Yeah it's pretty much this. The finance company really don't care who owns the car now they, as normal, just want their money. The person that signed the agreement will get in the shit and the current owner can buy the car from the finance for X amount. It's a bit shit to 'get charged twice' but really it comes down to 'you can't buy stolen property even if you didn't know as it's always stolen' type thing. Hire companies ring for the same thing when a hire car, normally long term, hasn't been returned. They know the cars not actually stolen, they just want their money but there's no other way of doing it. You are technically permanently depriving someone of their property, which is theft.