Financial difficulties

We understand that from time to time you may face financial difficulties, particularly due to Coronavirus, which could affect your ability to repay your finance agreement. If you find yourself in this situation, our team are on hand to help you.

At Close Brothers Motor Finance, we do everything that we can to support our customers through financial difficulty, and by talking to our customers to understand their individual circumstances, we can find a solution that best suits.

To help you, we’ve compiled the information below, as well as a series of frequently asked questions and links to third parties that can offer free debt advice. Alternatively, if you’d rather speak to us, just give us a call on 0333 321 6060.

Frequently Asked Questions

Below we’ve included a series of frequently asked questions that we hope will help you.

Yes, you should continue to make payments as you would normally.

If you’re struggling financially please call us on 0333 321 6060 (select option one) to discuss your agreement.

Please call us on 0333 321 6060 (select option one) to discuss the options available to you, which we will tailor to your individual circumstances.

We recognise that falling behind with your payments can be worrying, but we're here to help. It’s important that you give us a call on 0333 321 6062 (select option one) to discuss the options available to you.

The sooner you contact us, the better placed we’ll be to find the right support for you.

Simply give us a call on 0333 321 6060 (select option one) to find out what options are available to you. Options will vary depending upon your individual circumstances.

The sooner you contact us, the better placed we’ll be to find the right support for you.

If you've already agreed a payment plan with us and it will still be in force at the end of your agreement, we'll write to you 10 days before your agreement ends to explain the options available to you. If you're not in a payment plan and are unable to make your remaining payments, please contact us on 0333 321 6060 (select option one) to discuss your options.

If you're still able to make your monthly payments, we recommend that you do. However, if you find yourself in financial difficulty and are unable to make payments, you should contact us to find out what options are available to you.

The options available will vary depending upon your individual circumstances and the period over which you are likely to need help. Options include (but are not limited to), allowing arrears to be repaid over a longer period if reasonable, reduced payments for a short period of time, or other payment plans to help you get back on track with your finance repayments. You may have other rights under the terms of your agreement with us, which we can talk to you about once we better understand your circumstances.

If we agree an arrangement with you, this will be reflected on your credit file for the duration of that arrangement.

If you took a Payment Pause with us, prior to 31 March 2021 due to temporary difficulties as a result of the Coronavirus pandemic, whilst your arrangement remains in place, any fees and charges accrued during this period will be removed and your credit file won’t be negatively impacted.

To speak to any of the credit reference agencies, they can be contacted using the following details:

www.equifax.co.uk or 0800 014 2955
www.experian.co.uk or 0800 013 8888
www.transunion.com or 0330 024 7574

I arranged a Payment Pause, but now you’ve told me my account is in arrears, what should I do?
I'm coming to the end of my Payment Pause, what options are available to me?

Your Payment Pause arrangement is forbearance for your situation due to the circumstances of COVID-19, and we’re not waiving any rights we may have under the agreement.

Under the Consumer Credit Act, we’re required to send you statutory notices through the post, as your account will technically show in arrears and could accrue fees and charges during this period. These notices will have titles such as ‘Default Notice’, ‘Notice of Sums in Arrears’ and ‘Notice of Default Sums’ – please ignore these if you have received them during your Payment Pause, there is no need for you to do anything.

Whilst your Payment Pause remains in place, any fees and charges accrued during this period will be removed. Your credit file won’t be negatively impacted as a result.

Once your Payment Pause comes to an end, you’ll need to start your repayments again. We’ll contact you prior to the end of your Payment Pause to discuss options. If repayments are not made and you fall into arrears, fees and charges will accrue and your credit file will be updated to reflect this. Any subsequent notices received should not be ignored.

Towards the end of your Payment Pause, we’ll contact you to discuss the options that are available to you.

If we hold a valid email address for you, we’ll contact you at least 10 days before your Payment Pause is due to end. The email will invite you to complete an online form, where you’ll be presented with three options to repay the amount deferred during your Payment Pause:

Spread the amount due from your Payment Pause equally over 6 months and restart your regular monthly payments at the same time
Spread the amount due from your Payment Pause equally over 12 months and restart your regular monthly payments at the same time
Return to your regular monthly payments and discuss the amount due from your Payment Pause in 3 months’ time.

To complete the online form, you’ll need to have a few details to hand, these are:

Your agreement number
Your vehicle registration number
Your normal Direct Debit amount
The number of monthly payments you paused
The date your next monthly payment is due
Based on your individual circumstances, if the options presented are not suitable, you can ask us to call you to discuss the best way forward.

If we don’t hold an email address for you, don’t worry, a member of our team will call you to discuss the options available seven days before your Payment Pause is due to end.

If you chose to spread the value of suspended payments over a period of months, we may need to ask for information about your current income and expenditure. This is to help make sure you can afford the increased monthly payment and the repayments are tailored to your individual circumstances. If you've already completed an income and expenditure review with another financial services provider recently, we may be able to use this for our assessment of your motor finance agreement with us.

If you’d rather speak to us about the options available, you can also request a call back on the online form.

I'm worried about budgeting and making payments, where can I find more information?
I want to voluntarily terminate my agreement; how do I do this?

We understand that you may be facing financial difficulties which could affect your ability to repay your finance agreement.

We have useful information on our website, including sources of free advice from independent organisations, which can be found below.

Please either email us at [email protected] with your name, contact telephone number, agreement number and/or vehicle registration and the reason for your email, or call us on 01302 344 077 (select option one) and we will arrange collection of your vehicle.