If you’re in arrears with your vehicle payments, can the creditor just send someone to collect the vehicle? Legally, NO. The creditor needs to follow the proper legal procedure (in terms of Section 130 of the National Credit Act), which means that they need to obtain Judgement and a Warrant of Execution (a Court Order which gives them the right to repossess the asset). In practice, however, creditors often try to avoid the time and expense which this legal process involves. Instead, they send a Collections Agent to the client, who tries to get the client to “voluntarily surrender” the vehicle. The Collections Agent will be strongly motivated to get the client to surrender the vehicle, as their payment is dependent on them returning the vehicle to the creditor. Collections Agents will usually make it sound as though the client is REQUIRED to surrender the vehicle (and may even resort to bulllying and intimidation), but if they do not have a Warrant of Execution AND are not accompanied by a Sheriff of the Court, the client CAN choose NOT to surrender the vehicle. Also, even if a Collections Agent has visited a client and told them that legal action has commenced, the Vehicle Finance agreement can usually still be placed under Debt Review, thereby protecting the vehicle from repossession and further legal action.