What to do about Welcome

[Supernick]

Hi All

I am in urgent need of advice as i need to remove my head from that all too comfortable sand and try to sort this out.

In 2004 I took a loan from welcome finance. £1500 over a 2 year period. I paid back £40 a week for just over a year and was offered a £500 top up loan which i took. I then continued to pay £40 a week for almost a year never missing a payment.I then decided to buy a car with them, the finance working out at £8000 (for a 5 grand car) over 4 years, which along with my other loan i paid at just over 40 per week. So in total £80 a week. For the next 6 months i never missed or was late with a payment.

That is until, i was unfortunate enough to be made redundant from my job. I had no payment protection on the car, but i did have it on the loan.

I contacted welcome and expleined my situation and that i would not be able to pay anything for a period while i was seeking a new job, and also enquired about my p.p.i.

I was advised that if i was only going to be out of work for a month or so, it was not worth claiming it.

I considerd this, and decided ok, i will see how my job hunt goes for a while.

3 months later, i eventually a job i was happy with and contacted welcome asking to restart payments. I explained that i was just getting abck on my feet and could not offer any lump sum catch up payment but could however begin immeidiate weekly payments again.

They didnt listen, and pressured me into agreeing to make a lump some payment which subsiquently i could not pay.

I then called again, stating the same thing... i wanted to re-start weekly payments. Again, they didnt listen and tried to get me to make a large lump sum catch up payment. Again, i could not make the payment.

Eventually, after going backwards and forward like this for some months, they send a collection agency round at 0230 in the morning to repo the car.

I was not home that night, so they took the car, complete with my passport and other personal belongings which were in there.

When i called to ask for my personal effects back they refused to send them and told me i would have to travel 100 miles to go and collect them.

I lost the ability to cope with the situation and have had no contact with them for approx 2 years.

I have now discovered that the 2 accounts stand at £5000 each and still show on my credit file as in the red with late payments( not defaulted) and have receved a letter staing that global debt recovery now owns the debt.

But more interestingly, my credit file is showing 3 new accounts opened by welcome in the last month, all for a few hundred pounds over 6 months and a year, all payments up to date but i have no idea what they are!!!

I am planning to contact them for full account staements but what would really be the best course of action to take with these guys. also is it illegal to open 3 new accounts in my name that i know nothing about. i dont think it is id theft as im sure they would not entertain the idea of somone with my name opening such accounts.

[42man]

In the first instance I would send them a SAR (subject access request), unfortunately this will cost you £10, but at least you will know where you will stand with them..send the £10 in postal order and send the SAR by recorded / guaranteed delivery - they have to provide everything within 40 days...

 

Data Protection Act 1998

 

Subject Access Request

 

Dear Sir/Madam

 

ACCOUNT NUMBER: xxxxxxxxx (or multiple numbers if more than one account)

 

Please supply me with all data that you hold on me. This includes in particular, but is not limited to, the following:-

 

1. The original signed, executed credit agreement and any terms and conditions that applied to the account at the time of default and at the time the account was opened.

2. Transcriptions of all telephone conversations recorded and any notes made in relation to telephone conversations by your company, or by any previous creditor

3. Where there has been any event in my account history over this period which has required manual intervention by any person, I require disclosure of any indication or notes which have either caused or resulted in that manual intervention, or other evidence of that manual intervention in relation to my account formerly held with ORIGINAL CREDITOR.

4. True copies of any notice of assignment and/or default notice or enforcement notice that you or the original creditor sent me, with a copy of any proof of postage that you hold.

5. Documents relating to any insurance added to the account, including the insurance contract and terms and conditions, date it was added and deleted (if applicable).

6. Details of any collection charges added to the account; specifically, the date it was levied, the amount of the charge, a detailed financial breakdown of how the charge was calculated, and what the charge covers.

7. Specific details of the fees/charges levied by any other agency in respect of this account and a detailed breakdown of said fees/charges and what each charge relates to and on what date said fees/charges were levied.

8. A genuine copy of any notice of fair use of my data as required by the Data Protection Act 1998

9. A list of third party agencies to whom you have disclosed my personal data and a summary of the nature of the information you have disclosed.

10. Copies of statements for the entire duration of the credit agreement.

 

I enclose the statutory maximum fee of £10. You have 40 days in which to comply.

If there is specific information which you require in order to satisfy yourself as to my identity, please let me know by return. However, please note that the above address is the one which you normally use to communicate my private business to me and which you have hitherto found to be acceptable.

 

Yours faithfully,

 

 

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