“I returned the car to the finance company ages ago — why has a court summons suddenly arrived demanding hundreds of thousands of baht?” This is a common question that confuses many people. Many wrongly believe that when you can no longer keep up the payments, simply driving the car back and parking it at the finance company’s lot ends everything and zeroes the debt. Legally, it does not always end that easily.
When can you be sued for the shortfall?
The key factor is when you returned the car. If you returned it after defaulting and the finance company had already issued a notice terminating the contract, the company treats you as the breaching party. When the car is auctioned for less than the outstanding balance, the law allows them to claim the “price shortfall” from you.
Return before any arrears — and they cannot sue at all
The good news is that if you return the car without ever having been in arrears on even a single instalment, it counts as both parties voluntarily terminating the contract (termination by implied consent). In that case the finance company has no right to claim any price shortfall or damages from you.
Even if you do owe, a lawyer can reduce it significantly
The shortfall finance companies claim is often far higher than reality. With a lawyer defending the case, the court will usually exercise its discretion to reduce these damages to something more realistic and fairer to the consumer. So if you can no longer keep up payments, consulting a lawyer to plan the correct way to hand back the car can protect your interests enormously.
