Yes Another Welcome thread...

[Elffie01]

Hi guys I dont come on here often but I have been on here all day yest and today reading threads and gaining a little bit of knowledge

 

Ok my situation is as follows

 

I took out a HP agreement with Welcome...stupid me but didnt know better and needed a car ! The agreement was date 20/08/2004. Its not signed by Welcome on my blue and yellow copy, just a copy of it sent to me on 21/08/2004 with a welcome letter.

 

I was making payments regularly up until about April 2006, i need to get my bank statements for the exact details. I then left work to go to Uni. I couldnt make the payments and informed Welcome of this,they stated I could make minimum payments (no specific figure given by them or myself ) whilst I was at Uni.

 

Being a student, full time mum blah blah, I didnt make any payments,. I received no communication from Welcome following that conversation. Nor have I made may further payments or received any communication whatso ever from Welcome. I dont get any statements either yearly or monthly, nothing,.

 

Now My agreement was for 48 months so obviously the agreement date is expired as of 08/2008.

Being new to all this and stupidly swept everything about it under the carpet... although no correspondance as i didnt get anything lol.

 

I am now still not in a good financial situation BUT i do have the car still but it is not roadworthy and being a HP agreement I know I cant sell it. It has to be removed as it is on my housing associations land and they are requesting it be moved.

 

I cannot afford to have the car repaired but I d need another car, so will prob be buying a cheap run around as i need for my party plan.

 

I am unsure what to do, I was looking to hand the car back and suffer the consequences but Im guessing as the agreement has run out I cant ?

I obviously cant sell the car( which Id love to do) as its not mine.

I dont really want to contact Welcome (lol) as they havent contacted me and Im in no rush to start paying them with money I dont have,.. Im not denying I owe money but Im being realistic.

 

Any advice would be brill

 

thanks x

Edited May 11, 2010 by Elffie01

[wannabedebtfreesoon]

Hello and welcome

If I were in your situation, I'd first find out if the agreement is still ongoing and if they have registered any interest in your car. If you've not had any contact from them in over 3 years, I'd be reluctant to contact them now; 'can of worms' springs to mind!!

 

If you've paid 3 years of a 4 year agreement you can VT as you would've paid more than half of the total amount payable, but again that would mean contacting them!

 

I don't think it matters that the agreement would've 'expired' cos they could've kept it going if payments weren't being made. It's possible they've written it off or cocked up somewhere seeing as you haven't heard anything from them in all this time, but still check first.

 

Try checking your credit file to see if the agreement is listed there. There are CRA's that offer a free trial. I don't know if I'm allowed to say this, but I prefer Equifax, and this is purely my opinion!!

 

You can do a HPI check on your car to see if they have any interest in it, but it does cost about £20. Might be worth it though to find out what the score is before making any further decisions, this is just my opinion though.

Please always look into things yourself before taking any action

[Elffie01]

hiya and thanks for the quick response, I agree with the whole 'can of worms' situation lol

 

I have already been on Equifax this morning So im obviously heading in the right direction

 

The accounts status is - 'in Arrears' - so i guess the written off bit isnt relevant. I havent had any other company MKKR or whatever its called (read about them earlier) contact me so Im assuming the account is still with Welcome.

Last updated on Equifax was 03/03/2010 so not that long ago..

 

 

I havent paid 3 yrs infact Im not sure if Ive paid a third.. will have to check but def not 3 yrs . (sorry my bad just corrected the date in my original post )

[wannabedebtfreesoon]

From the dates you have given it seems you would've paid a third but not half. Unfortunately this means you can't VT without having to pay the balance up to the half figure. But knowing welscum as I do, they'll try to fleece you for loads more than this!!

 

Double check for me but if you made full payments from aug 04 to apr 06 that makes 19-20 payments. A third of a 48 mth agreement would be 16 payments, so as long as you have paid at least 16 payments they cannot repo without a court order. (Although I'm not saying they won't!!)

 

At the risk of being a bit controversial here I'm going to tell you what I would do in your position, but please bear in mind that all I'm doing is giving my opinion on what I would do and not for one minute sUggesting this is what you should do

 

Check for definite I've paid a third, park the car somewhere near my home, get back in touch with welcome enquiring about VT, and then do nothing.

 

THIS IS PURELY WHAT I WOULD DO AND IS BY NO MEANS AN ADVOCATION!!!!

 

Personally, I've had an absolute gutfull of this criminal company lying and cheating with a blatant disregard for the law and the consumer Every day there's another thread saying that welscum have said all sorts of nonsense to try and get money out of them, often putting them in impossible situations.

 

My credit file is already wrecked thanks to them so I don't have anything to lose

[Elffie01]

ok thanks for that, Ill be off to get my statements from the bank tomorrow, unless i can find my paying in book as I know it was recorded in there.

[bustthematrix]

Hi E

 

Why not do a SARN and CCA request first? IF they have unlawfully defaulted your account and terminated it this could give you more amunition and a VT may then not be needed?

 

Also, if unlawful arrears charges and interest have been added, a SARN would reveal this too and this is further ammo.

 

Does your credit file reveal an outstanding balance?

 

If there's no CCA or it's an unenforceable/invalid CCA this again is much more ammunition for however you wish to proceed.

 

HTH

Edited May 11, 2010 by bustthematrix

[wannabedebtfreesoon]

ok thanks for that, Ill be off to get my statements from the bank tomorrow, unless i can find my paying in book as I know it was recorded in there.

You do have other options and ultimately it's your choice how you want to take this forward.

 

• get the car fixed and keep it for another 3 years until the debt becomes statute barred without contacting them
  
• send off a CCA request and check if you actually have an enforceable agreement, (chances are you won't have:rolleyes:) *
  
• send off for a SAR and see if they've been doing anything naughty while you've been gone *
  

* I'd recommend you do this anyway if you do decide to contact them

[wannabedebtfreesoon]

Hi E

 

Why not do a SARN and CCA request first? IF they have unlawfully defaulted your account and terminated it this could give you more amunition and a VT may then not be needed?

 

Also, if unlawful arrears charges and interest have been added, a SARN would reveal this too and this if further ammo.

 

Does your credit file reveal an outstanding balance?

 

If there's no CCA or it's an unenforceable/invalid CCA this again is much more ammunition for however you wish to proceed.

 

HTH

Cool Great minds think alike!!

It must be true then

[Elffie01]

oki thanks

 

Well the options of getting the car fixed atm are not going to happen, not sure if i can get it put somewhere though, might have to look at this option.

 

Bust - the credit report shows the following

 

start date 20/08 - correct

default/delinquent balance - £6065

Current balance £6433

 

HP of £246 @49 months - WTH !!

 

My agreement says £245 for 48 months to start with ....

 

Agreement states

£4673.96 for Termination

£3155.97 for repossession

 

 

 

Im not up on all the legal stuff though as this is the first and only HP agreement I have ever entered into.

 

What is the grounds for statute barred ? ( oh lol read the link... ) So does the date run from when they last contacted me ? as im not sure when it was

And if I do contact them I'm assuming that statute barred goes out the window ?

 

Not got time to google as have to go out now but I will have a look and try and decipher it lol

 

 

How do I know if the agreement is enforcable ? I rmemeber seeing an advert on tv for one of those companies ages ago, who can tell you if it is or not, I thought about it then but never went any further.

 

Thanks for the quick responses, sorry I'm such a dimwit on this guess thats how they get their money

 

The credit report shows the account as In Arrears not Default. What are the implications if it is in default as opposed to arrears ?

Edited May 11, 2010 by Elffie01

[wannabedebtfreesoon]

oki thanks

 

Well the options of getting the car fixed atm are not going to happen, not sure if i can get it put somewhere though, might have to look at this option.

 

Bust - the credit report shows the following

 

start date 20/08 - correct

default/delinquent balance - £6065

Current balance £6433

 

HP of £246 @49 months - WTH !!

 

My agreement says £245 for 48 months to start with ....

 

Agreement states

£4673.96 for Termination

£3155.97 for repossession

 

 

 

Im not up on all the legal stuff though as this is the first and only HP agreement I have ever entered into.

 

What is the grounds for statute barred ? ( oh lol read the link... ) So does the date run from when they last contacted me ? as im not sure when it was

And if I do contact them I'm assuming that statute barred goes out the window ?

 

Not got time to google as have to go out now but I will have a look and try and decipher it lol

 

 

How do I know if the agreement is enforcable ? I rmemeber seeing an advert on tv for one of those companies ages ago, who can tell you if it is or not, I thought about it then but never went any further.

 

Thanks for the quick responses, sorry I'm such a dimwit on this guess thats how they get their money

 

The credit report shows the account as In Arrears not Default. What are the implications if it is in default as opposed to arrears ?

 

No apologies necessary for being a dimwit, we all started in dimwit territory ha ha!! No offence meant

 

Statute barred goes from the date of the last payment made or the last time you acknowledged the debt, i.e. attempting to make a payment arrangement etc. If you do contact them now, only do it in writing and head every letter with "I do not acknowledge any debt to your company".

 

As for being unenforceable, all agreements regulated by the consumer credit act 1974 have to abide by strict rules. If they do not contain all the prescribed terms in the correct format then the agreement can be deemed 'unenforceable'. This doesn't mean it will be written off, it just means they cannot collect on it.

This only applies to agreements made before April 2007, agreements made after that date can be ruled enforceable by a court however, the court is precluded from making an enforcement order if the agreement is pre April 2007.

You can read more about the rules in:

 

• Consumer Credit Act 1974
  
• http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=1407&d=1193875465
  
• http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=1408&d=1193875518
  

An account has to be defaulted before it can be terminated, i.e. they need to send you a Default Notice before they an send send a termination notice and then take further action. The purpose of a default notice is to bring to your attention that your account is in arrears and to give you 14 clear days notice to rectify the situation before they terminate. The default notice also has to follow specific guidelines and prescribed terms.

 

 

• http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=1411&d=1193876108
  
• http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=1408&d=1193875518
  

I know it's a lot to take in but this is the basis of it all!!

 

If you get stuck, never be afraid to ask for help. There are always plenty of very knowledgable souls about

 

Oh and the CRA thing is quite the norm for welcome!! You can try contacting equifax to get it changed.

[beyondhope]

Ive tried getting mine changed by fos and welcome both say its ok to round up to the nearest £ and welcome say it shows as an extra month because the first payment is always at least 28days after the agreement started....so would be a losing battle fighting with just those...defo look into what wannabe has said....our car was repo'd after a defective default and I have a court claim against them for it ongoing at the moment....leave no stone unturned