Paying off car finance
Paying off car finance
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Driver101

Original Poster:

14,451 posts

151 months

Tuesday 7th October 2014
quotequote all
One of the girls at work wants to trade her Mini in for Audi A1. It does depend on the maths.

She's had the Mini for 3 years on a 4 year HP deal. It was only a small deposit upfront on her deal and the rest spread over the 48 months.

The sensible thing is obviously to phone the finance company, but she's not too keen on doing that at the minute. She want a rough idea how much equity she has in her car to make it affordable for her.

I'm not used to finance, so I'm unsure of the workings of HP. I remember years ago the agreements were very heavy with interest in the early years, then nearly all covering the car later in the agreement.

I've been told the law is now the interest has to be spread equally over the loan period?

Is it just a simple case of deducting 25% of the total interest from the 12 months payments that are still to be made?

Can they impose any other charges?

Sarnie

8,373 posts

239 months

Tuesday 7th October 2014
quotequote all
Driver101 said:
One of the girls at work wants to trade her Mini in for Audi A1. It does depend on the maths.

She's had the Mini for 3 years on a 4 year HP deal. It was only a small deposit upfront on her deal and the rest spread over the 48 months.

The sensible thing is obviously to phone the finance company, but she's not too keen on doing that at the minute. She want a rough idea how much equity she has in her car to make it affordable for her.

I'm not used to finance, so I'm unsure of the workings of HP. I remember years ago the agreements were very heavy with interest in the early years, then nearly all covering the car later in the agreement.

I've been told the law is now the interest has to be spread equally over the loan period?

Is it just a simple case of deducting 25% of the total interest from the 12 months payments that are still to be made?

Can they impose any other charges?
Why doesn't she just call the finance company? I know you said she doesn't want to but it's by far the easiest way rather than others second guessing the T&C's of the particular agreement she's taken out....

Driver101

Original Poster:

14,451 posts

151 months

Tuesday 7th October 2014
quotequote all
Sarnie said:
Why doesn't she just call the finance company? I know you said she doesn't want to but it's by far the easiest way rather than others second guessing the T&C's of the particular agreement she's taken out....
It is the obvious solution.

She asked me the question and I was curious about the situation about how the interest is spread these days as well.

Her Mini cost a fair few quid, so if the interest is spread equally over 48 months and not top heavy like remember HP to be, there will be a considerable difference in settlement figures.

It was more to see if this is the case just to get a rough figure where she stands.

rfoster

1,482 posts

284 months

Tuesday 7th October 2014
quotequote all
Driver101 said:
I've been told the law is now the interest has to be spread equally over the loan period?

Is it just a simple case of deducting 25% of the total interest from the 12 months payments that are still to be made?
No this isn't correct. She can call the finance company and request a settlement figure at any time. Assuming the agreement is in an individual's name then the agreement will be regulated by the consumer credit act and the finance company will adhere to a specific formula when calculating the settlement figure. It's very simple and straight forward for her to get the settlement and won't have any effect on whether she decides to change vehicles or not.

CRB14

1,494 posts

182 months

Tuesday 7th October 2014
quotequote all
A 5 minute call would clarify the settlement balance. I've done this several times in the past.

Mattt

16,664 posts

248 months

Tuesday 7th October 2014
quotequote all
Ask her to work out the total payments made so far, against the orignal finance value.

For instance on my 4 year PCP, I can get out at year 3 due to the 50% rule.

KTF

10,709 posts

180 months

Wednesday 8th October 2014
quotequote all
She is only going to get the answer she wants from the finance company. Its a waste of time trying to work it out yourself.

CRB14

1,494 posts

182 months

Wednesday 8th October 2014
quotequote all
Can I just hijack for a quick second?

With the 50% rule of PCP does the initial deposit come into consideration? I'm considering doing this on my car. Half of the total is £15,800. I've paid £3k deposit plus a further £14k ish of monthly payments - so £17k.

valiant

14,277 posts

190 months

Wednesday 8th October 2014
quotequote all
CRB14 said:
Can I just hijack for a quick second?

With the 50% rule of PCP does the initial deposit come into consideration? I'm considering doing this on my car. Half of the total is £15,800. I've paid £3k deposit plus a further £14k ish of monthly payments - so £17k.
Yes. But remember to include the final balloon payment. Most PCP schemes half way point tend to be near the end of the agreement due to last rather large payment.