finance

[stokemaveric]

a friend of mine split up with her husband 5 years ago before they split she had a car in her name,when they split up HE had the car saying he would pay the remaining finance she heard nothing for 5 years then she had a letter out of the blue saying she owed the finance company �1.250 he had paid �2000 off the car but then didnt pay the rest.the solicitors acting on behalf of the company are threatening her with court action and threatening her with bankruptcy proceedings and saying that she will have to sell her house to pay the debt.she doesnt have the money to pay the debt fully and the company said they will accept �200.00 per month which she cannot afford either...any ideas on what she can do?thanx in advance.....

[Ethel]

The contract is between her and the finance company - any arrangement she made with her husband is of no concern of theirs.

She could try and make her ex-husband pay it, but it won't be easy if he refuses point blank.

Does he still have the car? If so, who is the Registered Keeper of the car?

[stokemaveric]

thanx ethel,when she contacted the solicitors earlier they said the car had been repossed and that the amount she owed was the ''shortfall'' after the car was sold.....she had no idea that this was happening and she cannot trace her ex husband either im afraid...

[themas]

1. She needs to get some proof that the money is owed. The company will probably not help much, but she can ask for full details of their dealings with her under the Data Protection Act - I think it costs �10. Google it to find info. She could also ask her ex (if contactable) whether what they are saying is true.

2. If she does owe the money then she needs some free debt advice - go to local CAB or any other FREE money advice service. Normally this sort of thing (bankruptcy) is threatened without any serious intention to carry out the threat, but she cannot assume that will be the case. In most cases, if the creditor is at all reasonable a monthly payment offer based on a Financial Statement of her income & essential expenditure - i.e. the amount she can reasonably afford - should be accepted.

3. If the worst comes to the worst and they do go to the stage of starting bankruptcy proceedings by issuing a Statutory Demand then if she can somehow borrow some money to get the debt below �750 they cannot make her bankrupt.

[stokemaveric]

thank you very much themas,i will show her your reply,she will not be able to thank you enough as she really has been beside herself today....thank you as well ethel.......

[Oneeyedvic]

did she tell the finance company her new address?

I assume not.

She needs to ask the finance company for the court documents relating to the car (if she had paid more than 1/3 of the agreement then they would require a court order to repossess).

She also needs to find out exactly what was paid in total - once half of the total amount outstanding has been made, the finance agreement can be 'voluntary terminated' - therefore the maximum she should owe is half the amount. owed in total.

[stokemaveric]

thanx oev i will also pass this information on to her thank you.......