Wescot Need Help

[weetoonhunter]

Hi all

 

Trying for a mortgage and trying to clear up some things on my credit file from when I was a bad boy in my younger days

 

I have recently received a letter from wescot to say i owe 890.58 from an old phone bill that i defaulted on 03/03/2005. the default balance is 371.

 

I think that nearly 520 extra is totally unacceptable nearly twice the amount I originally owe. Is There anything that I can do about that.

 

Thanks for your time

 

WTH

[rory32]

They need to substantiate any debt that they claim is owed and their right to collect it. I would ask them for a breakdown of this account in writing. The 520 odd quid you will not be paying. They can not lawfully add collection charges to the account.

[weetoonhunter]

Thanks Rory Is there any letters on here which i can copy and paste from

 

Your help is much appreciated

 

WTH

[sirwilcox]

Hi all

 

Trying for a mortgage and trying to clear up some things on my credit file from when I was a bad boy in my younger days

 

I have recently received a letter from wescot to say i owe 890.58 from an old phone bill that i defaulted on 03/03/2005. the default balance is 371.

 

I think that nearly 520 extra is totally unacceptable nearly twice the amount I originally owe. Is There anything that I can do about that.

 

Thanks for your time

 

WTH

 

 

Hi Chap

 

The first thing you need to do is apply for a copy of the Consumer Credit Act agreement from Wescott. They need to provide you with a copy of this within 12 days or the debt becomes unenforceable, the other benifit is that without this agreement bearing your signiture, they cannot pass information to credit reference agencies about this debt or will need to remove it if they already have done so.

 

In my experience, when a company passes a debt to Westcott, they are pretty much admitting to themselves that the debt is lost and sell it to westcott for a pitance.

 

I have copied a letter below which has worked very well for me and a follow up letter should they not reply to the first. Always send them recorded delivery.

 

REMEMBER: If they do not have or cannot produce a true copy of your original CCA agreement, that is the end of it! Finito!

 

 

Initial First Letter

 

Dear Sir/Madam

 

Re:− Account/Reference Number ****

 

This letter is a formal request pursuant to s.77/78 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974. I require you to provide me with a true copy of the credit agreement relating to the above account, together with any other documentation the Act requires you to provide.

 

I expect you to comply fully and properly with this request, within the statutory time limit. You are reminded that should you fail to comply with my request, the provisions of s.77(6) will apply.

 

If it is your view that you are not the creditor, s.175 of the CCA 1974 applies in the case of a simple assignment, and places a duty upon you to pass this request to the creditor. In the case of an absolute assignment, you are a creditor as defined by s.189. If you contend that you purchased the rights but not the duties of any agreement, you are reminded that s.189 of the Act is clear that an assignment is of both rights and duties.

Your attention is drawn to ss.5(2), 3(b),6 and 7 of the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 (CPUTR).

 

I enclose a cheque in the sum of £1.00, which is the statutory fee. Note that these funds are not to be used for any other purpose.

 

If you are unable to comply fully and properly with this request, you should confirm this in writing at the earliest opportunity, and certainly within the statutory time limit for compliance, and return the fee.

We look forward to hearing from you.

Second Letter

Dear Sir/Madam

 

Re:− Account/Reference Number ****

 

You have failed to respond to my legal request to supply me a true copy of the original Consumer Credit Agreement for the above account.

 

On 3rd November 2008 I made a formal request for a true signed agreement for the alleged account under consumer credit Act 1974 s77/8. You have failed to comply with my request, and as such the account entered default on 17th November 2008.

 

The document that you are obliged to send me is a true copy of the executed agreement that contained all of the prescribed terms, all other required terms and statutory notices and was signed by both your company and myself as defined in section 61(1) of CCA 74 and subsequent Statutory Instruments. If the executed agreement contained any reference to any other document, you are also obliged to send me a copy of that document. In addition a full statement of this account should have been sent to me detailing all debits and credits to the account.

 

Furthermore you are aware that the Consumer Credit Act allows 12 working days for a request for a true copy of a credit agreement to be carried out before you enter into a default situation. This limit has expired.

 

As you are no doubt aware section 77(6) states:

If the creditor fails to comply with Subsection (1)

(a) He is not entitled , while the default continues, to enforce the agreement.

 

Therefore this account has become unenforceable at law as you have Failed to comply with a lawful request for a true, signed copy of the said agreement and other relevant documents mentioned in it, Failed to send a full statement of the account and Failed to provide any of the documentation requested.

 

Consequentially any legal action you pursue will be averred as both UNLAWFUL and VEXATIOUS. Furthermore I shall counterclaim that any such action constitutes unlawful harassment.

 

Please note you may also consider this letter as a statutory notice under section 10 of the Data Protection Act to cease processing any data in relation to this account with immediate effect.

 

This means you must remove all information regarding this account from your own internal records and from my records with any credit reference agencies.

 

Should you refuse to comply, you must within 21 days provide me with a detailed breakdown of your reasoning behind continuing to process my data.

 

It is not sufficient to simply state that you have a ‘legal right’; You must outline your reasoning in this matter and state upon which legislation this reasoning depends.

 

Should you not respond within 14 days I expect that this means you agree to remove all such data.

 

Furthermore you should be aware that a creditor is not permitted to take ANY action against an account whilst it remains in dispute.

 

The lack of a credit agreement is a very clear dispute and as such the following applies.

* You may not demand any payment on the account, nor am I obliged to offer any payment to you.

* You may not add further interest or any charges to the account.

* You may not pass the account to a third party.

* You may not register any information in respect of the account with any credit reference agency.

* You may not issue a default notice related to the account.

 

I reserve the right to report your actions to any such regulatory authorities as I see fit.

 

You have 14 days from receiving this letter to contact me with your intentions to resolve this matter which is now a formal complaint. I would appreciate your due diligence in this matter.

 

I look forward to hearing from you in writing.

[sirwilcox]

Dont know why the above letters will not copy properley...looks a right mess, get in touch and I will email you them! Good luck

[rory32]

The first thing you need to do is apply for a copy of the Consumer Credit Act agreement from Wescott.

This would be pointless I'm afraid as the phone bill is not covered by the Act as it's a service contract.

[rory32]

Thanks Rory Is there any letters on here which i can copy and paste from

Even though you know what this is about I would send them the following to get them to substantiate it. Send via recorded delivery.

 

Dear Sir/Madam

 

You have contacted me/us regarding the account with the above reference number, which you claim is owed by myself/ourselves.

 

I/we would point out that I/we have no knowledge of any such debt being owed to (insert company name).

 

I am/we are familiar with the Office of Fair Trading Debt Collection Guidance which states that it unfair to send demands for payment to an individual when it is uncertain that they are the debtor in question. I would also point out that this would be considered an unfair business practice under the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008.

 

I/we would also point out that the OFT say under the Guidance that it is unfair to pursue third parties for payment when they are not liable. In not ceasing collection activity whilst investigating a reasonably queried or disputed debt you are using deceptive and/or unfair methods.

 

Furthermore ignoring and/or disregarding claims that debts have been settled or are disputed and continuing to make unjustified demands for payment amounts to physical/psychological harassment.

 

I/we would ask that no further contact be made concerning the above account unless you can provide evidence as to my/our liability for the debt in question.

 

I/we await your written confirmation that this matter is now closed. Otherwise I will have no option but to make a complaint to the trading standards department and consider informing the OFT of your actions.

 

I/we look forward to your reply.

 

Yours faithfully

Print do not sign name.

[weetoonhunter]

Rory thanks for your reply...I have paid these bar stewards 40 quid already and they have sent me another letter saying that i havent paid them anything. Its starting to get a right pain in the ar>e

 

thanks

[weetoonhunter]

Hi I contacted the forum about this before but think the thread got lost (or i just dont know what im doing )

 

I have defaulted on an old mobile bill 3/3/05. The default balance is 371. BUT Wescot want 890.58. I find the charges unacceptable. I want to pay what I owe the 371 ONLY.

 

Can I Do This-and if I can-HOW?

 

I have already paid them 2 x £20 already via cheque

 

please help.

 

Got a couple more but will start with this. Is there any way i can clear the default too?

 

Thanks for your time and a great site

 

WTH

[saintly_1]

I have merged your 2 threads so all the information is in one place

[rory32]

Did they respond to your letter?

[weetoonhunter]

rory,

 

should i send the letter above m8 that you have left for me?

 

cheers

 

wth

 

ps thanks for the merge

[saintly_1]

Did you send the letter from post #7 that rory gave you ? if not then I suggest that you send it now

[weetoonhunter]

ok will copy and paste and send it off tonight...will be in touch

 

cheers

[weetoonhunter]

letter now posted-how long do they normally take to reply?

 

thanks

 

wth

[weetoonhunter]

hi all received a letter back this is what it says

 

CLIENT WCS-Singlepoint Balance £850

 

Further to your recent correspondence regarding the above account.

 

We Can confirm that the balance relates to unexpired contract charges, with a connection date of 31st December 2004 and last bill dated 8th November 2002

 

We look forward to your reply in due course.

 

Yours Faityhfully

 

Wescot Credit Services Ltd

 

Ok now I really need help. What should i do next this bill was only 200 and i have paid 40 already. please help

[rory32]

Is that all they have sent you?

[weetoonhunter]

yes thats it m8-i sent word for word on the letter u told me to send above

[rory32]

Well that's not what you asked for. I would write back to them asking them for a detailed breakdown of how they have come to this amount. Also make an official complaint. Their response is pathetic.

[weetoonhunter]

thanks rory-how would i go about that mate?

 

sorry just want to make sure im doing this right

 

wth

[rory32]

Dear Sirs,

 

Thank you for your letter of (date), the contents of which are noted.

 

In my letter of (date) I specifically requested that no further contact be made concerning the above account unless you can provide evidence as to my liability for the debt in question. As simple statement of "We Can confirm that the balance relates to unexpired contract charges, with a connection date of 31st December 2004 and last bill dated 8th November 2002" in no way provides any evidence of any liability on my behalf.

 

Please provide me with a detailed itemised breakdown of the amount you are claiming as owed and how it has been calculated.

 

Please also consider this an official complaint as your previous reply is completely unancceptable. Unless you can provide me with the detailed information requested I shall be reporting your actions to the OFT under the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 and Trading Standards.

 

Yours faithfully

...

[weetoonhunter]

Hi all and thank you for your help so far. Finally got a reply from Wescot this is what they say. The letter had an old statement of account from 11/01/05 for a balance of 371.43 (I dont mind settling this its the charge of 479.15 thats been added on that I find disgusting)

 

The letter from Wescot writes:

 

With reference to your recent enquiry.

 

Having contacted our client they have advised that the balance of £371.43 which shows on the statement account provided is for line rental and usuage, however there is also an outstanding balance of £479.15 which relates to the early termination fee resulting in the balance owing of £850.58.

 

The full balance or an agreed monthly instalment is required by return by contacting our offices on 0870 902 0574.

 

Please ensure your payment is made payable to Wescot Credit Serrvices, quoting account number on the reverse and sent to address below. Payments can be made by cheque, postal order or alternatively you can pay by debit or credit card.

 

We trust the above clarifies the situation and we await your response in the next 7 days.

 

The statement alongside the letter doesnt have 850.58 on it only 371.43 so I think wescot are at it. This is really doing my head in.

 

Please help

 

WTH