Vehicle Ownership

[reallyfedup]

Hello -

My husband bought a car 5 years 5 months ago (no, he didn't get an HPI check). Last week we have received a letter from a finance company demanding a fee in settlement for the title of the vehicle or they would collect the car. The original HP agreement was 8 years ago and there have been 2 other owners before us. It appears the person who took out the finance also took out credit protection insurance. Since this matter has arisen we have had an HPI check done, and it would appear that there has been 8 other HPI checks on this vehicle since the HP agreement was signed, suggesting the
(then) owner tried several times to sell the car whilst under finance.

The fee requested is more than the value of the car.

Please can you tell us legally where we stand? I would of thought the signatory of the agreement should be responsible for any outstanding monies. - Incidently, the finance company pursuing this is not the finance company who had the original agreement.

Thank you RFU

[Guest]

Re: Vehicle Ownership

The Hire Purchase Act 1964, now incorporated into the Consumer Credit Act 1974 states that the first "innocent purchaser" of the vehicle gets good title. By innocent purchaser, the law means someone who did not know and who could not reasonably have been expected to know, about the outstanding HP agreement.

The HP company, therefore cannot repossess the car from you, or demand money and should pursue whoever originally borrowed the money for breach of the Hire Purchase agreement.

[reallyfedup]

Re: Vehicle Ownership

We have emailed the finance company and waiting for a reply - Thanks

[Vauxhall Girl]

Re: Vehicle Ownership

Hello there. Newbie here.
I am experiencing a similar situation as you, reallyfedup.
I bought a car just under a year ago... no, didn't HPI it because its 8 years old, and I didn't think after several owners it would still have finance on it. The guy who sold me the car claimed to own it for several years, and the paperwork he had with it said it was finance free when the car was 2 years old, so i thought all would be fine.
Paid cash for it, can't find the receipt. Have probably thrown it, because to my mind after owning a secondhand car for a few months, if it goes wrong, its too bad. No comeback. Don't have anything on a bank statement to say I took the money out, cos i already had the money from selling my previous car a couple of weeks before. All I have in the way of proof of purchase is a paypal deposit of £100 made to the seller's girlfriend.
Didn't go to his house to buy it. We were visiting someone halfway between our two homes, so he took it there and we bought it and trailered it home.
Now, out of the blue, i get visited by a Repo guy, as my car has previous finance on it. My other half wasn't going to hand over the keys, so Repo guy left, saying the paperwork would be sent back to finance co.
Finance Co won't tell me how much is owed or by whom, and in fact they were quite rude, making me feel like a criminal when i tried to plead my innocence.
So, my obvious question is, what happens now?
If they come to take the car (Repo guy said there was a court order out on the car, but i didn't see any paperwork...was hard enough getting the name of the Finance co off him)., will i be liable for the rest of the debt that is owing?
Does it affect MY credit rating?
Finance co said they are sneding me an Innocent Purchaser form to fill out... do i fill it in, or will it incriminate me?

It turns out the guy who owned it before me only owned it for 9 months. When I phoned him for help, he didn't remember the car... said he "sells lots of cars"... so not sure if he is a business or just sells cars on the side. He is not being helpful, says he won;t help cos the Finance co will be after him if he helps me get out of a fix.
Will they?
Surely they should be beating down the door of the person who took out the finance, not anyone else?

Any help on this matter would be lovely.

[reallyfedup]

Re: Vehicle Ownership

Hi Newbie

We insisted on having a copy of th HP agreement to prove there was a Credit Agreement, which the company provided. At this stage we did a HPI check and were able to establish other owners had been involved, (we were the 3rd consumer to aquire the vehicle) which gave us a good stand. Although they threatened to take us to court, we wrote to the finance company on 16th Feb quoting the statement from Cetelco (Legal Beagles) re: H P Act 1964 incoparated with 1974 Consumer Credit Act etc... as below, and suggested they pursue the customer who borrowed the money for breach of the H P Agreement.
To date, we haven't heard a word from them, not even an acknowledgement of our letter.
The car remains in our possession, with my husband's details on the registration document.

Apparently (not sure that this is 100% accurate), if the vehicle is parked on a public highway, the repossession company can have it towed/taken away. If it is on private land i.e. your driveway, they need a court order to take it. For them to get a court order, they have to prove the car belongs to them through non-payment. I have also been told (not by Legal Beagles) any repair work that you have paid for on the car whilst the vehicle has been in your possession, you will have a right to claim back in the event of the court ordering repossession.

Chances are they are bluffing and just trying to get you to pay up. We think they came on heavy to us, expecting us to pay so that we could keep the car, but luckily for us they seem to have backed off.

Hope this helps - Good Luck - Reallyfedup

[Vauxhall Girl]

Re: Vehicle Ownership

Hi there reallyfedup, and thanks for your imput. That sounds like a good idea. Will get onto that and see where it gets me. :-)

[reallyfedup]

Re: Vehicle Ownership

you're welcome - hope things work out for you - RFU|

[Vauxhall Girl]

Re: Vehicle Ownership

The Finance company phoned me today... said they were rejecting my claim of "first innocent purchaser" because i am not the first purchaser. The guy who owned the car before me knew it had HP owing on it, and now they want to come get the car.

Anyone got any help?

[Amy]

Re: Vehicle Ownership

Erm, doesn't that still make you the first innocent purchaser?

[Vauxhall Girl]

Re: Vehicle Ownership

well, I would think so... but the Finance Company seem to think not. Is this just a bluff to get me to hand over the car do you think?

[Guest]

Re: Vehicle Ownership

Yes.

[Vauxhall Girl]

Re: Vehicle Ownership

That's what Trading Standards told me on the phone today, Amy. Just have to convince the Finance Co now....

Thanks Cetelco.

Will keep on fighting for MY car.

[Vauxhall Girl]

Re: Vehicle Ownership

repo guys came and took it....they parked across our gate all day and refused to leave without it. Said they would have me arrested cos there was a court order out for the car. Hubby said to let it go.

Am gutted. :-(

[Emerald]

Re: Vehicle Ownership

How much was the car worth?

[Guest]

Re: Vehicle Ownership

repo guys came and took it....they parked across our gate all day and refused to leave without it. Said they would have me arrested cos there was a court order out for the car. Hubby said to let it go.

Am gutted. :-(

Arrested for what and by whom exactly? Naturally, they would not elaborate.

You mentioned in post #8 that the finance company rejected your claim that you were the first innocent purchaser. If you are, then you should pursue them for the return of the vehicle, or issue a claim against them for compensation.

Why do you think the finance company rejected your claim? It was because it is their standard response and now you need to take action to recover the car, if you still want it, or compensation for your loss.