The Only 100% Secure Way to Sell Your Motorhome
You want to sell your Motorhome, so you visit a dealer and haggle a Sale or Return, or maybe you just don’t want the fees, so you go through with a private sale. How you do it doesn’t matter, what matters is that you’re finally getting it off your drive. You think everything’s fine, so you hand over your keys and watch your Motorhome drive away. You have no reason to believe that anything could go wrong - but it does - and suddenly you find yourself saying the one thing you never thought you would…
Where’s My Money?
The worst part is that you’re not the only one. There are so many cases where someone just like you has sold their Motorhome and found themselves waiting for cash that never came! Maybe the dealership hit financial difficulties and closed its doors, maybe you’ve been shown a false proof of payment, or maybe someone just drove away and left you checking your bank statement in the rearview mirror.
There are lots of reasons why you can leave a sale short-changed, you might feel helpless, confused, betrayed. What can you do to make this right?
What Can I Do if I’ve Already Lost Money on a Sale?
The action you take to recover your assets will depend on how they were ‘lost’ to begin with.
Scenario 1: Dealership Gone Bust
When a dealership’s cashflow fails and they close their doors due to insolvency, liquidators will take control of the business to settle any outstanding contracts. By selling off the company’s assets, they will recover money to re-pay creditors, that’s you! The liquidator will keep in contact with you but remember you may not be the only one. Whilst you can recover some of your assets, it’s important to temper expectations – the liquidator will recover as much as they can for you, and for everyone else affected.
Scenario 2: Private Seller Shambles
If you choose to sell your Motorhome privately, it’s sad to say that in this day and age, trust simply isn’t enough. If you handed over your keys to a buyer and found they they’ve shown you a false proof of payment, get in contact with the buyer first, don’t rule out a misunderstanding. A genuine buyer will be happy to do everything they can to ensure their new Motorhome is legally theirs, even if it means bringing it back to you until you’ve confirmed the money is received. If they can’t deliver the money, communications falter or they leave you high and dry beyond reasonable delay, the next step is to report the vehicle as stolen.
Scenario 3: Defrauded by Dodgy Dealings
When a dealership has knowingly acted dishonestly things start to get complicated, it’s even possible that if you bought your Motorhome from the same dealer that they never owned the vehicle to begin with! Chattel Mortgages, a loan for purchasing high value moveable goods, aren’t always disclosed in HPI (Hire Purchase Investigation) Checks. This means that your Motorhome Dealership can sell you vehicles that they have on loan, some dealerships will use the profits they make from a sale to pay off the mortgage, but what if they don’t?
Was My Motorhome Ever Mine to Begin With?
If you bought a Motorhome from a dealer that has a chattel mortgage, the lender retains full legal ownership of the vehicle, and unfortunately, this claim trumps your own. If a dealership goes bust before they’ve cleared the vehicle’s finance, it doesn’t matter how much you paid for it. In the worst-case scenario, you took your vehicle for an SOR (Sale or Return) at the same dealership, who later went out of business. You have no legal ownership to your vehicle and now you’re thousands of pounds down. The best thing to do when you find yourself in this situation is to contact Trading Standards, their advice for this situation would be to speak to an insolvency lawyer. You can also contact us at Motorhome Depot for advice and support.
How Can I Avoid This?
The first step to making sure your sale is legitimate is by doing your research – before you buy a Motorhome you can check if it’s being financed by running the VIN number through a check – doing this will reveal whether the vehicle has any outstanding finance remaining, and whether or not the vehicle can be repossessed. Ensuring that you’re vetting private sellers, and holding out on giving them your keys until the balance is cleared is a good way to keep on top of your Motorhome’s sale, but is there a better way?
Brokerage at Motorhome Depot
At Motorhome Depot, we connect private buyers and sellers with secure transactions to ensure your sale stays safe, and unlike some dealers, we don’t charge you to sell your vehicle for you. All of our marketing and advertising costs are covered, meaning the money you make from the sale of your Motorhome really is your money. So how do our Secure Transactions work?
Great You Paid
Our Great You Paid system is FCA Approved, using ESCROW the buyer will open up a secure banking payment link, funds will then be held through the secure ESCROW account. Once the purchase process is complete in accordance with the agreed upon terms and conditions, you, the seller, will receive your proceeds. Rather than relying on your money passing through a business, it passes through secure accounting that prevents fraudulent diverts. Motorhomes are high value assets, through our Great You Paid system, Motorhome Depot offers the only 100% secure way to buy or sell a used Motorhome.
The truth is…the best way to avoid getting caught out as a seller is prevention. If you’re chasing your money, it’s already too late. There’s nothing more devastating than finding out you’ve lost such a life-changing amount of money, especially when you’re nearing the end of your working life. Don’t spend your days wondering how you’re going to earn it back, cut out the worry and use Motorhome Depot for 100% Secure Transactions.
