The Yes Car nightmare
Michael Clarke, This is Money
19 October 2006
It's nearly a year since Yes Car Credit closed its doors, but hundreds of customers' lives are still being made a misery by the controversial car sales and loans company.
50 WAYS TO SAVE MONEY
A handful of coinsWith a bit of imagination, it's amazing how you can cut corners on your finances. See our 50 ways to save money.
THE EDITOR'S PICKS
* Tips: Reclaim bank charges
* Tips: Lists of the best credit cards
* Tips: How to spot a windfall
* Fuel bills: Who is cheapest?
(AtW: ad links on the page with the article about this scam...)
Customers are complaining of being hit with huge bills when they attempt to return their car, being aggressively pursued and even threatened with bankruptcy if they fall behind on repayments, cars being repossessed without court orders and excessive charges being added onto accounts.
YCC was closed in December 2005 by parent company, doorstep lender Provident Financial. It had seen business plummet after a BBC documentary exposed poor sales practice, customers being forced to take out expensive insurance policies, unsatisfactory car inspections and staff referring to customers as 'pond life'.
The company, which offered cars on finance to people with poor credit records, closed with £240m in outstanding loans on its books. It is now chasing these loans through Direct Auto Finance, a company set up by Provident to administer existing YCC accounts. A large slice of the debts has also been sold on, mainly to three debt collection agencies - Go Debt, Redcastle, and Geldard Solicitors.
Stephensons Solicitors is representing 95 YCC customers that are being hounded by the company. Partner in the Leigh-based firm, Andrew Leakey, says: 'There has been a lot of activity to try to recover debts from the debt collection companies since YCC closed and it is quite aggressive. A few clients have even told us that they have had their houses photographed so the debt collection company can see how much it is worth.'
Leakey says that debt collectors are also trying to force customers into bankruptcy to reclaim their debt. 'They can apply for bankruptcy if the debt is undisputed, and if customers are refusing to pay then I guess it can be classed as undisputed. However, it is possible to oppose a bankruptcy petition and we have done that for clients.'
According to the company's last set of financial results in September, the loans book now stands at £161m after collecting £83m in the first six months of the year. Collecting the outstanding debt as quickly as possible is in the company's interests as it can continues to be a burden on its costs.
Under the arrangements with YCC, customers could return the car halfway through the loan agreement with no further payments, but hundreds have been hit with bills because they took out expensive insurance and warranty policies.
The cost of these policies are calculated for the term of the loan, rather than on a monthly basis, and are essentially a separate loan with the company. Therefore, even though the car agreement may have been settled, the customer still needs to pay for their insurance. There were three main types of insurance sold to customers – Gap insurance, payment protection insurance and a warranty.
David, a senior manager with YCC for five years, says: 'We told customers that they wouldn't be able to get the car unless they took out the policies, which was of course wrong. Whether they got the car shouldn't have been dependent on taking the insurance.
'These people were coming to us as a last resort so they were pretty desperate and willing to go along with anything we said really. The conversion rate on PPI was around 96% and on the warranties, 88%.'
David, who set up and runs www.saynotoyes.co.uk, admits the wording of the policies made it very difficult for customers to claim. 'If you take the warranty, for instance, very little was covered and even then you had to make sure your car was serviced every six months, otherwise it was void. Customers are finding this out now.'
Yes Car Credit
He adds: 'The insurance was the key part of the sale. The margin on the cars was hardly anything; the real profit was in the sale of insurance.' He set up the website at the beginning of the year as a forum for YCC customers to discuss their problems with the company. It now attracts 7,000 visitors a week.
YCC customer Wayne Boyce is being hounded with daily telephone calls and weekly letters, costing £15 each, because he missed two payments when his car was off the road.
Wayne, a residential care worker from Letchworth, purchased a Renault Laguna from YCC's Luton branch in December 2004. Soon after, the car's gearbox failed and Wayne had to stump up £800 to get it repaired after the warranty company refused to pay out.
This summer, the timing belt failed, causing severe damage to the car's engine. Again, the warranty firm refused to pay out and Wayne had to pay £1,300 to get the car back on the road. On both occasions he stopped his £205 monthly payment to YCC to help pay for the repairs.
He said: 'The calls don't stop now. I explain to them that all the details are on my file and I'm planning to pay the money back, but still they come. They have started to make threats of court action if I don't clear the balance. I have tried my utmost to have the charges, the calls, the letters, the texts and the threats stopped, but to no avail.'
'This is for a car that by the time I will have finished paying for I will have paid £12,000, even though it's really worth £6,000.
According to Citizens Advice, several of its clients are considering taking YCC to court to challenge the validity of their credit agreements. A spokeswoman said: 'We received a number of complaints before the closure and we are still receiving them today. Our advisers are speaking to clients about whether they have any grounds to challenge the agreements.'
Former YCC customer David McIntyre is taking the company to court to attempt to reclaim his PPI. He paid £1,900 to settle his PPI bill in 2004 when he returned his car half way through the contract, but has since found out a YCC employee had falsified his application.
----
In my ex life of a permie insurance policies were pushed by the firm as hell because of high margin...
Michael Clarke, This is Money
19 October 2006
It's nearly a year since Yes Car Credit closed its doors, but hundreds of customers' lives are still being made a misery by the controversial car sales and loans company.
50 WAYS TO SAVE MONEY
A handful of coinsWith a bit of imagination, it's amazing how you can cut corners on your finances. See our 50 ways to save money.
THE EDITOR'S PICKS
* Tips: Reclaim bank charges
* Tips: Lists of the best credit cards
* Tips: How to spot a windfall
* Fuel bills: Who is cheapest?
(AtW: ad links on the page with the article about this scam...)
Customers are complaining of being hit with huge bills when they attempt to return their car, being aggressively pursued and even threatened with bankruptcy if they fall behind on repayments, cars being repossessed without court orders and excessive charges being added onto accounts.
YCC was closed in December 2005 by parent company, doorstep lender Provident Financial. It had seen business plummet after a BBC documentary exposed poor sales practice, customers being forced to take out expensive insurance policies, unsatisfactory car inspections and staff referring to customers as 'pond life'.
The company, which offered cars on finance to people with poor credit records, closed with £240m in outstanding loans on its books. It is now chasing these loans through Direct Auto Finance, a company set up by Provident to administer existing YCC accounts. A large slice of the debts has also been sold on, mainly to three debt collection agencies - Go Debt, Redcastle, and Geldard Solicitors.
Stephensons Solicitors is representing 95 YCC customers that are being hounded by the company. Partner in the Leigh-based firm, Andrew Leakey, says: 'There has been a lot of activity to try to recover debts from the debt collection companies since YCC closed and it is quite aggressive. A few clients have even told us that they have had their houses photographed so the debt collection company can see how much it is worth.'
Leakey says that debt collectors are also trying to force customers into bankruptcy to reclaim their debt. 'They can apply for bankruptcy if the debt is undisputed, and if customers are refusing to pay then I guess it can be classed as undisputed. However, it is possible to oppose a bankruptcy petition and we have done that for clients.'
According to the company's last set of financial results in September, the loans book now stands at £161m after collecting £83m in the first six months of the year. Collecting the outstanding debt as quickly as possible is in the company's interests as it can continues to be a burden on its costs.
Under the arrangements with YCC, customers could return the car halfway through the loan agreement with no further payments, but hundreds have been hit with bills because they took out expensive insurance and warranty policies.
The cost of these policies are calculated for the term of the loan, rather than on a monthly basis, and are essentially a separate loan with the company. Therefore, even though the car agreement may have been settled, the customer still needs to pay for their insurance. There were three main types of insurance sold to customers – Gap insurance, payment protection insurance and a warranty.
David, a senior manager with YCC for five years, says: 'We told customers that they wouldn't be able to get the car unless they took out the policies, which was of course wrong. Whether they got the car shouldn't have been dependent on taking the insurance.
'These people were coming to us as a last resort so they were pretty desperate and willing to go along with anything we said really. The conversion rate on PPI was around 96% and on the warranties, 88%.'
David, who set up and runs www.saynotoyes.co.uk, admits the wording of the policies made it very difficult for customers to claim. 'If you take the warranty, for instance, very little was covered and even then you had to make sure your car was serviced every six months, otherwise it was void. Customers are finding this out now.'
Yes Car Credit
He adds: 'The insurance was the key part of the sale. The margin on the cars was hardly anything; the real profit was in the sale of insurance.' He set up the website at the beginning of the year as a forum for YCC customers to discuss their problems with the company. It now attracts 7,000 visitors a week.
YCC customer Wayne Boyce is being hounded with daily telephone calls and weekly letters, costing £15 each, because he missed two payments when his car was off the road.
Wayne, a residential care worker from Letchworth, purchased a Renault Laguna from YCC's Luton branch in December 2004. Soon after, the car's gearbox failed and Wayne had to stump up £800 to get it repaired after the warranty company refused to pay out.
This summer, the timing belt failed, causing severe damage to the car's engine. Again, the warranty firm refused to pay out and Wayne had to pay £1,300 to get the car back on the road. On both occasions he stopped his £205 monthly payment to YCC to help pay for the repairs.
He said: 'The calls don't stop now. I explain to them that all the details are on my file and I'm planning to pay the money back, but still they come. They have started to make threats of court action if I don't clear the balance. I have tried my utmost to have the charges, the calls, the letters, the texts and the threats stopped, but to no avail.'
'This is for a car that by the time I will have finished paying for I will have paid £12,000, even though it's really worth £6,000.
According to Citizens Advice, several of its clients are considering taking YCC to court to challenge the validity of their credit agreements. A spokeswoman said: 'We received a number of complaints before the closure and we are still receiving them today. Our advisers are speaking to clients about whether they have any grounds to challenge the agreements.'
Former YCC customer David McIntyre is taking the company to court to attempt to reclaim his PPI. He paid £1,900 to settle his PPI bill in 2004 when he returned his car half way through the contract, but has since found out a YCC employee had falsified his application.
----
In my ex life of a permie insurance policies were pushed by the firm as hell because of high margin...
Comment