Hello- background: debt dates to 2005 with a pre-approved credit card, the limit being increased and increased unasked unti 2008 when BAM! Then i set up a debt management plan with the CCCS, and paid into that until feb 2012 and not a penny since. A couple of weeks ago i got a phishing letter from wescot addressed to me at this address asking if the address was correct and saying if they didn't hear back they'd assume it was, no detail as to what it was for. I didn't reply. Today, letter from wescot saying they have been instructed by their client arrow global ltd-egg, to make contact with me to discuss the outstanding balance (£19,900) and telling me it is essential to contact them within the next 10 days to prevent further action. Now... what do you advise here? how likely are they to produce a CCA after so long? It's months away from being statute barred.. should i ignore it? I haven't heard anything for the last 3 years, i *think* they must have been given new address by old landlord getting sick of them constantly writing there. They don't have any certainty of my current address, are they likely to push for a CCJ under these circumstances? Advice gratefully received!

Hi all and thanks in advance for your help. I defaulted on some debt after losing my job. The defaults were for a credit card and a loan and were in June 2011 and July 2011. Am I right to think that these will fall off my credit file automatically shortly after June and July 2017? Or will they stay on but just show the last six years of credit history associated with them? In the meantime I have managed to maintain and pay credit that has appeared on my credit reports as well. These include a Barclays credit card, a Lloyds credit card and an O2 phone agreement. The minimum payment for each of these has been made each month (other than three occasions in 2014 where there were late payments) and often much more than the minimum payment has been made (e.g £400 instead of £30). The Lloyds credit card has now been paid off in full and I have no intention of using it again but I have kept it open. My remaining credit card has a limit which is being raised to £4500 some time this month (by the bank not at my request) with a balance of about £200 which I am planning to clear on payday at the end of May. My question is, if the defaults disappear from my file next year, what is likely to happen to my credit score? At the moment on my Noddle report it sits at something like 560. Once the defaults have gone is my score likely to shoot up if mY credit rating is considered satisfactory or will it take time to build back up? I appreciate Noddle is just a free report and will buy my Experian report closer to the time. I ask as my husband and I hope to be in a position to buy a property within the next two years and am wondering if we would be best leaving it for a while after the defaults have come off before looking seriously or if we can just get cracking once the defaults have gone.

Hi Wondered if anyone could help?? I have been payin of my debt for a LONG time through StepChange, to be precise i've paid off around £11k in 8/9 years and recently have changed to Pay Plan who have advised me to to a debt relief order which i don't really want to do. However my grandad recently passed away and my dad has £4k that he said he is willing to pay off my debt if i can get reduced payments on them all. Using the National Debt Advice Service templates and calculator i have sent letters to all my creditors which are all debt collection agencies to if they will accept a partial payment to settle the debts. I'm trying to get around 10k down to 4k. However upon checking my credit file, Noodle, which used to show all my defaults it no longer has anything on it so i'm wondering where these defaults or debts have gone? Westcott Service Ltd have recently written to me to say they have sent my offer to the Royal Bank of Scotland and is waiting for them to see if they will accept it however i assumed my debt had already been sold to Westcott so would be up to them. They also said my credit file would just be marked as partially settled which doesn't really bother me as i am a student and don't plan on even attempting to get a mortgage for at least 10 years by which time it would have dropped off my file. However if its not already there will the Royal Bank of Scotland add it to my file again. Hope that makes sense??

I had a student bank account wIth natwest which has an over draft and a credit card. The overdraft is owing and the credit card is within its limit but natwest wanted to whole payment. A lot of the balance is charges! My graduate account was automatically changed into a graduate account even though I hadn't graduated (my studies took longer as I was ill) At the start of 2011 I went to natwest inquiring about a graduate loan. I wanted 10k to pay for rent, buy furniture and a car. I'd been living in Kent with my partner and we were relocating to my home town. The guy at the bank said this doesn't sound like enough and I should consider 15k. He also told me that paying back a larger amount looks better if apply for a mortgage. I stupidly was excited by this prospect and took the 15k loan. I had a conditional offer of employment that they took as evidence of income to pay it back. I eventually got this good job and was paying back the full amount every month. Until I fell really ill with a long term condition and heart condition etc. I entered into a payment plan which I was paying. Then for NO reason at all my account was mistakenly sent their collections department. Natwest admitted it was mistakenly sent there but while it was there I couldn't make a payment. It took them months to get it back from collections. During which they counted the late payments and my payment plan ticked away. They wouldn't let me enter another plan as I'd had one for 12 months. They harassed me, sent me 4 or 5 letters a day and called me all the time. I eventually had a seizure the day they sent me letters about lawyers etc. I have entered a debt management plan with step change and the most of my £150 payment goes to the loan They send me letters regarding my secured mortgage. Which is loan obviously isn't. I had nothing to secure it against! I have loads of defaults on my credit file because of this, which was immaculate before this loan. What can I do?! I really feel like they messed up but don't know where to start. Any help would be GREATLY appreciated.

Hi my hubby recently checked his credit file and has found he has a default put on by Lloyds. We want to apply for a mortgage around Oct/Nov next year 2013 and we really want this debt paid so it can show as settled. hubby phoned Lloyds and they said the debt has been transferred to Westcott. he phoned Westcott and they couldnt find any info for him and said they would write to him - that was 2 weeks ago and times ticking away ...what should he do? Any advice is appreciated.

Hi guys, just a quick question... I advised O2 that I was unable to pay my O2 contract with them due to have recently been taken to the cleaners in a divorce. I also advised that I have moved to Germany and would attempt to pay back what is owed once I get a job here... well... its been 9 months, not been able to get employment yet, just been signed on the JobCenter here and getting the very basic in support. I am hoping to get employment soon, and have informed Westcott that I had advised O2 about this... Now I have read up on Westcott and find that they paid 02 the debt owed and no doubt will chase me for more than what the original debt was... on the grand sale of things, would they go to the hassle of getting a european court order for the sake of 500? End of the day they can... I dont have anything they can take from me as I dont own more than my clothes... Any constructive advice welcome

Hi all, In 2011 I took out a £15k loan from barclays to save my struggling business which inevitably failed, I had a PG on the loan so I paid off £50 per month since and now it has been sold to Westcott. Judging by previous threads here, it seems as Westcott now own this loan instead of barclays and are sending me letters trying to arrange the payment plan again I am 26 years old and struggling with work at the moment, so I want to know if I have any rights and what I can do about it. By looking at other Westcott posts it seems as if I should avoid them as much as possible. Does anyone have any advice for me? Thanks Mark

hello im new to all this and not sure where to start ive been in financial trouble and been unbale to pay my halifax credit card i currently owe them 15,120 33 p until 4 years ago i was paying them 350 a month but i lost my job and home so was unable to pay it i did write to halifax and it was agreed at first i paid 20 a month then for the last 3 years ive been paying 1 pound a month when i moved house i did not tell them my new address scared they would come after me i never told my wife about this debt ive been paying like a said a 1 for nearly 4 years they have defaulted my credit rating at first i got letters from halifax then it seemed to have been passed on to albion collections for 6 months then for the last 3 years blair oliver scott i continued paying 1 pound by putting a pound in a bubble wrap envelop using my old address i know silly but im so scared of letters coming to new address council housed me i continued to write a letter once a month to them with pound enclosed with old address at top of letter and remebering when its due on monday i got a letter at my new address from a company called wescot debt collectors saying i have to pay in full 15,120 in 10 days to avoid further action i was so shocked i ripped it up and threw it in the bin then i wrote a letter with old address at top of page as normal sending a pound to balir oliver scott not wescot how have they found me? are they fishing? have they looked on electoral roll? if i get further letters do i put not known at this address and send it back in post? is it because i have not paid the agreed pound for 3 months? what are my rights? i cannot pay this off i have no assets or savings will they keep sending me letters? terrified wife will get post would they come knocking on my door? surely many people have the same name surely they cannot be sure im the correct brian? i dont want debt collectors/baliffs on my doorstep can they take me to court? do they have to prove im the right man? im scared i cant afford to clear this debt ever why has my debt been passed from one debt collector to another sorry about all this please can you help brian

Hi, Received letter from Westcott asking me to confirm who i was. Stupidly called them and asked what it was about and they said it was British Gas bill from Nov 2012 for £180. They would not give me info until I confirmed my identity (I know, i probably shouldnt have done it in hindsight). But I have. Told them I have no idea how I owe any money and that Id contact BG directly which I did. Got cut off several times online, on the phone to BG. BG claim I owe it - they attempted to break down the bill and couldnt explain how I owed the money. I've written to both Westcott saying im not paying anything until BG clarify HOW i owe this money. Ive also written to BG asking for evidence that I owe the money. I had a BG account in the next flat I moved to ...so how they couldnt find me, i dont know? My question is what I do now? I have no paperwork from that time, I burnt it around 4 months ago. I do however have all my bank statements with regular and up to date payments to BG. I am certain I do not owe that money. Thanks all - never had any debts so its new to me!

New debt new story, as follows. Not mine This is a bank account debt IRO £750-00, CCA req was sent 03/01/2014 acknowledged on the 06/01/2014. No return of CCA. The account was then closed on the 11/01/2014 and returned to the OC NOA issued by the bank 17/02/2014 to Westcot. Contacted Westcot and stated still have an outstanding CCA request, why are you involved? they say I now have to resend the CCA req to them with the fee of £1-00 again. My understanding was as the original CCA request has not been dealt with the enforcement can not continue until it is. This account with Westcot is on permanent hold until they can look into this from their end, had to get DPA for this debt all over again, to remove all telephone numbers from their systems, which was requested by me to Moorcroft, this again was not done. All info suppied to Moorcroft has not been forwarded to the OC so will I have to start this again? There are far to many charges on this account, but will deal with that once the CCA request is sorted in sent to me. I will then will have to digest the info for several weeks, then send off a SAR to Santander as she no longer has all of the statements. but only at the right time. I was lead to believe that by OFT guideline's a debt can not be pursued whilst it is in dispute and a valid CCA request is not forthcoming. This to date still this has not ben sent to the debtor? A formal complaint has been issued for non compliance and the debt in dispute letter was sent at the same time, but these went to Moorcroft. Since they have sent it back to the OC do I now have to start all over again? MM

Hi all I've been a fan of the forum for ages and have avidly read the questions and great answers from the very knowledgeable people on CAG. You are all wonderful. Now I've got need of your help myself! I missed a couple of monthly payments that I was making to Lloyds bank due to being in hospital. Payment had been made monthly using a paying in book at any Lloyds branch. I've had a letter from Westcotts saying that they have had the debt referred to them and are collecting on behalf of Lloyds. The letter wanted me to contact them with my repayment proposals. I ignored this first letter to see what would happen and had a similar letter with "Final Demand" written across the top about a week later. I was still determined to wait to see what happened next and lo and behold, I had another letter from Wescott stating that following consultation with their client, they would accept a substantially reduced single payment to clear the debt. No figure was mentioned and they wanted me to phone them. I obviously stayed off the phone. I next sent them a request for a copy of the original credit agreement using the identical letter from the library and enclosing a £1.00 PO. Westcott have now replied that they are not the creditor but are acting on behalf of Lloyds. They have returned the crossed PO saying it needs to made payable to Lloyds and I then have the choice of sending the PO to Lloyds with the CCA request ( Lloyds forwarding address not supplied!) or sending it to Westcott for them to forward it on. Westcott have suspended collection activity for 28 day for me to come up with my "repayment proposals" to them. I'm not inclined to take the bait here and contact Lloyds directly because I don't really know if the debt has been sold to Westcott. I won't do their dirty work for them. I'm certainly not going to submit any repayment proposals. For now I'd like to see what they come up with next following the CCA request and I don't want to go down the road of submitting a SAR that would cost me a tenner. However, I now don't seem able to submit the failure to supply a CCA request letter as per the library after the statutory 12+2 days as I've got no one to send it to! Should I sit tight on this? Many thanks.

I got a phone call this morning which went something like this. "Sorry to bother you but can I speak to xxxxx xxxxxxx"? I said I was speaking. "The caller then said I'd just like to confirm we can still contact you at (and stated my address)"? Alarm bells went off at the back of my last remaining braincell and I asked who was calling. We are 2F. I asked from where. Hull. I asked why she was calling me. After some evasive tactics, she eventually said they had a client who had been trying to deliver correspondence to me. I asked again who she worked for and why she was calling me and that I believed she was breaching DPA (and I meant by deceptive tactics). I told her I was ending the call... there's really no point getting into a conversation with debt collectors on the phone for all the reasons stated in these threads. When I google 2F Hull, it comes up with Westcott - who are also mentioned all over these threads. So, is this a new tactic? To call someone out of the blue without even trying to establish they're actually talking to the right person? Just wondered if anyone else had calls like this from 2F Hull?

Ok - so the debt is unen and we have a letter to prove it. Barcalycard give it to Robinson Way - we send them copy of unen letter. Robinson Way send debt back to Barclaycard. Barclacard send debt to Westcott. We send them copy of unen and receive this letter in return. Dear Blah We refer to your recent communication. Having contacted our client they have advised this account is unenforceable under s78 of the Consumer credit Act; however, this does not prevent collection activity. Our client is only unable to take legal action against you. In the circumstances, we believe the dispute has now been resolved and the full balance or an agreed monthly instalment is required by return. Payment can be made blah blah blah... If in the event you believe you stil have a valid dispute, please contact us with the details within the next 14 days otherwise your account will be returned to our recovery team for colletion. Yours ****** of the Earth who is brainwashed into believing all the capitalist claptrap. I re-sent copy of unen letter cos I couldn't remember if I had already done so. They ignored it. Now today a letter arrives saying we are going to have a doorstep visit!!!! I rang them, said I was my husband. That threw them! They asked for confirmation of DOB, address, postcode etc which I refused to give. I told the debt was unen and told them to check their records. I guess I wasn't thinking straight cos I should have ignored them. I just don't want a doorstep visit and for them to threaten my kids. What do I do now? Ignore?

I've sent a CCA request to Wescott who have returned it together with the PO saying I should send it to Llyods direct with a PO made out to them not Wescott or I can send back to them and that they will forward. In the letter they have said they still want me to arrange a payment or proposals to repay within the next 28 days irrespective of the CCA Can they insist on this and how should I reply. thanks

I sent off a CCA request to a DCA with a £1 postal order payab;e to the DCA. They have returned it asking I make it payable to the Creditor. They have also asked me to cinfirm if I have ever opened an accoun t with their client and the balance. They finally state if I am disputing the balance or feel it may be subject of fraud I should supply full details. What is the best way forward do I send a payment payable to their client, and what is their role in this matter

Hi all a bit of advice needed. I have an old credit card debt going back 10 years with Westcott. I have been paying them £10 per month by standing order over that ime and have received no communication from them at my current address for over 8 years. All of a sudden they are on my case writing and telephoning. I decided to fight back and have sent a cca request and a subject access request with the appropriate fee. I guess what i want to know, having rebuilt my credit rating is, can they hurt me or is it just bluff, now that for some reason they have found me.

Hope someone can advise me; I've been receiving lots of missed calls and voicemails recently asking me to call Wescot / Westcot (not sure which way they spell it). Being on the receiving end of loads of spam calls (my mobile number has somehow ended up on some list) I never answer calls from a number I don't recognise, but these voicemails are worrying - the message uses my full name and asks me to call them with a reference number, obviously they are some sort of debt collection company from what I've read on this forum but as far as I'm aware I don't have any missed payments on anything / problems with any sort of credit. I've checked my Experian credit history and it says my credit rating is excellent, it lists my bank accounts etc and doesn't have any mention of any debts other than a bank loan I have which has no problems - is it possible that I can have a debt outstanding which doesn't show on my credit history??? From what I've read on here Westcott are not the most reasonable / ethical of companies to deal with, I'm reluctant to answer the phone to them, I'm really worried that this debt could be some sort of identity fraud which could have a negative impact on me - any advice on what I should do?

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!