CARMEL RICKARD: WesBank runs out of road
WesBank may have run out of road in its efforts to repossess a vehicle as a result of its failure to do adequate checks before providing finance
Consumers have been protected by the National Credit Act for more than a decade — and for just as long, credit suppliers have known how to stay on the right side of the law. So I was more than a little surprised by a recent judgment that suggests motor finance firm WesBank is not up to speed on the investigations required before financing a vehicle. In August 2017, after Laetitia Sonnenberg fell behind in vehicle payments, WesBank issued a summons against her. Two months later, the bank was granted a default judgment. In February Sonnenberg applied for that judgment to be rescinded, and it is the decision on this application that has just been delivered. Sonnenberg said she saw the August summons for the first time about two months later, quite by accident, along with other papers tidied away by her domestic helper. She immediately made arrangements to pay off the arrears, she said, and the WesBank employee who helped her said the bank’s legal action to claim her car back "would be ...
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