Moneybarn - faulty car, rejected, Return of goods order, car clamped illegally?? and repo just today - help

[Bambi97x]

Hi, my partner took out a finance agreement with moneybarn, in september 2019 just before covid, after reading this forum all morning i can see you’re well aware of them as a company. 

like many here, he was newly self employed (he registered self employed may 2019) and the car he got from them through car finance 24/7 (broker) & phoenix cars ltd (garage) was deemed unroadworthy and unsafe to drive by the technician moneybarn sent out after we raised complaints with the tyres and handling issues etc. 

it has been an ongoing battle to reject the vehicle since then and we have tried to reject it since the first month / few weeks of having the car. Moneybarn have made this impossible & just put every obstacle in the way to refuse to take the car back even though we have legal rights to reject the vehicle under many laws / acts etc. there are a lot of details i wont bore you with unless im asked, as you can imagine. 

the fos is involved and has been for a while, however moneybarn took us to court which took place over a phonecall with the court and moneybarn on the 26th august.

 

Because they'd been trying to repossess the car through a recovery company (equivo) for months, even with the recovery agent confronting me on the school run with my 2 young kids, banging on my door at 7am aggressively scaring my kids and waking them up, my youngest is only 18motnths. and telling me im wrong and i have no rights etc, for months. 

 

we have fought this all the way and they eventually took us to court for it. The reason we haven’t let them just take the car is they would try and leave us with the remaining finance and no car, even though we’ve been trying to reject it since day one!

 

on the 26th, our court date, the judge issued us with a judgement of delivery of goods order which gave us 28 days, from the 26th august 2022, to get the car investigated tested etc to get our own proof for a case against them. The letter reads 

2. The defendant shall return the goods to the claimant on or before 23/9/22 to allow the defendant a reasonable opportunity to have the vehicle and issue of concern to him examined by (local jaguar garage / expert technicians) 

i understand here it says on or before, however it also says the defendant (us) shall return the goods to the claimant on or before that date. Not that the claimant can come and take it early?! Is this right or wrong?!

 

They have come this morning and repossessed the car, moneybarn are saying they have the right to do so, and left us waiting all morning for a call back, left the recovery agent waiting also, and never called back as promised. We had to chase them.

 

We called at 8am when they first opened and when the recovery agent arrived, was promised a call back by 9am and at 10:15am we were calling them yet again (all recorded) to say the car was being taken, and this is from our knowledge against the court order, as we have been given a timeline (23rd sept) by the judge. They didnt care.

we now have no car.

They will chase us for the rest of the money which we will fight tooth & nail but we are getting nowhere and no solicitors are calling us back.

No one seems to want to help

 

i have registered here in hopes someone can.

 

The amount of stress and horrific anxiety and depression and debt this has left us in, is astounding. As you all know the company moneybarn have no morals and dont know what they're doing, but have come and taken the car anyway.

 

This is probably the 15th time recovery have been here and they even rang moneybarn to say that we had a court order, with a date on, and moneybarn told them to go ahead and take it. 

any extra details or anything anyone may need im happy to provide.

But i wanted to get out what has happened presently this morning, first, which is what is of great concern at the current time, however it is an ongoing dispute and case for nearly 3 years now.

 

Thankyou 

[dx100uk]

1stly you should have come here months ago!!

 

if you alerted moneybarn to the fact the car was unfit for purpose within 30 days (1st date please) and the tech MB sent latterly confirmed this (date pleae) then MB or you should have cancelled the finance and allowed the car to be taken. not your problem now, not your car it belongs to the finance company. 

 

cant really understand how this got as far as a suspended return of goods order, there was no need for this.

 

MB cant just come and repo the car from your private drive? nor use the ROGO to do so from your drive

a guy with a flatbed is NOT A BAILIFF and has zero legal powers at all, he most certainly CANNOT operate upon ANY orders by the court nor the judge (as those would be a bailiff company sent by the court with notice given to you FIRST). 

 

the only way  a powerless flatbedder can take the car is if its on a public highway. so where was the car?

 

however this is all a bit immaterial. you dont want the car, the car was not fit for purpose , and its for MB and the finance company to sort out.

 

so clarify a few things and we'll move you fwd.

 

dx

[Bambi97x]

 
I know I should’ve. It’s been very hard. The broker we went through was car finance 24/7 and the finance is with moneybarn. 

car started having issues from the first day and wouldn’t start on the 25th September & we had to call out recovery who couldn’t help at the time. We had submitted complaints to all 3 companies on the 27th September. 

the first date we asked to officially “reject” the car was 3rd October, 2019 to car finance 24/7. I mentioned this to Moneybarn via email on the 12th October, after previously sending evidence photos of the issues, saying to them id like to reject and had heard nothing back from cf 24/7.

 

we picked the car up on the 21st sept 2019. I had to email car finance 24/7 again, asking for an update, to which they replied on the 18th October, saying they had no update. This went on, and on, and on. 

They wouldn't let us reject without sending out a technician first even after we’d done the diagnostics test they asked us to do. the technician report was done on the 21st November 2019 

 

Car finance 24/7 asked my partner to obtain a diagnostics report to prove there were issues with the car, we have done everything they asked. We got this done by the 9th oct and the diagnostics came back listing a lot of faults, up to 23 if i remember correctly.

 

We submitted this (once again after already asking to reject the vehicle) - and they responded to this by then sending out their own technician on the 21st November who deemed the car unroadworthy unsafe etc. but he said to find the cause of said issues, the tyres needed replacing at our expense as they were “Budget tyres” that the car came with, and a retest to be done.

 

We refused to do this as we had already paid for tests to be done and felt we shouldn’t have to keep paying for repairs to reject the vehicle and “prove” its faulty, even though on the technicians report he said it was but they were trying to argue that these were “wear and tear” issues, although my partner only had the car for 4 days before reporting the issues.

the car garage (phoenix cars ltd) where the car was sourced from, offered to repair the vehicle instead of letting us reject it. This was on the 9th October. We repeatedly stated we didn't want this and wished to reject the vehicle and how do we go about this. We had no response or update from the companies on this matter as stated above. They could however respond on the topic of sending their own technician out.

Car finance 24/7 told us to take the complaint up with the finance company MB if we were unhappy with how things were going. Which we already had done, & continued to do and try to contact them regarding the issues and rejecting the car. Quite frankly we were ignored. By everyone, Completely. 

 

Then covid happened, and it was impossible to get replies via email or phone calls back from anyone. Obviously fell into arrears due to covid, and at first a payment holiday was refused to him by mb as they believed “he couldn’t afford the car” - why finance it to us then?! It has been utterly impossible. This was all during covid.

 

Since then we have kept complaining, kept going back to the FOS as the first complaint was ruled in their favour, (i dont know how, when we have been trying to reject the vehicle!)  however moneybarn had refused to send vital info over to them which apparently they had the legal right to withhold this info, we have re opened the complaint. It is still being investigated due to long waiting times as you probably know.

the car was parked in residents parking, a car park of 10 spaces, outside the front of our house, we live in a row of terraced houses. We dont have a driveway so unsure if this is classed as a public highway or not.

 

It was clamped at first, a knock on the door came and we were given 2 choices, give the keys over to the recovery agent so they could drive it away ,or have a flatbed come in for the car which we would be charged for.

 

After the agents rang moneybarn to tell them we had a letter from the court where the judge has given us until 23rd sept to return the car, moneybarn have ignored this and said they still have the right to take it early. In his words the recovery agent ‘was just following instructions”. I understand we maybe shouldnt of given the keys over however he said he would just come back and flatbed it away and it had already been clamped.

We had tests booked in for the car this week as we still had until the 23rd to gather all of our evidence (evidence being the issues are still present, although im not sure how this is relevant because we have been trying to reject the vehicle since 2019 but this is what the judge said) and we had reports done within the first month of having the car where the reports say it is dangerous to drive etc. 

they have sent recovery agents 10 days early and repossessed the vehicle, not allowing us the “Reasonable opportunity” the judge granted us with to get all of the tests done on the car.

 

I honestly know nothing about finance (as im writing on behalf of my partner, or law) but im sure this must be against the court order granted on the 26th august?

The car will now be sold at auction & the remaining debt (like i said more than likely 10k or more) we will be lumbered with. 

Edited September 13, 2022 by dx100uk
unnecessary previous post quote removed + bad spelling

[dx100uk]

no such things as wear and tear after only 4 days of ownership.

 

useful point MB said he could not afford the car in their opinion.

 

WHO CLAMPED THE VEHICLE AND WHEN PLEASE - clamping was made illegal by private companies in 2012!!

 

who is your landlord, the council or a private housing authority?

[Bambi97x]

I agree, the vehicle was clamped and then taken away by Equivo which is a debt recovery / enforcement etc agency on the court letter - its moneybarns “appointed agent” and that happened this morning,

 

clamp was put on at 7-7:30am and the car was taken away at around 10am.

 

The gap is because the Equivo agent was reasonable this time (for the first time) and gave us time to contact moneybarn about it. He left with the clamp still attached to attend another job, and returned around 9:30am.

 

They too also contacted moneybarn between 8am-10am as we did via phone to question the action of repossessing the car given the ROGO we were given and the date on it, however moneybarn told Equivo to continue with the repossession as they believe they have the right to take it. Moneybarn told us the same on the phone.

 

The only other option was we were given was to refuse to give the keys over, and the flatbed to come instead and take it by force which we’d be charged for. 

our landlord is a housing association sanctuary housing. Which I believe is council or social housing however the house isnt owned by the council - it is owned by sanctuary. 

[dx100uk]

Equivo?? can you give me their address please

 

unless they were appointed by the COURT and had a COURT ENFORCEMENT LETTER ...they cannot clamp you. they cant repo the car. sorry you've been had here on several levels by MB.

 

you need to ring the court (dont tell them what has actually happened ...yet)

ask them if they have authorised a bailiff to repossess the car yet?

when they say no, tell them the claimant of the ROGO this morning illegally clamped your car and has latterly flatbedded it away.

see what they say...then comeback here and tell us please.

 

bottom line is you dont want the car anyway.

you dont want to have to pay for it.

it was not fit for purpose

you want you paid sums back too.

 

 

 

 

do it QUICK they CLOSE AT 4pm!!

[Bambi97x]

We have been calling the court all day and just been cut off each time due to “no one available” and have left messages. Will try again. 

 

Legal Services | Debt Collection | Enforcement Services - Equivo

WWW.EQUIVO.COM

---

Fully authorised debt collection, recovery and enforcement. Providing consumer and business clients with ethical, effective High Court Enforcement services.

equivo website above 

they have offices in Manchester London Northampton and Bracknell. 

however we are in devon so… thats as much as i can find right now.

 

On the phone to the court as they have picked up finally and will be back with an update asap. 

 

Their answer to the bailiff question was no, they havent sent one. and then when we told them what has happened and she said that we were right and it is up to us, the defendant to surrender the car on or before 23/9/22.

 

they shouldn’t of taken it and cant.

 

However she said there isnt anything she can do, as shes a secretary. What do we do now? 

[dx100uk]

great you've WON!!

 

they have taken the car without legal authority and might have now voided the consumer credit act you and they signed up to regardless of the ROGO.

 

you might be entitled to the car back, or equivalent current monetary value and all your payments ever made.

 

[Bambi97x]

Thats great!

How do we go about that then?

And who do we contact?

 

As you’ve said yourself previously moneybarn seem to make the rules up as they go along & cant ever seem to get them to withhold their side of any agreement let alone abide by the law? 

And no doubt now the car has been taken, they will come after us for the remaining amount left on the finance agreement after they sell it at auction.

 

I know we shouldn’t have to pay it and we may have a strong case however, do we bring a claim against them before that?

If so, how?

 

If not,

Do we wait for them to come after us and counter claim it?

Any forms i need to fill out?

 

Thanks so much for all advice. 

[dx100uk]

though i think it's bottom line immaterial

can i just check something.

 

what date was the agreement signed?

how many ACTUAL payments have been made?

does this equal more than 1/3 of the original agreement sum...?

 

you could if you wish scan the FULL agreement upto one multipage PDF please

read our upload guide carefully 

remove your name and address and the vehicle reg/vin etc and the agreement numbers 

please leave IN all dates figure £'s etc.

 

dx

 

 

[Bambi97x]

No the payments definitely don’t equal to more than 1/3 of the agreement sum as it was shortly after signing the finance agreement that covid came around and we hit huge financial struggles, and also we were trying to reject the car very early on so admittedly we haven’t made as many payments as we maybe should’ve.

 

However we have tried to offer them money towards the finance and arrears when we got back on our feet after covid (offered them £600+ a month to try and clear some of the payments) they said no. The full amount or nothing by that point. (Not sure on exact date of this as was a while ago and will have to look it up)

This has also left him without a means for transport to and from work. We were planning on sorting a car by the 23rd sept anyway however now they’ve decided to illegally take the car 10 days before the ROGO my partner has no transport until we find a car. 

im on an iPad and we dont have a computer or laptop currently so probably unable to scan the agreement in. However ill look up the dates signed how many payments etc & come back with a reply. 

[dx100uk]

read upload

there are guides for ipad.

officelens i think.

 

dx

 

[dx100uk]

ok i'll have to do a bit research as the car will not have been protected goods under the agreement

but i'm pretty sure ignoring the orders of a judge and illegally clamping a vehicle far outweighs that issue....

moneybarn screw up again.

 

[Bambi97x]

Sorry im unsure on what that means, the protected goods bit. 

going to get the kids in bed and then work on uploading the agreement as a pdf. 

[dx100uk]

once you have paid more than 1/3rd of the cost of the car via an agreement under the consumer credit act, the creditor cannot just snatch the car.

it becomes protected goods (should be on the agreement...read it!)

 

however this is what puzzles me.. why did MB got to court to get the ROGO?

and then snatch it 

 

they could have done that regardless to the ROGO , because that effectively is what they have done.

 

moneybarn having a ROGO does NOT allow them to use some bod with a flatbed of their own choosing to snatch a car. it gives then NO MORE POWERS. neither does ANYTHING allow clamping.

 

only a court assign BAILIFF can do those things.

 

this is a really weird case from day one on many many fronts.

 

dx

 

 

 

 

[dx100uk]

Shoosmiths and Chartsbridge launch ‘Equivo’ – creating an end-to-end recoveries solution

WWW.SHOOSMITHS.CO.UK

---

Leading UK law firm Shoosmiths LLP and national collections, recoveries and enforcement business, Chartsbridge, have today launched ‘Equivo’, a new...

 

so the biggest fleecers out there shoosmiths in sheeps clothing

[Bambi97x]

Keep trying to upload but kept saying file was too large so i have split the agreement into page 1-6 then 7-12 in two files. 

 

 

 

 

moneybarn agreement.pdf

[Bambi97x]

It keeps saying my pdf file is available then unavailable after uploading it. Can someone confirm if its viewable? Thanks 

[dx100uk]

i was merging it...

 

yea certainly not paid the 1/3rd.

 

i suppose your next action is to inform the court that you wish the judge to know the following facts (and how you do that)

 

moneybarn using EQUIVO of (address) at date/time clamped the vehicle in question, latterly the vehicle was also transported away. this we were told was under the return of goods order, but have ignored the orders of the judge on date xxx giving xxx days.

 

i believe it is illegal for moneybarn to do this, the repo guy was not authorised by the court and was not operating under court bailiff orders, but merely as a local powerless guy with a flatbed. i also believe clamping by a private company not operating as court bailiffs was outlawed in 2012.

 

i do not want the car, it was not fit for purpose and was reported as such from day one to moneybarn within the time limits set by my consumer rights,

 

i believe the above actions are not only are against a judges order, but also now void the consumer credit act i signed with moneybarn.

 

under said act, i wish consummate market £value of the car returned to me and all my payments returned and the complete record of the agreement removed from all 3 credit reference agencies.

 

 

 

 

[Bambi97x]

Ah thats great thanks for doing that. I havent used forums in years. Im not being impatient I promise, I was just unsure if the pdf file even worked! i really appreciate all your help.

I will send that all in writing AND via email to the court. Which email shall i email it to? these are the ones on their website;

Civil queries: [email protected]

Mediation: [email protected]

sorry if that sounds like a silly question, we’ve never written to court before or had any court hearings / orders in our lives. Also shall i write anything to moneybarn / equivo after what they’ve done?

thanks 

Edited September 13, 2022 by Bambi97x

[dx100uk]

why not ring the court again and ask what email to use?

explaining that moneybarn have broken the judges order and you wish to report it for the judges eyes.

 

i'd leave the fleecers out of this let them sweat. till you get a response.

 

what about the FOS, where do things stand after last contact and when was that...i forget?

 

 

[Bambi97x]

Will do that tomorrow. 

wont contact MB / equivo until they contact us then! 

26/8/22 we raised a new complaint with FOS and still waiting for a response from them. Will be updating them too tomorrow on what has happened if they are able to add to my complaint before it is looked at. if they say anything (which the chances of that are probably low as they’re unbiased i guess) i will update. 

[dx100uk]

FOS are not biased. 

i would simply email the same as what i suggested with the court  .

have you not got a phone contact at the FOS? even with the previous complaint?

i though i'd read you'd got the FOS to re-open your original one?

 

 

 

 

 

[Bambi97x]

I know, thats why i wrote they’re unbiased. As its hard to get an opinion or judgement on any issues until the official outcome from them on whatever complaint comes back. Each time we’ve asked a question the same answer applies “we cant tell you anything you just have to wait until its investigated” - which i fully understand. 

Yes thats what I meant referencing the new complaint, sorry. i just asked my partner. He says technically it has been logged as a new complaint (my mistake) however they’re fully aware that it relates to our previous complaint with them. They are going to try and “get the same investigator as last time to take on this new complaint as he is already aware of what is going on” - their words. 

I think our only phone contact would be the investigator from our last complaint, who we are waiting to hear from as he needs to investigate the new complaint or a lady who has signed her name at the bottom of one of our complaint emails, another investigator. However we havent had a progressive phone convo with any investigator from fos since issuing the new complaint on the 26/8/22. 

[dx100uk]

when you get time 

scan to PDF the adjudicators initial rejection. please remove your details.

read our upload guide <<clickit<<

 

have you a copy of the judges order outlining the frames?