I have a historic debt with Welcome Finance which, after a prolonged period of time, has gotten back in touch with me. Having read a few posts on this site, I think there may be a few options I can look into with regard to possibly reducing the balance on this debt. There is quite a long story here, so let me explain as best I can.... 18 Aug 2001: Purchased 2nd hand car from Direct Car Finance. Finance provided by Welcome Finance. No PPI. Shortfall Insurance also taken out for full loan term. Breakdown and recovery insurances also taken out, not for full term. Loan repaid erratically. ?? May 2002: Car stolen and not recovered, motor insurance paid out for a total loss. Shortfall insurance also paid out. Both lots of money went to Welcome against loan balance. Loan continued to be repaid erratically. April 2003: I signed a new loan agreement to enable the balance to be used to pay off the car loan, which now had no security as the vehicle was stolen and I was left with an unsecured loan to pay off. I have in my possession a full list of transactions on my account from inception to this date. Jul 2005: After once again falling behind with my payments, I signed another new loan agreement. If i recall correctly this was to allow me to reduce my payments by taking the balance over a longer term. May 06: Last payment to Welcome I have a record of. Jan 2007: Moved house, lost contact with Welcome, heard nothing from them until March 2010 when a letter from Willen arrived. I have my copies of the Aug 01 and Jul 05 agreements. I also have a large number of cash receipts from payments I have made, probably most but definitely not all of them. I have the vast majority of correspondence from them. I have read reports of some people having success in defeating Welcome due to incorrect clauses in the Credit Agreements. The two agreements I have clearly state that PPI is not a part of the agreement, and I think it is extremely unlikely I have it on the 3rd agreement. It is over 6 years since my last payment to Welcome, if my final receipt is indeed the final one. My frustrations are two-fold. Firstly, despite a large total amount of money being paid to Welcome by me, and additional payments from the motor insurer and the shortfall insurance company, I still owe over £2000. Secondly, Welcome were a rude and scary company to deal with, to the extent that I had cause to place a written complaint with witnesses to them regarding a DPA breach in 2004. To be totally honest, I am sick of this having been a millstone around my neck for over a decade now and am looking for any way I can to reduce / clear the balance, perhaps with reference to the original agreements, charges applied, statute of limitations, etc. The end-game I am looking for is where this shows as fully settled and satisfied on my credit file, and I am prepared to negotiate some sort of settlement to achieve this if I have to, but would like to explore all the options. I have scanned and uploaded copies of my loan docs, but unfortunately cant attach the link due to a low post count. Thanks in advance for any help anyone can offer. I am just a bit confused as to what my options might be....

Hi, I am looking for the advise to handle my unpaid debts. I had some unsecured debts for sum of £14500 (approx.) and had to leave the country due to my employment situation in Oct'13. I didn't want to leave without paying it but I had no choice. I consulted with StepChange Debt Charity, as they advised I sent letters to the concern departments of the Bank explaining my situation and they agreed to keep the debts as it is with no interest for 12 months. Now I am back in the country after 16 months. Would like to repay some of my debts but I am not sure how to start it. The Debts as on Oct'13 are: Personal Loan - £11000 Credit Card - £400 Overdraft - £3000 Now my questions are: 1) What could be the situation of my debts now? 2) Would the interests started piling up? 3) Will they agree to write-off some of my debts? because I am not sure about my employment with my company after 6 months. Hence I would prefer to see the debt amount as little as possible to be repaid within 6 months. 4) Would this debt has already affecting my credit rating? Kindly advise me and let me know if you need more details. Thanks!!

Hello Will try and summarise.. . if I miss anything please let me know but would be so very grateful of any advice on what to do now. Capital Bank Joint Personal Loan £5,481.20 outstanding taken out in 1997 It got transferred to Wescot Credit years ago and we had no communication with Capital Bank Direct at all. It went to Legal & Trade Collections before Wescot and also a solicitors but we adamantly paid the minimum and had been paying £40 a month to Wescot for a long time but not paid anything since beginning of 2009. April 2009: received a letter with 'Your Annual Personal Loan Statement Agreement No: xxxxxxxxxxx for the period 01/10/2008 to 23/02/2009. It shows a statement opening balance as at 1/10/2008 and then 3 payments october, november and december 2008 with a statement closing balance. Had never received a statement before that at all. Nothing shows even to this day on Experian 2nd May 2009: Sent a CCA 17th May 2009: Sent a failed to respond letter account in dispute 22nd May 2009: Received a reply from Capital Bank dated 20th May 2009 thank you for your statutory request for information in respect of the above Loan Agreement. Please find enclosed a signed copy of the executed Agreement. Thats it and then a 2 page agreement which can be viewed here Page 1 http://i39.tinypic.com/jayh3p.jpg Page 2 http://i42.tinypic.com/20ubd04.jpg At the beginning of the year 2010 got a statement and then another one in February 2010 which is just a general statement showing what we owe and what was paid. There are no charges on the account and no interest been applied. 13th August 2012 My husband got a letter dated 13th August 2012 (my name not on although a joint account): "We are writing to notify you that Bank of Scotland PLC has assigned all of its respective rights, title and interest in respect of the above referenced accouint (including the outstanding balance) to 1st Credit (FINANCE) 5 LIMITED, effective 31st July 2012." .... plus more just stating that they are managing the account and we have to contact them to organise payment on the account as a matter of urgency. There was also an 'Account Assignment' attached stating balance now due and to contact them to agree repayment options etc. etc. etc. 28th September 2012: Today my husband received a Statutory Demand under section 268(1)(a) of the Insolvency Act 1986, Debt Liquidated Sum Payable Immediately - Form 6.1 Any advise would be much appreciated as read on a number of forums that Connaught always send these out and not worth anything then some forums saying that houses could be possessed ! if over £2,000 so take it seriously. Also my name is not on anything it is always my husband although the original loan was a joint personal loan. Many thanks in advance

Looking for some advice on action to take, as a little confused. I never expected when googling this to find so much information, it's almost impossible to sort out what's relevant and what's not! And so many people in similar circumstances! I have got a refinanced loan and basically now owe around £4000 to Lloyds TSB. I lost my job March 2010 and ended up avoiding the loan repayments. Lloyds eventually took my benefits from my account, forcing me to phone them, and I set up an agreement of £5 a month. A few months later a £5 payment bounced which apparently "ended our agreement". I avoided this problem for some time, but I'm back in full time employment and can afford small amounts for now. Unfortunately the debt has now been passed to Westcott Credit Services, who have been phoning me early in the morning, middle of the afternoon, late at night, every day, multiple times. I've received countless letters threatening court action and big red letters. I did pick up the phone a couple of weeks ago for the first time only to speak to someone who treated me like I'd murdered someone. He asked me if I had my card, I said I didn't and that I couldn't talk right now. He asked me why I couldn't talk, and demanded I call back. I said I didn't have any credit on my mobile or a land line and he told me I'd have to use a pay phone. He also wanted the full £4000 which obviously I don't have. The problem I've got is in the past few months I've gone a bit overboard with pay day loans. I've repaid them all, on time, and have had no problems with them. I'm quite successfully borrowing less from them too, and should be free of pay day loans by the end of July. I'm also paying off £50 a month on a friend's credit card because they bought me a laptop on it, and this debt will be gone by the end of August. Is it safe to ignore Westcott until the end of August or is it best to contact them and agree a small £5 repayment for now, with the intention of increasing it later? I've seen some quite horrific stories of these people and I don't feel confident talking to them again, the last guy actually gave me the creeps. The way he spoke was very dark and actually bordered on aggressive. I'm confused because I've looked through money websites and they suggest not agreeing to anything over the phone and do everything by letter. Some people say ignore them and don't give them a penny, and others say don't ignore the debt!