car repossession help...did i hand them my right on a plate??

[msull]

Firstly I have been reading many of the great posts on this site and think it’s great how you all share experience and help each other out. To be honest I never thought I would need to read such posts and must admit to being really disappointed that I got myself into the position I have. I therefore hope someone out there can provide clarification or advice on my issue – either way thank you in advance!

Sorry for the length of the post however I thought it best to provide as much information as possible.

Ok so here goes...back in October 2009 I bought on HP with Santander, a nearly new 4x4, I love the car the bits (but it’s only a car I have to remind myself). I have had numerous car loans and HPs in the past and never had a problem as I always made payment on the 1st of the month. The contract did not start well, the payment date was the 26th of the month (too much month left at the end of the money!!) about December my payment missed (I was short by about £20) I brought the account immediately up to date and asked to change payment date I was told this would cost £20 foolishly I refused as I though this excessive and not listed on the charges per the contract. However I had replanned my finances so did not expect any further issues.

In January my company won a big 6 month contract in Kenya, this placed pressure on my cash flow as I had to cover expenses etc until I could be repaid, again I missed the payment date but always brought it back up to date (up to the point of the issue I have been in the UK approx 20 days this year). I did receive the note of defaults but because I always brought the account to date didn’t place much emphasis on them. After a stint away I came back in July to a default and subsequently set up a payment plan to bring 2 months arrears up to date within the month. I went on holiday (in the UK) and tried 3 or 4 times to contact Santander to make payment with no luck – call on a Saturday and although the letter says they are open you hear is a answer machine message saying the opposite, calls were often dropped. The day after I returned from holiday I was required to go back to Kenya – totally unplanned and with no notice.

During this trip I received a call from my daughter (06:15 GMT) anxious that there were 2 men banging on the door and on our private drive looking around the car with a car transporter on the public road. My wife was walking the dog so I asked my daughter for a number on the transporter, she gave it to me and I called it. I was told I owed Santander about £1100. I said I would make payment now immediately as I had been trying to call Santander (please note that the 0844 numbers they gave me would not work when called from overseas, I had also contracted them in the past for a UK number to be told add +44 – I know this but it still would not work, it’s also important to note that Santander would not take payment from my wife for Data Protection reasons!!) he said he was not sure of the figure and if I asked my daughter to give him the keys he would take the car and bring it back after 9 when the office opened and the payment had been made.

The payment was never made because I called the ‘agent’ at 9 to be told Santander had refused to return the car and had recovered the vehicle having decided to terminate the agreement. I feel duped. While my daughter removed key items relating to my wife’s work she did not remove all personal possessions (she had no need to) car left with personal belongings (worth about £500) that the ‘agent’ disputes were in the car. I’ve spoke to the police and they suggest small claims courts. I have contacted Santander and I’m going through the usual ‘complaints process’ I doubt the car will be returned even though I have given details of other accounts I have with the company to show my payment record and offered to bring the account immediately up to date. On the day the car was collected I received a ‘notice of termination’ dated the week previous and believe it or not a letter with information on how to set up a direct debit following my request!

I know I am at fault on this, the circumstances of the year have played a part and I am not shirking my responsibility however my issue is this – did Santander illegally remove my car from my drive (private property) and without a notice of returned goods order or because I was duped into believing the car would be returned have I inadvertently handed over any rights I had?

Your help would be greatly appreciated

[wannabedebtfreesoon]

Hello and welcome to cag

I think there are a number of issues here that would need further investigation. To me the first thing that stood out was the issue of informed consent and intimidation. You say your daughter was alone when the repo agents arrived, do you mind me asking her age?? Was she old enough to deal with the situation and was she aware of her rights??

 

Also, did she hand over the keys and log book?? They are only permitted to retake goods from your property with your express consent, did they definitely have it?? Were you fully informed of your rights?? Did they carry out any security checks on you to make sure they were dealing with the account holder?? Did they discuss your account with your daughter? If so, I believe that would constitute a breach of the Data Protection Act.

 

I think also the exact details of your payment history need to be clarified, namely the service of default and termination notices cross referenced with any payments made.

 

At first glance I would think you would have very goods grounds for complaint, primarily to the FOS.

 

I know it's a lot to take in but if you could provide more details in response it would enable more people to be able to help you.

[Surfer01]

Santander seem to be a law unto themselves. Are you sure it was a HP agreement and not a loan agrement. Any chance of posting up the agreement with all your details removed? Have you paid at least a third off on the vehicle? Did they have a court summons?

[wannabedebtfreesoon]

Santander seem to be a law unto themselves. Are you sure it was a HP agreement and not a loan agrement. Any chance of posting up the agreement with all your details removed? Have you paid at least a third off on the vehicle? Did they have a court summons?

Agree totally! They seem to be governed by the same rules as welcome finance!!

[msull]

Hi, thanks for the welcome and your assistance, I’ll take each point separately if that’s OK?

Believe it or it was my daughters 19th birthday the day they arrived – nice present Dad!!! So I guess she was old enough to deal with the situation though she would not know her rights, at the time neither did I!. She did not hand over the logbook service history etc as these were never requested though she did hand over the key (interestingly I sent these to Santander on the 25 August so to ensure the value of the sale of the car would be maximised – I received a letter dated the 31 August charging me £25 for not providing the V5 yet today I received a letter dated the 17 August thanking me for returning the log book 3 days before the collected the car...do they know what they are doing!!!!)

I told her to give them the keys as I had been informed if I did I would get the car back when they had confirmed the outstanding amount – this to me is the grey area I am concerned about as I feel I handed away any rights on the basis of a lie and we were never told what my rights would be, I was never informed the car was being repossessed and I genuinely though the car would be returned on payment, even though I offered full payment immediately the time of contact by the agent.

They carried out no security check on me or my daughter

Yes they discussed the account with my daughter as did Santander when she called for a contact number that could be reached from overseas though they would never discuss it with my wide when I asked her to call and make payment

I return to the UK on Saturday so will try to post more on the payment history

I have still received no request to return the vehicle.

Re Surfer1 yes it is a HP agreement and no I had not paid more than a third nor has there been a court order or summons, I’ll try post the agreement at the weekend when I return.

You know for the last 20 years I’ve been a customer of Abbey and various companies taken over by Santander, though once my mortgage product expires I can’t see me being a customer for long.

Thank you all for your time and advice to date it really is appreciated

[DanielaB]

I dont have much to add other than I am also dealing with Santander Consumer finance... I've managed to move the car onto private property, far away from where I live and am now trying to deal with it a) directly with Santander, and b) through the Financial Ombudsman...

 

All I can say is Good Luck and I hope you manage to sort something out.

[Surfer01]

Unfortunately it seems that as you have not paid a third they can flog the car for peannuts and you will still have to pasy the difference. I don't want to appear negative but apparently becasue there are so many cars going on auction they are not getting very good prices for them. Hopefully someone will come along and tell me I am wrong.

[wannabedebtfreesoon]

Unfortunately it seems that as you have not paid a third they can flog the car for peannuts and you will still have to pasy the difference. I don't want to appear negative but apparently becasue there are so many cars going on auction they are not getting very good prices for them. Hopefully someone will come along and tell me I am wrong.

Unfortunately you are not wrong, they will sell the car for whatever they can get for it.

 

However I still believe you have a case based on several issues; namely breaches of the Data Protection Act, breach of contract, unreasonable conduct, unfair relationship and undue duress.

 

As for taking the car off private property without a court order, you may also still have an argument against them as the ONLY VALID DEFENCE for this is consent. If you want to claim that you did not give INFORMED CONSENT and only agreed under duress I am sure this would be taken into consideration by a court.

 

JMHO as usual

[Heathy135]

I know this is a very old thread, but would you be able to give me any response as to what the outcome was msull, and if you managed to get this sorted please as I have just had a car repossessed by Santander and there are several thing's I don't believe they didn't do right in mine.