i have missed a payment on my hp agreement on my car

[bfst24]

as title.had the agreement for a year out of 5.missed last months payment and cant afford next months.have informed the hp company.how long till they reposses?

to tell you the truth id rather they take the car as i have no means to pay for the forseable future,which i have told them.

[Oneeyedvic]

Firslty, I will presume that this is a regulated hire purchase agreement - ie it must state Hire Purchase (or condition sale) on the agreeemnt regulated by the Consumer Credit Act 1974. If the amount borrowed was over �25,000 or you have borrowed as a limited compnay then the agreement will be exempt from this act.

If you have paid for more than one third of the total payable (and this figure will be rpinted on the agreeement) then they will need a court order to repossess - they can't just take it back.

If you have paid for more than half the total outstanding (again this figure will be on your document) then you have a right to hand teh vehicle back.

On the basis that you have a 5 year agreeement, I doubt that either of these figures have been met - this means that they could effectively repossess wheneever they want (but in my experience usually take up to around 3 months).

When they take the vehicle back, they will sell the car at auction. You will still be liable to pay the balance and chances are that they will get a county court judgement against you for this amount.

From there, depending on the lender, they may either instruct bailiffs, put a charging order over your property or get an attachement to earnings order (so tht nay employer pays them a monthly figure before paying you).

Being one payment down will only slightly affect your credit file, but as the months pass and if the agreement goes into default then your credit rating will get worse.

All I can do is suggest that you throw yourself at the mercy of the finance company and don't whatever you do bury your neck. Finance companies hate that and will treat you worse!

Sorry I can't be more positive.

[DancingDoris]

Hi bfst24,

All finance agreements should have reletively the same term and conditions. If as Oneeyedvic mentioned you have paid more than half of the agreement then you have the right to hand the car back, known as voluntary termination. Under this term you must write to the finance house advise them you wish to do this and you owe them nothing. However if you have not reached this point you still may hand the car back under a Voluntary Surrender. The finance house will auction the car and you are liable for any shortfall, but most finance houses (including the one I work for) are willing to offer a payment plan to clear these arrears. The main point is do not let them reposess! it will affect your credit rating and if you take either of the steps above you should avoid this. In short do not ignore this situation there ways around this and if you just speak to them most companies are willing to help.

Good Luck