Close Motor Finance

[Shadowcat]

Took what I was told was a 4 year car loan Close Motor Finance, it was in fact a 5 year loan. During financial hardship they not only refused to be flexible but sent heavies round to threaten and try to take the car, husband told them to sling their hook. I rang the office only to be threatened yet again so ended up defaulting.

However, I now want to clear my credit rating so that I don't have to use these types of lender. I requested a copy of the Credit Agreement and they have failed to supply it, I therefore wrote to them last week asking them to advise which credit agency they use but I am not holding my breath for a reply.

Does anyone know which agency Close use and is there a template letter anywhere for wording to the agency explaining that I have tried to satisfy this debt but CCA was not supplied so therefore I want to have it recorded as no longer active.

Thanks for any help.

[strangewayofsavin]

Re: Close Motor Finance

Firstly, do you have a copy of the original agreement?
secondly, if you thought it was 4 years and they say 5, they can only reposess the car if you own less than 50%, even if they are right 4 years from a 5 year plan, because you owe 50% or more they cannot reposess without a court order.
And all you have to do is provide an accurate budjet form (downloadable from beagles library) and make them an offer that YOU CAN AFFORD.
The agreement would have been under the consumer credit act, so they will have to supply upon demand a statement of account, or you could use the Subject access request or CCA request (again in the beagles library) depending upon how you feel, if they do not comply then you should complain to the OFT.
And once you are proved correct, make a further complaint to the OFT for harrassment of debt collection.
And if they have entred incorrect data to the credit reference agencies, get them to remove it , if they do not start a compolaint to the Information commissioners office about defemation. Harsh? not as harsh as embarassing you infront of your neighbours repossesing a vehicle, incorrectly may I add.

[labman]

Re: Close Motor Finance

Firstly, do you have a copy of the original agreement?
secondly, if you thought it was 4 years and they say 5, they can only reposess the car if you own less than 50%, even if they are right 4 years from a 5 year plan, because you owe 50% or more they cannot reposess without a court order.
Actually if you have paid more than one third of the agreement they are likely to need a court agreement to repossess the car. You don't actually own any of the car until you have made the final payment.

Did you buy it on HP or a Conditional Sale agreement?

And all you have to do is provide an accurate budjet form (downloadable from beagles library) and make them an offer that YOU CAN AFFORD.
The agreement would have been under the consumer credit act, so they will have to supply upon demand a statement of account, or you could use the Subject access request or CCA request (again in the beagles library) depending upon how you feel, if they do not comply then you should complain to the OFT.
And once you are proved correct, make a further complaint to the OFT for harrassment of debt collection.
They only have to supply a copy of the agreement if you reequest it in writing enclosing a statutory £1.00 payment. It does not have to be a true copy, it can be reconstituted. However, if they wanted to take court action against you, they would need a copy of the original agreement.


And if they have entred incorrect data to the credit reference agencies, get them to remove it , if they do not start a compolaint to the Information commissioners office about defemation.
Removing information from a CRA is easier said than done. Indeed a member of this site has just had a fairly high profile court case in order to get two defaults removed placed by Lloyds Bank. You need to be tenacious.

You will probably find the CRA's blame the Finance Company and the Finance Comapny blame the CRA. If you incurred the adverse data legitimately through missing payments or making part payments, whether or not you contacted them, they are entitled to record this data. This would not be seen as defamation.

Harsh? not as harsh as embarassing you infront of your neighbours repossesing a vehicle, incorrectly may I add.

Do you have proof of them refusing to co-operate when you hit financial difficulties in the form of letters etc... If you haven't, were any letters exchanged at the time? If so it may be worth investing £10 in doing a SAR on Close Finance to get copies of everything they hold about you. It makes me wonder if you might have incurred charges that were not entirely lawful as well.

Their own website states:

What happens if I am experiencing any issues of income, ill-health etc?
Should your financial position change in a way that will affect your ability to make your monthly repayments, it is extremely important that you contact us immediately. If we are made aware of your circumstances as soon as possible it is likely that we will be able to help you find a solution to the problem.

Given this clearly did not happen, as long as you can prove it, they are clearly committing some sort of offence here. You could complain to the OFT, you could complain under CPUTR 2008 under Misleading Practices and you could complain to the Advertising Standards Authority as I assume their website is a form of advertising. It certainly should not contain false statements.

[Shadowcat]

Re: Close Motor Finance

Thanks for the replies. I sent the £1 for a copy of the agreement, they phoned next day and left voicemail asking me to call to give them some details. I had quoted agreement number and car reg on the CCA request letter, that is all the information they need. I did not phone them but sent another letter stating I would only deal with them in writing and asking them to inform me which credit rating agency they use. No reply, no CCA.

It looks like I'll have to wait the 6 years to get clearance but I thought I read somewhere that if they didn't supply CCA when requested, the debt would be void, clearly it's not that easy. I suspect there are questionable charges so I think I'll end up having to go down the SDAR route. All correspondence and paperwork pertaining to their 'visit' should be in there too. Meanwhile, I'll complain initially to OFT, Trading Standards and Advertising Auhority and If SDAR isn't forthcoming I'll advise OFT and Trading Standards. If Close are another outfit that added charges to the overall loan, I'll advise official bodies of that too.

[labman]

Re: Close Motor Finance

Some will claim that if they don't reply to a CCA request within 12+2 days you can place it in dispute. While technically not true, most DCA's accept this to be the case. This does not mean it is void, it just mean that until such time as they supply an agreement you are not obliged to pay them, and they have to stop enforcement action. However, the definition of 'enforcement' is also widely misunderstood.

[Shadowcat]

Re: Close Motor Finance

Thanks Labman, a slight delay in replying as (off topic) I was watching the wonderful Morecambe and Wise. Had enough years celebrating new year in crowded places.

Have a good 2012 though, may we all keep winning these battles.

[Guest]

Re: Close Motor Finance

HI

Couldnt see from your post exactly when you took the loan out, was it pre 2007?

Jut a few minor points to consider. The debtors failure to comply with a section 77 request does not entitle the lender to stop payig the installments, they can issue a default notice and commence proceedings against you even though they have not supplied a coppy.

Also failure to comply with the section cannot of itself be considered as a dispute on the agreement, there has to be some other positive allegation, like you do not believe an agreement was signed or you do not believe it was properly executed.

I thik they wil be reluctant to supply an agreement even if they have one, from expierie these are rarely properly executed paticularily the financial details regarding total credit, and they know the consequeces of getting the fugures wrong.
Peter

[Shadowcat]

Re: Close Motor Finance

It was definitely not executed properly as I specifically asked for a 4 year loan, I have never been tied in to a 5 year loan for a car as the car would most probably need repairs before the money borrowed had been repaid. Obviously, it's my fault that I didn't read the paperwork but up until then had always found the world of lending to be a pretty straightfoward case, what you were told was how it was. Clearly, that era is over.

[labman]

Re: Close Motor Finance

HI

Couldnt see from your post exactly when you took the loan out, was it pre 2007?

Jut a few minor points to consider. The debtors failure to comply with a section 77 request does not entitle the lender to stop payig the installments, they can issue a default notice and commence proceedings against you even though they have not supplied a coppy.

Also failure to comply with the section cannot of itself be considered as a dispute on the agreement, there has to be some other positive allegation, like you do not believe an agreement was signed or you do not believe it was properly executed.

I thik they wil be reluctant to supply an agreement even if they have one, from expierie these are rarely properly executed paticularily the financial details regarding total credit, and they know the consequeces of getting the fugures wrong.
Peter

That's exactly what I was trying to say in post #5.:tinysmile_grin_t:

Good point re 2007 Peter, was the salient date April or May?

[Shadowcat]

Re: Close Motor Finance

Sorry guys, left this on the backburner somewhat. Agreement date was 18th August 2004.

[labman]

Re: Close Motor Finance

You should definitely push for a copy of that agreement. I am not at all surprised they have not complied with your request given the date.

I'd be inclined to send them this:

Dear Sir/Madam,

Your Ref: xxxxxxx

This is a formal request under the Consumer Protection From Unfair Trading Regulations (CPUTR) 2008.

I require your organisation to provide written confirmation that states clearly whether you currently hold an original signed Consumer Credit Agreement, or whether you do not hold an original signed Consumer Credit Agreement pertaining to myself.

For the avoidance of doubt, an original signed Consumer Credit Agreement is just that; not an application for credit and not a reconstructed or microfiched document from other sources.

Please note that until such times as a legally enforceable, original Consumer Credit Agreement can be produced and a copy sent to me by return, then this letter is not an acknowledgement of debt.

Please also note that failure to provide a direct answer to this request will be brought before the court, should you decide to defy the content of this letter and instruct solicitors to pursue enforcement action regardless.

Yours faithfully,

Alternatively you could send them a Subject Access Request which costs £10.00. They then have 40 calendar days to send everything they hold in relation to you. I don't want to raise your hopes, but I would not be at all surprised if this debt was unenforceable.

[Shadowcat]

Re: Close Motor Finance

Thanks Labman, by sheer avoidance it seems very dubious to me. I will send the above.

[Shadowcat]

Re: Close Motor Finance

Quick update. Sent Labman's letter above, reply from Close Motor Finance "This account has no outstanding amounts owing and is thereby considered closed".


Shadowcat.