Welcome Finance & Data Protection

Belle_de_Jour_2

I think some of the comments here have been far from helpful and a tad presumptuous. I merely outlined what the situation was. With regards to the charity stamp, i already consulted the government bodies i mentioned about this before i 'jumped to silly conclusions', and the people i spoke to found it very odd also. The envelopes already had postal stamps and separate postmarks on them. But if it's normal to have those stamps, then it's fine, but not my main concern.

My main issue is the fact that they did disclose information to the family member that rang them - i was there! I heard the whole conversation myself. They stated i held a loan and wasn't making any payments, which is false. I do make payments, just not as much as my original agreement stated (but that's beside the point). And the alleged reference number was my actual account number, which shouldn't be disclosed to anyone but myself. I didn't and would never put any family member as a reference - Ever! I kept copies of my original contract to prove this. The fact that they sent letters to all four members when they only required two contacts initially goes to show they got the information from elsewhere.
If you have no advice to give or help to offer then please don't respond at all, as it's a sensitive enough issue already for me - i only wanted to know if someone had a similar situation.

RuthnJasper - thanks for trying to understand the situation with regards to whether their conduct was ethical or not - i myself i'm finding it difficult to comprehend, hence why i immediately sought advice from the government bodies. Unfortunately i sent the letters off as evidence as they wanted originals, but they will be sent back to me once the investigation is completed. I have copies but currently looking after a relative with no access to a scanner - i'll try and get to one before the weekend is over and send it to you.

brians_daughter

when you get a loan from welcome you have to supply 2 family members name address contact details. Would these members of your family who got the letters be the members of your family you gave? You say you never would disclose family members, if thats the case you wouldnt have got a loan from them.

re the barnardos thing my mail has been stamped with it too, so its not just welcome playing silly bu**ers

I hate these people as much as the next person, but in all fairness if you supplied the details and havent been keeping to the t&c's of your loan ie paying £x every month/week then they are simply trying to track you down.

You should consider asking for a copy of any recordings etc to back up your claims but i doubts they would admit having any recordings of teh conversations. These ppla re the lowest of the low IMO and will do anything to get out of a sticky situation

Belle_de_Jour_2

brians_daughter wrote: »

when you get a loan from welcome you have to supply 2 family members name address contact details. Would these members of your family who got the letters be the members of your family you gave? You say you never would disclose family members, if thats the case you wouldnt have got a loan from them.

re the barnardos thing my mail has been stamped with it too, so its not just welcome playing silly bu**ers

I hate these people as much as the next person, but in all fairness if you supplied the details and havent been keeping to the t&c's of your loan ie paying £x every month/week then they are simply trying to track you down.

You should consider asking for a copy of any recordings etc to back up your claims but i doubts they would admit having any recordings of teh conversations. These ppla re the lowest of the low IMO and will do anything to get out of a sticky situation

Hi,
No these weren't the family members i supplied, which is why i was a bit taken aback. And unfortunately i have to agree with you that they probably won't give me any recordings. There was no indication that the conversation was even being recorded, as they have to give warning prior to the conversation right? (correct me if i'm wrong though)
I'm hoping that the fact they put my account number on each letter may indicate that they were prepared to disclose information - i mean why else would they provide that? If it was just a reference number then i guess it's ok, but it was my account number and no one else should know that except me i'm guessing...

Lowest of the low doesn't cut it

CHR15

I wouldn't at all surprised if Welcome can do this.

As a bottom feeder lender, they have only ever lent money to people who are likely to stop the repayments. Anyone in control of their finances wouldn't ever go near Welcome, they would be at a mainstream lender with a decent apr.

It's when the decent lenders say no as the likelyhood of default is almost a certainty, that the borrower goes to the bottom feeders.

They would have a robust mechanism in place to track those non payers down.

Ethical methods of tracking people - Not in my opinion

Welcome an ethical lender - Well, they do (did) lend when others refuse !


What concerns me about your post, is that you said you wer stood next to your family member taking the call. Why didn't you make the call or take the phone??
It comes across as you trying to avoid them.

brians_daughter

hum, i can see where you are coming from here. I have had a simular (but totally different iykwim) type issue. My neighbours got letters concerning my address and were asked to call up a number provided. They did do and it was a debt company chasing ppl who they thought lived at my address (they never have done) they had a ref number (the account number)on the letter and they told my neighbours they were chasing a debt- it wasnt us, and it wasnt our name but the neighbours didnt know that!

They asked the neighbours Qs like how long we have lived here, what cars we drove, did we work, did they know wheere we worked etc. I took it to FOS and trading standards. At the end of the day nothing could be done as they didnt have copies of any calls the neighbours made and the ref number couldnt be used to access the account as there were security questions in place ie neighbour couldnt say they were the person in question as they wouldnt have cleared the security questions.

I too would be angry if they called ppl up saying i owed money, but i dont know what will come of this - i very much doubt you will get anything out of it - infact you will be out of paocket with all the calls you have had to make. Maybe best to try and come to some form of repayment plan. WF are/were in trouble so if you can scrape together any money it maybe worth offering a final settlement figure to pay them off.

sorry for all typos, I have a cranky baby sat on my knee lol

RuthnJasper

Belle_de_Jour wrote: »

RuthnJasper - thanks for trying to understand the situation with regards to whether their conduct was ethical or not - i myself i'm finding it difficult to comprehend, hence why i immediately sought advice from the government bodies. Unfortunately i sent the letters off as evidence as they wanted originals, but they will be sent back to me once the investigation is completed. I have copies but currently looking after a relative with no access to a scanner - i'll try and get to one before the weekend is over and send it to you.

That's grand - but it'd probably be better for you to type out in a message what the letter says and leave out any specific details about you, your family or the loan reference numbers - you never know who's out there reading stuff...:eek:

Try not to worry too much (I know that's tough sometimes) - one day this will all be history and you have been doing the right things in paying what you can, reporting your concerns about Welcome to the appropriate bodies, and seeking support on here . x

minicoopernikki

I got a hp finance for my car, it was for £9949 I paid it on time each month £301 they sent me a few letter as up dates! I didn't ask for them I assumed they where free! A year later they said I had arrears of £1674?? I said how they had been charging me £10 a letter and then interest! How bad is that??? Now I can't get a loan to clear It or anything and citizens advice are no help! My advice stay away beg , steal and borrow before u consider them if u are really desperate!!!