247 Money - refused payment holiday & payment plan

[abjb]

Morning, 

I am hoping someone can help, I am posting on behalf of my friend so I will try and provide as much info as possible. 

Due health reasons, she is currently not working and unable to pay her contractual car finance payments.

She emailed 247 Money and asked for a 3 month payment holiday, they refused this straight away with no reasons as to why.

They have told her that instead she can make a payment of £200. She is currently getting £400+ a month ssp so this is not acceptable. She went back to them and explained she cannot make this payment and they have not offered an alternative plan. Its £200 or she falls into default. 

She is now panicking as she does not want her car to be taken away. What options does she have? 

If I have learnt one thing from this forum, it's not to call and communicate via email. I passed this info on to her and they are pushing for her to call them. 

"Unfortunately, you will need to call us.

The conversation won’t be so black and white as to therefore type over email.

In a nutshell we can confirm that the request to not pay for 3 months we cannot put in place" 

I emailed them back on her behalf and said that what ever is discussed over the phone will need to be put in an email so that she can review it properly.

No decisions will be made on that phone call. 

"Once we speak to you on the phone we will follow up with an email to confirm the options discussed.

[Phone number]"

Why are they pushing for a phone call?

If its not so black and white, why can they then follow up with an email?

Thank you, 

[Bazooka Boo]

What type of finance is it?

 

HP, PCP, Loan?

They want her to ring so they can bully her into making payments she can't afford...unless she can record her calls then IMHO, I'd keep everything in writing.

Is £400 SSP her only income? There's no chance they will justify taking half of that.

 

Lodge a formal complaint with them ASAP, exhaust it, and then you can escalate it sooner rather than later, ruddy sharks!

 

[Nicky Boy]

 From their own terms and conditions on the website...

https://www.carfinance247.co.uk/terms-and-conditions

6.1 CarFinance247 Limited offers a:

6.1.1  web chat service ("Web Chat"); and

6.1.2  SMS chat service ("SMS Chat"), which, provided your application for finance has been approved and you have created a MyCarFinance247 account in accordance with these Terms, enable you to chat either online or via text message (as applicable) to one of our customer service specialists, without having to make a phone call.

[lolerz]

How long is the finance arrangement for and how much has been paid?

[dx100uk]

writing only not email ...end of..

does she want to keep the car?

[London1971]

Always send with proof of posting from your Post Office, so there is a trail. Conversations , are designed to intimidate into paying, Emails are designed as another way of bombarding. Only EVER communicate in writing, by post.  

[abjb]

Thank you all for the responses, to answers a few questions 

- she has had the car since Jan 23 on a 5 year term. 

- She is unsure what the agreement is called, but at the end she has the option to make a payment to "buy" the car

- she recieves benefits for her young children alongside the ssp (normally she would be on NLW for a 16 hr a week job) 

- Yes she would like to keep the car 

She has not responded to the last email from them asking her to call and it'll be followed up in an email. I told her to hold off until atleast Wednesday so I can read a few posts on here and get some more information. 

I will ensure she follows up with a letter, that has not been signed but instead her name written.

 

Thank you  

[dx100uk]

if the agreement was taken out jan 23, then she has not reached the 1/3rd mark so the car has not become protected goods under the consumer credit act. 

this puts her in a very very vulnerable position regarding ever keeping the car....whereby once they have issued a default notice they can legally send a guy with a flatbed (though they are NOT BAILIFFS and have ZERO legal powers) to collect the car. 

if the car is kept on the public highway then they can simply take it away and she will legally owe the whole stated amount on the agreement AND lose the car.

if it's on private property i'e like a driveway, ok they shouldn't take it without her agreeing,

but if they do, it's not really on but its better than a court case and an inevitable loss with the granting a return of goods order.

are these 'health reasons' likely to resolve themselves in the very short term (like a couple of months?) and can she immediately begin working again ? i'e has she got a job or would have to find one? 

answer the above and we'll try and help.

but she looks to be between rock and a hard place .

whatever happens she will still have to pay the loan off...car or no car....unless you can appeal to the finance company's better nature using health reasons to back off for xxx months.

[abjb]

Thank you! Your head is like a power bank of knowledge. 

Her health issues are short term, due to a relationship breakdown she took it pretty hard and has been signed off work on medication for 3 months. She only started her job in February 24 so does not qualify for any occupational sick benefits, which is where the ssp only comes in. (You will see me posting a few things over the coming days, whilst I try and sort some things for her) 

I sat with her last night relaying all this back and she does want to work out a plan, she was ready to propose £100 for the next 3 months and then an additional £70 per month onto of her contractual to "catch up" but Money247 rejecting the payment holiday and demanding £200 though her, which is why I came on here. 

 

[London1971]

In my experience (not with car payments) but with many other things, my partner has been ill and signed off in the past and we have been unable to meet various commitments. 

Naturally if you ring the call centre they are going to fob you off and tell you you must pay, that's why that never ever works.

I would obtain a note from her GP listing all her health issues plus medications plus side effects, then write to the finance company with a copy of it, explaining the situation, as you have here, asking for a payment holiday. Perhaps mention that the car is very much needed for hospital appointments etc.

It's likely the finance company would rather you pay till term end than, chase you for money they will never see, and sell the car at auction for a loss, 

You can search some of my threads going back years, advising people to do this for Council Tax, Tax Credits, HMRC, Even a solicitors company and it always works, because contrary to popular belief people are reasonable.

[theoldrouge]

First of all look at the agreement header and advise exactly what agreement she has
Likely HP, Conditional Sale, or PCP
Write to them setting out the reason for her short term difficulties and set out the payment going forward ( including the extra payment to cover any arrears)
Should they be foolish enough to refuse 
just pay what she can afford anyway 
After two months they can then issue an arrears notice at which point (if they are still refusing her offer) go straight for a Time Order 
This can be done once an arrears notice/default notice has been issued and as the issue is short term and she wishes to keep the car is the best way forward