Bought a car with outstanding finance, finance company going to repossess it

[2222]

I'm not sure what you mean by this - can you clarify? The starting point usually for the measure of damages in conversion is the market value of the goods at the time of the conversion plus any consequential losses. The £3,000 is the starting point as the price paid and yes, comparable cars locally would give an idea of what it is selling at but I would be looking regionally but a court could award less than the market value if the actual loss is less.

Anyway, see attached word document, I've tidied up a few things and also you'll see the list of losses as a result of the conversion by Money Barn. Adapt and suit to your situation.

One other point is that the car is being auctioned, and that provides a valuation, too.

[hello405]

Anyway, see attached word document, I've tidied up a few things and also you'll see the list of losses as a result of the conversion by Money Barn. Adapt and suit to your situation.

Thank you so much for this. I really appreciate you taking the time to write this up and fingers crossed that it works!

One question -- we are out of town at the moment so don't have the previous seller's letter to hand. We will be back tomorrow afternoon so can send it by postal mail and email then, do you think that's waiting too long?

[R0b]

That's fine, if you don't have it to hand then remove that wording that says you are enclosing it.

[hello405]

Finally, some good news!

Email received:

Further to your email below and the documentation provided, we propose that we remove our financial interest in the vehicle and return the vehicle to you on the condition that no claim for costs is made.

If you accept our proposal, please provide us with a contact number to provide to British Car Auctions to arrange delivery.


Now, my partner thinks we should just take the deal. I on the other hand, who am sitting here in a blind rage, think that we should demand that they pay our car hire fees for the last 8 days, which is approximately £120.

Any thoughts?

(And R0b of course all credit is due to you, you are an absolute legend!)

[Amethyst]

R0b Good work !!!

I'm with you on the expenses, and stress this has caused you over the last two months, however your letter gave them the option to return the car, OR pay the costs etc.... see what R0b thinks of course.

I hope the car, if returned, is in the same condition as when they took it from you.

[pt2537]

R0b Good work !!!

I'm with you on the expenses, and stress this has caused you over the last two months, however your letter gave them the option to return the car, OR pay the costs etc.... see what R0b thinks of course.

I hope the car, if returned, is in the same condition as when they took it from you.

tricky to say ill accept X then when they give you X you then say i want X and Y, if you wanted the car back plus costs it should have bee made clear i n my view

That said if they are giving the car back then thats a result in itself isnt it?

[hello405]

We wrote back and said that we would accept their offer, but would appreciate if they would pay our car hire fees for the last 8 days and submitted receipts.

[Amethyst]

Worth a shot

[hello405]

Worth a shot

That's what I figure. If they choose not to, I can still file a complaint with the Financial Ombudsman about their behavior, but at least we will have the car back.

I am frankly disgusted by their actions. We sent them a registered letter a month ago saying that we had obtained a written statement from the previous keeper. The letter was received and signed for but they didn't bother writing back and seized the car instead. The amount of stress and anxiety this has caused has been incredible, not to mention costs of car hire, train fare, postage, etc., which we apparently incurred just because Moneybarn decided to chance it. It's really shameful behavior on their part.

[R0b]

The letter was drafted as an either or so provided they complied with returning the car by 4pm on 30 October then they would have satisfied the requirement. They've offered to remove reference to any financing and I would have got them to confirm in writingthat it has been done in the event that they fail to do it in the future when you come to selling it.

I would have also made it clear in your response that you reserve the right to recover any costs or expesnes if the car has been damaged or returned in a condition that it was not in at the time it was collected.

Your response to them accepting their offer but wanting them to pay hire fees probably amounts a counter offer so you've not actually accepted their offer as it is.

Ultimately, your main objective was to get the car returned to you and now Money Barn, after calling your bluff have come to their senses and decided to return the car, probably knowing they have no defence to you claim. You've incurred an expense for hire costs but that cost is still cheaper than spending the cost for issuing an application to court to commence legal proceedings. You also then have the pressures of meeting the deadline and then attending court also which is not as easy as one thinks =, especially when you are also working full time it can be easy to just push things back until the last minute.

If it were me, I would have probably swallowed the hire costs on the proviso that they return the car by 30 October, failing that you would be free to pursue full costs and issue legal proceedings (if thats the route you wanted to take).

[hello405]

They are really unbelievable.


"As we do not have any keys for the vehicle, the return of it may take longer than originally anticipated as the auction site are unable to drive the vehicle onto their standard transporters.

The vehicle is being stored at BCA Blackbushe in Surrey. As an alternative solution, if you collect the vehicle from BCA we are willing to reimburse you for your hire cars and travel expenses to Blackbushe up to a value of £150. Receipts will need to be provided."

[Amethyst]

They managed to collect it easily enough without keys.... I have no idea how far Blackbushe in Surrey is from you - if it were a 15 minute drive then it's a decent deal but if you're in Liverpool, then not so much lol.

[hello405]

They managed to collect it easily enough without keys.... I have no idea how far Blackbushe in Surrey is from you - if it were a 15 minute drive then it's a decent deal but if you're in Liverpool, then not so much lol.

Burlington Group had to send a second guy and some sort of specialist vehicle to seize it because we wouldn't give them the keys. I assume that this is more expensive, which is why Moneybarn don't want to do it in the other direction. They are just trying to save money and get us to do the work!

[R0b]

The choice is yours as to what you want to do.

As Amethyst has said, they were quick enough to come and snatch it from you but are now expecting you to take time out yourself to go and collect it. It's their problem and they need to sort it.

If it were me, I would simply tell them to sort it and they have u til tomorrow to return the car at their own time and expense otherwise the next steps would be to issue the claim.

They've cocked up and I reckon that they know if this hit court then they wouldn't have any evidence or a leg to stand on. They've bullied their way into getting the car and if they actually had a viable claim they would have issued proceedings themselves.

Obviously you've to weigh up what you want to do but I wouldn't accept their cap of £150, i would actually be saying they need to agree to all reasonable costs and expenses incurred plus a little more for inconvenience and time wasted on your part. That might inlcude:

1. Hire car costs
2. Fuel there and back for hire car plus your own car
3. Food.
4. compensation for inconvenience of collecting it

The deadline is tomorrow and I think I they can find someone in this country to go and get the car and tow it back to your place by tomorrow, regardless of cost.

[hello405]

The deadline is tomorrow and I think I they can find someone in this country to go and get the car and tow it back to your place by tomorrow, regardless of cost.

We ended up waiting to send it until we were home and could include a copy of the previous owner's statement, so the deadline is Friday. For us to retrieve the car would be an all-day job, so I would like them to bring it back. She's offering us £150 because that will be cheaper than having Burlington bring it back, so she's just trying to save money on her screw up.