Really need some advice re:Westcot credit services. PLEASE!!

clj49

Hi all, hoping someone can give me some advice. About 3 weeks ago my partner receieved a letter from Westcot credit services for a debt he had no recollection of (£289.32)
He phoned their office and was informed it was for an old credit card debt which he had last paid money towards in Jan 2000 (about 18 months before I met him, when he was married to somebody else) He has heard nothing from the company since then, admittedly he has moved a couple of times.
He denied all knowledge of the debt and I sent a letter about on his behalf following a suggested format I picked up from another moneysavingexperts thread, which asked for original copies of agreements etc and gave them 12 days to comply with my request before I would report them to financial ombudsmen etc. A letter from Westcot arrived on Saturday stating that before they could release this information they needed confirmation of my partners last 3 addresses for data protection purposes. I have not yet replied to this letter, but today they sent a Final Notice stating that unless the full balance was paid by the 30th November A £80 legal expenses fee would be added and a claim form may be lodged with Hull County Court.
What do i do next? Do I supply the last 3 addresses for my partner or is this giving them ammunition. Also i was under the impression that debts more than 6 years old where there has been no correspondance and no money paid towards the balance were statute barred and as such debt collectors couldn't chase you for them.
Really don't know what to do as don't want to pay this, in fact probably unable to pay this at the moment, but don't want it hanging over my head or to be harrassed over it. Help please, Carly

Broken_hearted

Send a letter back telling them you don't aknowledge the debt and as its over 6 years old they shouldn't be chasing it anyway.

Eager_Elephant

Hi

I think you should supply the 3 addresses as they are covering themselves under Data Protection. They are obviously not sure if they have the right person and if they haven't and they send out a signed agreement then they have broken the Data Protection Act.

Do you know if this debt has ever gone to court because if it has then the Limitations Act 1980 does not apply.

It is possible that he may have got a CCJ without knowing as the company would have been able to apply for one at his last known address?

EE

file_wizzard

Eager_Elephant wrote:

They are obviously not sure if they have the right person

Quite right, they never are!!, and hence if they are not sure why are they writing letters the OP's partner in the first place.

This is a standard practice Wescot fishing trip, the debt would appear to be statute barred, and the OP has obviously made a statutory request for documentation which the DCA has not honoured, I appreciate the comments re the DPA, however if they are not sure if the have the right person then there should be no contact in the first place until they can document reasonable suspicion of the identity of the party they are chasing

clj49

Hiya how can i check whether this has ever gone to court? Carly

file_wizzard

clj49 wrote:

Hiya how can i check whether this has ever gone to court? Carly

IF it has gone to court then it will be registered on the credit file of the debtor, however I have yet to hear of wescot actually taking any one to court, and any court action would have been in the name of the original creditor, although given the amount mentioned this is unlikely.

The statute of limitations will give the creditor up to 6 years to apply for enforcement action on an unsecured debt, if they went to court and were awarded an order they would then get a further 6 years of the CCJ being “active” until they would have to return to court again to take any further enforcement action.

Therefore if the original debt is over 6 years since last acknowledgement or payment, and no enforcement action has been taken then the creditor or DCA will be unable to take any further court action to recover.

The_Aquapanther

About 3 or 4 years ago Wescot started chasing me for a credit card balance of about £10,000 or so that I knew nothing about!
I contacted the CC company who said that it had nothing to do with me.
Everytime I told this to Wescot they promised to amend their records, however over the course of about 6 months I received many letters threatening me with court action unless I paid.
Eventually I told them that my lawyer had said that if they do not stop then I should report them to the police for harassment.
Within 48 hours I had a letter appologising to me and promising me that they would stop the letters.

My advice to you would be not to worry about it, but don't ignore it.
Keep on at them and keep asking them to prove to you that it is your debt.

justruth

if you feel intimidated by them, go to the Citizens Advice Beurea. If this debt was still on your hsbands credit file, they may have some case, however, I sincerely doubt it, as it would have affected his ability to get credit by now.

Don't let them push you around, feel free to get the CAB to push them back.

Mandy27_2

Westcot tried this on my sister a year or so ago. They sent their letter to my address despite the fact that we don't live together!!

This debt is time barred under the Statute of Limitations, any debt 6 or more years cannot be chased if there has been no contact or acceptance of liability by the debtor within that period of time. They are not allowed by law to chase you for it. Write back to Westcot to that effect and let them know if they continue to chase you will report them to the OFT for harrassement.

Westcot are renowned for this kind of thing. They purchase the debt from the orginal creditor for pence (because its time barred) in the hope that the debtor knows nothing of time barring and the Statute of Limitations. I bet they make a packet from doing this!

justruth

Mandy27 wrote:

Westcot are renowned for this kind of thing. They purchase the debt from the orginal creditor for pence (because its time barred) in the hope that the debtor knows nothing of time barring and the Statute of Limitations. I bet they make a packet from doing this!

Hey here's a suggestion, why don't we fine Westcot for each letter we write to them!!! If we charged them £7 a letter they'd soon sort them selves out, if they didn't pay we could chase and harrass them right back!:rotfl:

clj49

So should I send a letter with his last 3 addresses or not? Last 3 addresses wouldn't take him back to the address that the debt was originally taken out at anyway. Carly