the agreement at the moment,as my scanner is not working, I'll try and do it tomorrow morning. What parts of it could be unenforcable if not correct?

 

Also does the defence need to be worded specifically on a specific court form, or would a typed A4 sheet be ok with the reference numbe on it?

 

So far my defence consists of:

 

1. The complainant has not adhered to pre-action protocol by issuing the defendant with a termination notice. The defendant puts the complainant to proof that such a notice was sent to and received by the defendant.

 

2. The complainant has already attempted to re-possess the vehicle from the defendant, despite having no legal power or right to do so and at that time failed to advise the defendant of his legal rights under section 129 of the CCA to apply for a time to pay order.

 

3. The defendant is currently in the process of issuing a claim against the defendant for levy of unlawful administration charges and mis-sold Payment protection insurance.

 

4. The claimant has agreed to the defendants re-payment proposals and in light of this, the defendant questions the need for this hearing.

[egbb]

Can't post up the agreement, but the details on it are as follows:

 

Cash Price of vehicle (including VAT): £6599

Deposit £1000

Total charge for Credit £2393

Arrangement Fee: £240

Option fee £120

Interest £2033

 

 

The original copy of the agreement I have hasn't been signed by anyone other than me.

48 payments of £164

[egbb]

Anyone tell me if what I've written above is OK, does it need anything else?

 

Are there specific court papers teh defence needs to be filed on?

[Markiemark1]

Have a browse through for a defence template and go from there. If you get stuck pm and I'll email one later today or tomorrow for you to use.

 

Defence seems ok, although could do with some more meat on the bone. When's the hearing?

 

MM

[egbb]

Morning all, I could really do with some help in beefing up my defence with this.

Court date scheduled for 2nd August.

 

Got statements from BCT solictors today. I checked my bank account and they haven't set up the standing order, so the June payment hasn't been paid.

 

I have sent a cheque for the June and July payment today. Will the late payment go against me in court?

 

Hope someone can help me out with this, I'm starting to get worried!!