My Car Was Repossessed — What To Do Right Now (Australia)

If your car has just been repossessed, the most important thing to know is this: repossession is not the end of the road. Under the National Credit Code (Schedule 1 to the National Consumer Credit Protection Act 2009 (Cth)), you keep important rights after your vehicle is taken — including, in many cases, the right to get it back.

This guide explains what to do in the first 48 hours, in plain language. It applies to cars financed under a consumer credit contract — a loan for personal, domestic or household use.

Your car has not been sold yet — and that matters

A repossessed car is not sold immediately. The credit provider must follow a statutory process first: they must give you a written notice within 14 days of taking possession, setting out your options and the amounts involved, and there is a further statutory window before the vehicle can be sold.

Until the vehicle is sold, your right to reinstate the credit contract generally remains alive. That means paying the arrears (the missed payments) plus reasonable enforcement costs — not the whole loan — can entitle you to the return of your vehicle.

What to do in the first 48 hours

1. Ask the lender — in writing if possible — for the exact amount required to bring the contract up to date, including any enforcement costs. You are entitled to know this figure.
2. Check your loan contract for the repossession fee. It is often a fixed amount stated in the contract — which means the total figure should be quick to calculate.
3. Do not accept a verbal statement that the repossession "cannot be stopped" or "cannot be reversed." That is not what the National Credit Code says — see our guide on this exact statement.
4. If the lender delays providing the figure or refuses to engage, lodge a complaint with the Australian Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA). Lodgement is free, and once your complaint is accepted, the lender is generally required to pause enforcement — including the sale of your vehicle — while the complaint is open.
5. Gather your evidence now: the notification SMS or letter, your call log, screenshots of your loan balance, your bank statements showing available funds, and the default notice if you received one.
6. Call the National Debt Helpline on 1800 007 007 for free, independent financial counselling — they deal with repossessions every day.

Were the rules followed before the repossession?

Before repossessing, a credit provider must generally have given you a default notice allowing at least 30 days to remedy the default. If you never received a valid default notice, or the vehicle was taken before the notice period expired, the repossession itself may have been unlawful.

There are also restrictions on how and where a vehicle can be repossessed. If any of these protections were breached, that strengthens your position considerably in an AFCA complaint.

Build your complaint with FairClaim

FairClaim is a free-to-start tool that walks you through your situation question by question (or in a guided conversation), checks your facts against the National Credit Code, and produces a professionally structured complaint you can lodge with AFCA yourself.

Frequently asked questions

Related guides

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• How to Lodge an AFCA Complaint About a Vehicle Repossession
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