Wescot strike again! Please Help!

Jelly_Baby_4

I already posted this message on old thread, but don't think anyone has noticed, so sorry for repeating myself.

A letter arrived at my house on 20th October for someone who doesn't live at the property. I was immediately suspicious, (my husband and I bought the house 10 years ago) so I opened the mail. It was a demand from dear Wescot Credit for nearly £4000!!!!!

I got straight on to them. They are acting on behalf of Thames Credit who bought the debt from MBNA. It is for an MBNA card. The person owing the money has the same name and DOB as me but a different surname. Neither my married or maiden names were the same as this womans. The bloke at Thames was pleasant, but said they no longer have any interest in the debt, he thought I had been contacted due to a wrong trace, but wasn't really interested. Apparently this debt is about 4 years old and has been pursued since this woman disappeared from her home in 2002. All this info obtained from Thames, Wescot can't discuss the account if I'm not the account holder. :rotfl:

Since my last posting I have sent Wescot copies of birth certificate, marriage certificate, driving licence, mortgage document (to prove I didn't live at this woman's address in 2002, but have in fact lived here for 10 years). :j

Still no word from Wescot. I am terrified as I have read all these postings on this and other sites about them repeatedly losing/ignoring correspondence. The letter stated bailiifs may call if the debt was not settled by 1st November!!!!!!!! Any advice would be appreciated. :eek:

I have contacted Office of Fair Trading, (they are supposedly looking into it as Wescot may have breached debt collection guidelines), MBNA (no reply as yet) and Citizens Advice Bureau. Have also spoken to police, who think this is a Wescot error, not any sort of identity theft or scam.

Also e mailed Neilconway@wescot.co.uk and Sarahdetute@wescot.co.uk. Got these names from another site complaining about Wescot, these people are apparently really helpful! :rolleyes: These mails were returned by Wescot Postmaster. Unclear why, maybe because I attached copies of letters sent to OFT. Or maybe these people have been fired for NOT being rude and obstructive. Has anyone else tried mailing them or can anyone suggest a web address?

Think this site is excellent and it has really helped to see I'm not the only innocent person targeted by Wescot.

Wig

I have heard that a debt collection company has no right any moneies owed anyway, because the debtor did not have a contract with that company initially. So these cases of the debt collection company buying bad debts from other companies actually hold no water in court.

I know it is not your debt anyway, but I don't see what you're worrying about. If the bailiffs come to your door (they have to go to court first to get permission to come) just call the police and have copies of your correspondence to show the police. If all the property in your house belongs to you and not to miss XXXX then the bailiffs can't touch any of it.

You shouldn't be opening other peoples mail. Just put it back in the postbox marked "not at this address" or "unknown at this address".

Loretta

Wig wrote:

I have heard that a debt collection company has no right any moneies owed anyway, because the debtor did not have a contract with that company initially. So these cases of the debt collection company buying bad debts from other companies actually hold no water in court.

I know it is not your debt anyway, but I don't see what you're worrying about. If the bailiffs come to your door (they have to go to court first to get permission to come) just call the police and have copies of your correspondence to show the police. If all the property in your house belongs to you and not to miss XXXX then the bailiffs can't touch any of it.

You shouldn't be opening other peoples mail. Just put it back in the postbox marked "not at this address" or "unknown at this address".

I think that you have missed the point of OP's concerns. Bailiffs come unexpectedly, are often very large, they must breed them somewhere, and can be very insistant, threatening, intimitating and persistant. You have mostly opened the door before you know who it is, cannot presume every time someone knocks your door it is some kind of bully boy that you must be careful of or you would drive your self mad with worry. Once you have opened the door they will put their foot in it or push their way in, although they would always deny it and you could not prove otherwise. If you phone the police they are not very knowledgable about these things and will probably say it is a civil matter which they cannot deal with. The Bailiff will pretend he is calling the police to ask for help from them because you are being obstructive.

I am sure all the things they do are unlawful but most people don't know that and most people do not know how to get advice when this situation is going on.

I read with amazement that bailiffs and debt collecting agencies can cause so much worry and distress and get away with it. Why do we not all know if it is true that these debt collectors cannot in force a debt they have bought if you do not have a contract with them? Lets try and get some facts about this and tackle it together. It seems a regular event to receive a letter from these sort of people that is not to someone with your name, or to someone you have no dealings with or to someone you have already paid. Why should people get involved in protracted correspondence and phone calls which are always unsuccessful. These people do not seem to have any interest in sorting out their own mistakes and the constant phone calls several times during the day and evening can be very threatening and from really nasty people. I keep having these phone calls from Naturally Close of an amount of £9.62, hardly the national debt which was paid months ago. These companies must make far tyoo much money out of us all if they can afford to pay debt collectors for this sort of sum. Incidentally I also get lots of letters from naturally Close saying that as I am such a valued customer I can have a discount on my next purchase!! How do these companies keep their customer?

Lets make a plan, a good letter with real legal facts that we can all send these Westcot types, ONCE and once only.

trinnylilac

Have you tried e-mailing Watchdog or even one of the help me people in magazines . I think the Daily Mail also has a finacial help bit on a Thursday .May be worth a try.
Good luck.

Jelly_Baby_4

Thanks for those words of support Loretta. In response to Wig, I take your point about putting the letter back in the mail unopened, however, I'm glad I did open it or who knows where this would have ended up? There was no return address on the envelope, so the letter would still be going round in the postal system somewhere. Meanwhile Wescot would have thought Miss. Thingy was ignoring their demands and sent the heavies round. :eek:

I have read that legally you don't have to let bailiifs in and they are not actually allowed to break in unless they are collecting a certain type of debt such as Council Tax arrears. Anyone know anything about this? However, they can enter through a door or window which has been left open.

Citizens Advice did say Wescot would have to take me to court in order to get bailiifs involved, but the case wouldn't stand up in court anyway due to me not being the person they want . :T

It's just the fact that I am dealing with a company who don't play by the rules and who keep moving the goal posts. If they followed the law to the letter, we wouldn't all be posting these messages about their outrageous demands. Consequently, I'm terrified to pop out and leave my 3 sons for even 5 minutes, 'just in case'. :rotfl:

There is a site https://www.wescotcreditsucks.com, with yet more links and stories.

Wig

The bailiffs can't legally enter without a court order, and as you rightly point out they wouldn't get one because the names don't match.

If they turn up at the door without a court order they are not allowed to enter, so shut the door on them after telling them you are going to call the police if they don't go away.

I don't buy all this intimidation crap, letters are annoying yes, but only if they are addressed to someone who actually lives at the address. Bailiffs are annoying if they call, but if you are firm with them they will go away, unless they are entitled to enter in which case they will call the police.

*If you had written on the envelope "unknown at this address" and returned it, the letter would eventually arrive in Northern Ireland who would open it and return it to the sender. You are not allowed to open it, indeed opening it does not help your case one little bit because it could be argued that you are accepting to be called by that name.

P.s. Loretta Tucker, if the company the debt is owed to is using the debt collection company as an agent on thier behalf then they have every right to collect the money. It is only when the debt collectors buy the debt from the companies that it enters the dodgy ground, and I understand someone won a case and they ended up owing nothing.