Letter from Wescot DCA

[drowningindebt]

Hi

I have a Halifax credit card with £6000 owing on it. The minimum payment is around £120 per month. When I went on maternity leave earlier this year I could no longer afford this so I contacted Halifax and negotiated a monthly payment of £20 per month. They did say that this agreement would not stop the account falling into arrears but I didnt have much option.

Anyway...over the past month I've been getting text messages from an 0844 number asking to phone Wescot urgently . I've ignored these as I had not been informed that my account had been passed to a DCA.

Got a letter from Wescot on Thursday (1st one) stating this is a Final Notice. Wescot are working on behalf of their client (Halifax) to recover the money. If I don't contact them by this Thursday 3rd Nov they will take steps to recover entire outstanding debt. They also state they may send a collection officer to my home.

Had this credit card for about 14years. At the start I had PPI on it, can't remember when I removed this, was a long time ago.

I own a property which is currently in negative equity, I own a car, I have no savings. I live in Scotland.

Please can someone help as I really don't know what to do. I have another credit card with MBNA which is about to go down the same route. Have £7000 owing on this card. When I phoned in March to negotiate a reduced payment they were very unhelpful and actually tried to increase my monthly payments from £120 permonth to £170per month as they had just changed the way they calculate minimum payments. I've been paying £40 per month so I now have arrears and I got a letter from them stating they will register a default and pass on my details to a DCA if I dont clear the arrrears asap.

At this point i dont know if I should declare myself bankrupt, am really at the end of my tether!

[Guest]

Re: Letter from Wescot DCA

Hi
Have you tried one of the free Debt Management companies Payplan or CCCs, the both have web pages.
They will help you compile a repayment offer, pro rata based on your disposable income, and negotiate with your creditors for you.
They will also take a lot of the pressure off you, as you can then refer all correspondence to them.
Peter

[labman]

Re: Letter from Wescot DCA

Hi,

Do not worry too much about Westcot. As long as they are acting on behalf of the original creditor they have little power to do anything, whatever they threaten.

Peter's advice of considering a Debt Management Plan (DMP) is sound. There are various agencies that offer free services - don't pay for one, they are no better in my opinion than the free ones.

In tems of filling out an Income and Expenditure sheet you have two options. All the free agencies will complete a Common Financial Statement (CFS) for you. This identifies disposable income (if any), and calculates pro rata payments to your creditors.

Alternatively you can find a free agency that is CashFLOW registered (it comes up under a Google search), where you can fill in an IE form at your own leisure, then get it signed off by a suitably licensed adviser. This then carries the same weight as a CFS.

[mr.ton]

Re: Letter from Wescot DCA

Ignore wesclot they are full of hot air - report them to the oft and trading standards if they refuse to leave you alone.
Make an complaint to the financial ombudsman about Halifax conduct as well - they are a horrible bank and deserve to be put out of business asap!
------------------------------- merged -------------------------------
Ignore MBNA as well and report them to the authorities as well if need be.
You are in charge of your money not them or some tin pot DCA - if you offer them £1 per month then tough on them if they refuse it.
No one will turn up but if so tell them to foxtrot oscar and call the police if they refuse to leave.

[alsagerman]

Re: Letter from Wescot DCA

Contacting CCCS is good advice, the sooner the better. They are a free service and you can quote their client reference number on any communication you have with Halifax, MBNA or any other body. DO NOT talk to any DCA agency on the phone, keep everything in writing and make copies. They will attempt to bully you if they think they can get away with it.

On a final note, avoid any company offering to arrange a DMP for you other than CCCS or other free debt charity. Most, other than the aforementioned charities, will take a percentage of YOUR money before anything is passed to the creditor. Google the complaints DMC have about them.

[Guest]

Re: Letter from Wescot DCA

Hi
I was talking to HBOS this morning on behalf of a relative. She had started a Plan about three months ago, six creditors about 15K. HBOS had tied to ring her at work. Shirty little sod had the opinion that since she had “Signed the contract” she had to talk to them. I reminded them of the OFT guidelines and the huge fine that MBNA got for bypassing the appointed agent, suddenly they were very helpful and agreed to no further calls. The other five had all accepted her offer and confirmed in writing, this really does work. It screws up your CRA file for six years but its worth it for the peace of mind I think.
Peter

[labman]

Re: Letter from Wescot DCA

A couple of observations on responses so far.

Alsagerman, there are quite a lot of free debt advice charities out there. The big players are CCCS, Payplan, National Debtline etc... but there are many many more who will do just as good a job. I 100% agree that the OP should not pay for any advice.

Mr Ton, I cannot agree with your attitude. There is a debt to be repaid here. The accepted and sensible way to repay is to complete a CFS or CASHflow statement and agree a sensible and affordable repayment plan. You cannot just go in at £1 per month or whatever without proving extreme financial hardship.

As for Westcot - yes, as long as the assignment is only equitable, as it is, they are toothless.

Drowningindebt - this situation is easily resolvable. The answer in your case is almost certainly a Debt Management Plan (DMP) as mentioned above. Please try not to worry about the debt. It might seem like a lot to you, but believe there are thousands far, far worse off who are happily repaying their debts, leading a reasonable life and putting an unpleasant past behind them.

The creditors will cajole and bully which is exactly why you want a professional third party to intervene on your behalf. You'll then find that all of a sudden the threatening and bullying will stop and you will stand some chance of sleeping at night again.

[WendyB]

Re: Letter from Wescot DCA

as well as the above, Crispybacon (I think it was) has done a great thread about self managed DMPs. Unfortunately I can't find it. Also, should you decide to manage your own DMP, there is a link to the CFS income and expenditure sheet here Legal Beagles Consumer Forum

[Crispybacon]

Re: Letter from Wescot DCA

as well as the above, Crispybacon (I think it was) has done a great thread about self managed DMPs. Unfortunately I can't find it. Also, should you decide to manage your own DMP, there is a link to the CFS income and expenditure sheet here Legal Beagles Consumer Forum

Here it is WendyB

http://www.legalbeagles.info/forums/...ad.php?t=28567

[labman]

Re: Letter from Wescot DCA

If you go the self managed route, do the I&E form through CASHflow (fairly new). Doing it this way, you fill it in at your own leisure and can get it signed off by a licensed adviser. It will then carry the same weight as a CFS and creditors are increasingly encouraged to treat a CASHflow I&E the same as a signed off CFS.

For your nearest licensed representitive call National Debtline on 0808 808 4000.

Your self managed DMP is far more likely to meet with a positive initial response this way.

[drowningindebt]

Re: Letter from Wescot DCA

Thanks everyone for your replies.

I'm still totally confused and upset about the whole thing. Looks like DMP is the way to go.....but will this still end up with me getting Defaults/CCjs etc? And will I be paying off these debts forever, and therefore never being able to rebuild my Credit rating? I've heard about a Full and Final settlement that some creditors accept which would be significantly less than the debt, is this something to consider?

I also really don't want debt collectors turning up at my house. I'm here alone with my baby quite often and I know I would be really intimidated and scared.

Thanks again

[Guest]

Re: Letter from Wescot DCA

HI
I think debt management program is best for you from what you have said.
There is no reason for debt collectors to call at your door once you have started one of these, as all your creditors will know what is happening with your various accounts.
You will have made arrangements to pay what you can afford and this has been audited by the DMC company, they know that placing you under any further pressure would be pointless and also contry to debt collection guidelines.
Usually creditors agree to stop the interest if one of the arrangements is set up(not always) then you will be able to see just how long it will take to pay off your debt. Pay plan use an online web page which you can access with an ID number so you can track your status with your creditors and the amount paid to each and the outstanding balance.
It really does give you a sense of regaining control.
I know that self-run DMPs are the way to go for some people, but I think that the free services are ideal for getting all your letters sent out and arrangements off the ground.(They do it all for you)
I have not dealt overly with CCCs but I can recommend Pay plan their number is 0844 855 2163
Give them a ring and have a chat. You are going to have the accounts defaulted when you miss the payments but they are also removed from your credit file after 6 years. Sometimes it can be a blessing in disguise not being able to get credit for a few years, (speaking from personal experience) it gives you chance to organise your finances without the temptation of overreaching yourself with new outgoings, for stuff you don’t need.
Peter

[Tomyem]

Re: Letter from Wescot DCA

Hi all,

sorry if I am hijacking a thread here but also had a 'we may send people to your door' letter from these people.

Again, apologies if there is a correct forum I should be posting in, my connection is rubbish and I tried looking but couldn't find a correct place.

I recently seperated from the Ex and we have both since received letters (one claiming NPower the other United utilities) from Wescot and also from a Buchanan Clark and Wells.

Both asking for outstanding arrears on the same supposed debt (A letter from both Wescot and BC+W to the Ex quoting Npower debt, 2 to me regarding UU from both).

First letter was, "we are looking for a MR X are you him? Call or if not or we will assume you are", second was a "Final Notice"; give us money in 14days or we may appear on your doorstep.

Whilst I don't think I owe money to either Utility after moving out the fact both of these clowns have mailed us both makes me suspicious.

Reading what I could on the site here (great site btw. thanks to people taking the time out to help) I have drafted a 'prove it' letter to each. My only concern is does this cover utility bills or should I be mailing something else in the first instance?

Got it in my head they will respond with, "Well did you live there"? "Ok then well pay us", as a response, should I be asking them to prove they are the actual delegated people for the utility company or....?

If anyone can advise at all or point me in the correct direction I'd be very grateful. Going to try calling utility company again but as the bill was in Ex's name they wont talk to me (unless I assume responsibility for the bill which is why I got the UU one).

Sorry for the essay, if you made it this far and still fancy helping with advice please do

Thanks
-tom

[WendyB]

Re: Letter from Wescot DCA

What you need to do is send them a Prove It letter, as you thought, and request a breakdown of how the alleged debt is made up. Tell them you won't be paying any monies towards this alleged debt until they provide proof that it actually exists. If by any chance they turn up on your doorstep( which they won't) just tell them to sod off.

There's a couple of examples of Prove It letters on this thread fredrickson international - Legal Beagles Consumer Forum adapt to suit.

[Guest]

Re: Letter from Wescot DCA

In addition you may find this useful from the OFT debt collection guidlines.

Deceptive and/or unfair methods

2.7 Dealings with debtors are not to be deceitful and/or unfair.
2.8 Examples of unfair practices are as follows:
a. sending demands for payment to an individual when it is uncertain that they are the debtor in question, for example, threatening debt recovery action to 'the occupier' or sending a payment demand to all people sharing the same name/date of birth as a debtor in the hope that contact with the correct debtor will be made.
b. disclosing debt details to an individual when it is uncertain that they are
the debtor in question, for example, disclosing details to 'the occupier' of
an address.

Peter