Missold Car Finance

[GrandMoffJay]

My wife purchased a vehicle from Citroen 3 years ago come january and would like to VT. When we contacted Black Horse they said it was not HP but a personal loan and therefore we could not VT.

We were very much under the impression that we were purchasing via a standard HP agreement - with all the rights that come with such an agreement (ie VT rights).

I feel doubly stupid as I used to sell cars and was not even aware that dealerships could sell finance as a personal loan.

Do we have any recourse?

[Loosehead]

I assume by VT you mean Voluntary Terminate.
Well as it's loan and not HP you should be able to sell the car and repay what is owed, if it's enough, it shouldn't be far out anyway. I assume you have been paying the loan for 3 years so you should have reduced the amount outstandng considerably. it's a loan possibly because the term is longer than 3 years. LLoyds do not generally front load they do simple repayments calculating interest daily and adding it monthly at the same time deducting your monthly payment. You need to check the agreement though there may be special conditions etc etc

[Oneeyedvic]

Black Horse are very dodgy on this - you will find that even though it is a Loan and not a HP agreement, the car is registered on HPI.

In my opinion (from working in the finance industry), I believe their actions are illegal and you could have the agreement (at best case) nullified or (at worst case) turned into a HP agreement.

However, it would invovle court cases and a dip in your credit rating.

And yes, dealerships can sell personal loans.