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How payments work: Positive equity deals

This article walks through the full payment timeline for a positive equity deal — one where the vehicle has outstanding finance, but the settlement figure is lower than the value being paid for the car, leaving a positive balance owed to the seller.

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Written by Magda Pinto

Before collection: paying the deposit

Before a vehicle can be collected, a deposit needs to be paid into the Carwow Wallet. The deposit should cover:

  • The agreed vehicle price

  • Buyer fees

  • Transport fees (if applicable)

This applies when paying with Wallet funds — if you're using a stock funding option instead, no advance deposit is needed, as the funder covers the purchase at the point of payment.

Tip: If you have more than one collection happening in the same week, we recommend including all of them in a single deposit — this avoids separate transactions and possible delays. That said, it's entirely up to you how you'd like to split your deposits.

Making the payment on collection day

The flow is the same as for a non-finance deal. Once documents are approved and collection has been arranged with the seller, our team, and transport (where relevant), the buyer completes the payment as follows:

  1. Open the deal page and start the payment — go to the relevant deal and, on the right-hand side, click Review and Pay.

  2. Choose a payment method — select either Carwow Wallet (own funds) or one of the available stock funding options.

  3. Review the payment details — on the Review Payment Details page, confirm the amounts and review the documents. The purchase price can also be amended here if needed.

  4. Confirm and authorise — once everything looks correct, continue and enter the one-time security code from the authenticator app to confirm the payment.

Where the money goes

For a positive equity deal, the payment is sent instantly and split three ways:

  • The seller — the positive equity portion owed to them

  • The finance company — the outstanding finance being settled

  • Carwow — buyer fees and transport fees (where applicable)

You'll be able to track the payment afterwards in your Wallet transaction history, with a summary and invoice available on the listing detail page.

If you have any question, feel free to consult our Dealer Wallet Help Centre, or contact the wallet team using one of the following methods:
​
- 020 4586 4000 (Opt 3)
- Support Form
- wallet@carwow.co.uk

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