Refused Car Hire Purchase by Supervisor

[Weby72]

I am currently in an IVA supervised by Aperture. As part of that arrangement, I have an allowance of £240/month to lease a car (the lease arrangement was in place prior to the commencement of the IVA and it was agreed the allowance could last throughout the life of the IVA)

I now have to arrange a new facility as the current arrangement is drawing to a close. After speaking with a finance broker specialising in sub-prime, I was advised it would be better value in terms of affordability to take out a Hire Purchase agreement. This I agree with. For this I need to get written permission from my IVA supervisor. After seeking this & providing them with answers to their questions, I have been declined approval from the IVA supervisors as “the rate of APR is extortionate and we risk putting you into further financial difficulties if we were to allow this.”

I do not understand their thinking. The APR is 29.9% which, whilst not great, is not ‘extortionate’. And, more importantly, the monthly payments for the amount I would be borrowing would fit within the current monthly allowance. The broker states he has processed hundreds of IVA applications for Hire Purchase on this APR (and, sometimes, higher), and has never had such a blocking from the IVA supervisor.

I’m at my wits end. I need a car & the lease method is even more expensive & unaffordable.

Can anyone please give me advice on how I can appeal this – or suggest to me an alternative method of getting a car.

Thanks in anticipation.

[Weby72]

Just to add, I've been in the IVA for 4+ years, and never missed a payment (and we are managing with the financial straightjacket without too much trouble)

[kallis3]

Hi,

Sorry I can't help you but hopefully one of the experts will be along to advise.

Does seem a bit harsh though.

[FormerlyST1100]

That APR is a lot lower than Moneybarn charge if you wanted to buy a car while in an IVA.

I only had 4 payments left when I needed to replace my car and had to go to Moneybarn (via MidlandCredit) as they were the only ones willing to lend while in an IVA.

Stepchange agreed to the finance as long as it did not affect my ability to repay the rest of my IVA payments.

The APR on a Moneybarn loan while in the IVA is around 49.9%

If Stepchange can agree to this APR then, quite frankly, I think Aperture is being very unreasonable about a 29.9% APR rate.

[Michael Peoples]

I think you should go back to Apperture and ask to speak to someone higher. You obviously cannot borrow from family or would have done this already so this is your only option. The rate is actually pretty good for subprime and cheaper than some credit cards!

In addition the APR is to me irrelevant as the most important thing is can you buy a reliable vehicle and finance this with an affordable monthly payment. If the APR was lower you could borrow more for the same monthly payment but if you are happy with the car then I do not see a problem.

[lifenoteasy]

Additionally the iva company would have known at the start of your iva agreement that only these types of interest would be available.

Push comes to shove ask them to call a creditors meeting to authorise this.

[Weby72]

Thanks for the advices. I've emailed them back to appeal the decision. I also checked I put the right APR in (thought I may have omitted the '.') but it's all correct.

Meanwhile, I've also spoken with a different company called Hippo Leasing, for a fallback position in case Aperture maintain their refusal. Anyone heard of/dealt with Hippo? Any pitfalls I should look out for?

[kallis3]

Not heard of them - what is the APR? Can't see anything about it on the website although it does say they are just brokers.

[Lisa Thomas]

Let us know how you get on? Haven't heard of Hippo, sorry.