Help! Mercedes Finance threatening repossession

[sugarcubes2010]

I live in the sticks, and require a car to get to work etc.

 

I have had a car through mercedes finance for the past 3 years, since 2007. I paid a large-ish deposit and went onto monthly payments, and knew there would be a balloon payment at the end of the contract.

The existing contract ended in July 2010, and I communicated that I would like to keep the car, and to re-arrange more finance to cover the balance remaining on the car, which was about £10K. The car cost over £24K, so I have paid well over half of the car, about 58%. I love the car, and have been very happy with it, have taken very good care of it, and it only has 30,000 miles on it.

 

I requested a payment structure be in place with another balloon payment at the end. The first one or two that they sent out in the post raised my monthly payments from about 250/month to £450/month, which I thought was not affordable, so I called to ask them to re-do it based on a longer term (2 years), and to bring the payments down to what I paid for the past 3 years. I did not receive a new payment scheme from them, and therefore did not have a direct debit in place for the new payment amount...and therefore payments were missed, although I had not agreed the contract extension in principle (due to the raised monthly payment).

 

Anyway, I last week, 29 Sept 2010, I got a hand delivered letter through the door saying that the car was to be repossessed. I called the number on the letter, to tell them there was a mistake, but the chap was aggressive, and would not listen to my side of the story. He just kept saying that Mercedes have told him to repossess the car, so I have to hand it over. It was an unproductive conversation, as he would listen to me.

 

On 29 Sept 2010, I drafted a letter to Mercedes explaining the situation, and told them I would very much like to keep the car, and reminded them in my 3 year history of credit with them, that I had never missed a payment. I requested to have a payment amount similar to what I paid for the past 3 years, and a contract length of 2 years. I sent the letter by 1st class mail.

 

On 8 October - today - I received a letter from mercedes stating that they planned to repossess the car within 7 days, and that they will not consider any arrangements to pay, unless it is the full outstanding balance of over £10K, which I cannot afford.

 

I cannot afford to buy another car at the moment, as I am experiencing some financial grief at the moment, and I desperately need to keep hold of my car. I've been trying to ring all the local Citizens Advice Bureau offices, but no one is answering.

 

What are my rights? What should I do next? What should I say if the aggressive bailiff guy calls around again? How do they get a court order? Will I have an opportunity to defend a court order?

 

Help!!

[IdaInFife]

hiya and welcome to cag,

 

i have moved your thread to the vehicle repossession forum for more views

 

ida x

[wannabedebtfreesoon]

Hello, the missed payments you are referring to, are they the £450 monthly?? Did you agree to and sign this new schedule?

 

Also it is crucial to find out if the agreement is regulated by the Consumer Credit Act 1974, (it should say on the top of the agreement), as this would afford you more rights.

 

If possible could you scan and post up, minus personal details, your agreement and any default notices you have received?

 

You also need to keep the car on your private property if possible because irrespective of the CCA 1974, trespass is still a civil offence and actionable as long as you do not give consent.

 

I'll be off until this evening, but if you could gather up those details it would be helpful thanks.

[wannabedebtfreesoon]

Did the 24K include interest and charges, i.e. was it the total amount payable under the agreement or the initial cash price of the car?

[sugarcubes2010]

Hi, Thank you all so much for responding.

I will have to dig out the paperwork on the car this weekend, I did actually keep it all, every single document

The total price of the car was £24K including the taxes and finance charges, I think the agreed price of the car was around £21K. It was a slightly used car when I bought it, a few months old, and already had 14,000 miles on it.

 

I didn't agree to the proposed £450/month, as I could not afford it, and let them (Mercedes Finance) know in a phone call to their call centre. I think they rescheduled it at about £250 upon my verbal request on the phone, I didn't receive any new documentation to this effect, nor did I sign anything, I had however in June returned a signed paper to stating I wished to keep the car. So, I was confused when they sent a bailiff around to say I had missed payments, but to my knowledge, we hadn't formally agreed in writing the amount of the new payments.

It might also help to mention I suffered an accident in June, I had a traumatic head injury after a fall from a height, and it has taken 3 months to recover, I have medical documentation to this effect. I took a massive financial hit - as I am self-employed I did not receive any income during this time.

I'll dig out the paperwork and come back during the course of the weekend.

- you are all absolute stars for helping me ))

[sequenci]

Hello there,

 

Based upon the information you have given the vehicle SHOULD be regulated by The Consumer Credit Act 1974, can you check the agreement and let us know.

 

Have you received a 'default notice' at all?

[victoriaviper]

Hi there, sorry to be the bearere of bad news, but exactly the same happened to me with the same company. I had put a large deposit down - £8k - for a car that had a cost of £18k - I took finance of $10k over 5yrs. Year 3 I was financially struggling a little and missed two payment for which I recieved a defaultnotice and threat of terminating the contract. I repaid the outstanding two months arrears and then Mercedes cancelled the contract and told nme if I did not pat them £ 8k they would reposess the car. I was treated quite viciously by them and no amount of negotiating helped - they just cancelled the HP agreement . T o cut a long story short- they applied to the courts and sent a collection company to my house at 11pm at night to take my car. I had paid a total in excess of £21 k and they still took it. To add insult to injury, they then sold it at auction for a rock bottom price and then chased me for the outstanding - which I am still paying. My advice to you would be to get a loan from another scourse if possible, pay off the balance of the car and then sell the car if you have to. You just cannot deal with Mercedes at all- if they have any hint that they think you can't afford the car they will just take it back and you will lose everything. Just one m,ore thing, they act really fast so beware. Sorry to tell you all this, but forewarned is forearmed.

Hi, Thank you all so much for responding.

I will have to dig out the paperwork on the car this weekend, I did actually keep it all, every single document

The total price of the car was £24K including the taxes and finance charges, I think the agreed price of the car was around £21K. It was a slightly used car when I bought it, a few months old, and already had 14,000 miles on it.

 

I didn't agree to the proposed £450/month, as I could not afford it, and let them (Mercedes Finance) know in a phone call to their call centre. I think they rescheduled it at about £250 upon my verbal request on the phone, I didn't receive any new documentation to this effect, nor did I sign anything, I had however in June returned a signed paper to stating I wished to keep the car. So, I was confused when they sent a bailiff around to say I had missed payments, but to my knowledge, we hadn't formally agreed in writing the amount of the new payments.

It might also help to mention I suffered an accident in June, I had a traumatic head injury after a fall from a height, and it has taken 3 months to recover, I have medical documentation to this effect. I took a massive financial hit - as I am self-employed I did not receive any income during this time.

I'll dig out the paperwork and come back during the course of the weekend.

- you are all absolute stars for helping me ))

[victoriaviper]

Hi - did reply to your query as I had a similar experience with Mercedes Benz and wanted to make you aware of how they operate - its further down the page - please have a look as they were an absolute nightmare to me - I lost £21 k because of the car.

I live in the sticks, and require a car to get to work etc.

 

I have had a car through mercedes finance for the past 3 years, since 2007. I paid a large-ish deposit and went onto monthly payments, and knew there would be a balloon payment at the end of the contract.

The existing contract ended in July 2010, and I communicated that I would like to keep the car, and to re-arrange more finance to cover the balance remaining on the car, which was about £10K. The car cost over £24K, so I have paid well over half of the car, about 58%. I love the car, and have been very happy with it, have taken very good care of it, and it only has 30,000 miles on it.

 

I requested a payment structure be in place with another balloon payment at the end. The first one or two that they sent out in the post raised my monthly payments from about 250/month to £450/month, which I thought was not affordable, so I called to ask them to re-do it based on a longer term (2 years), and to bring the payments down to what I paid for the past 3 years. I did not receive a new payment scheme from them, and therefore did not have a direct debit in place for the new payment amount...and therefore payments were missed, although I had not agreed the contract extension in principle (due to the raised monthly payment).

 

Anyway, I last week, 29 Sept 2010, I got a hand delivered letter through the door saying that the car was to be repossessed. I called the number on the letter, to tell them there was a mistake, but the chap was aggressive, and would not listen to my side of the story. He just kept saying that Mercedes have told him to repossess the car, so I have to hand it over. It was an unproductive conversation, as he would listen to me.

 

On 29 Sept 2010, I drafted a letter to Mercedes explaining the situation, and told them I would very much like to keep the car, and reminded them in my 3 year history of credit with them, that I had never missed a payment. I requested to have a payment amount similar to what I paid for the past 3 years, and a contract length of 2 years. I sent the letter by 1st class mail.

 

On 8 October - today - I received a letter from mercedes stating that they planned to repossess the car within 7 days, and that they will not consider any arrangements to pay, unless it is the full outstanding balance of over £10K, which I cannot afford.

 

I cannot afford to buy another car at the moment, as I am experiencing some financial grief at the moment, and I desperately need to keep hold of my car. I've been trying to ring all the local Citizens Advice Bureau offices, but no one is answering.

 

What are my rights? What should I do next? What should I say if the aggressive bailiff guy calls around again? How do they get a court order? Will I have an opportunity to defend a court order?

 

Help!!

[sir_gilmour]

Hi

Welcome to The Consumer Action Group.

 

 

I am just letting you know that as you haven't had any replies to your post yet, it might be better if you post your message again in an appropriate sub-forum. You will get lots of help there.

 

Also take some time to read around the forum and get used to the layout. It is a big forum and takes a lot of getting used to.

 

 

Once you start to find your way, you will soon realise that it is fairly easy to get round and to get the help you need.

 

It can be bit confusing at first.