What should I do if I cannot afford my car-finance payments?

Contact the finance provider before missing payments. Providers may be able to discuss reduced payments, term changes, payment arrangements, voluntary termination or other options depending on the agreement.

In relation to “What should I do if I cannot afford my car-finance payments?”, before changing, selling or returning a financed car, establish who owns it and request the current figures from the finance provider.

For “What should I do if I cannot afford my car-finance payments?”, contact the lender early rather than ignoring missed-payment letters. Keep a written record of affordability discussions, proposed arrangements and any notice received.

For “What should I do if I cannot afford my car-finance payments?”, this answer is written for a Northern Ireland user, but some vehicle-registration, consumer-credit and insurance functions operate on a UK-wide basis. The attached sources — MoneyHelper - Personal Contract Purchase (PCP), MoneyHelper - Buying a car with Hire Purchase, and nidirect - Contact Consumerline — are therefore deliberately mixed where the responsible authority is UK-wide. That is more accurate than forcing every point into an NI-only source.

Practical next step for “What should I do if I cannot afford my car-finance payments?”: open the finance agreement and find the figures or clause relevant to this question. If you are changing or ending the agreement, request the current position directly from the finance provider before promising the car to anyone else.