Santander / Wescot

Solstice_3

Hi I was wondering if anyone could help me. Warning long post.

I have received a letter from Wescot saying they have been instructed by Santander to collect outstanding debt.

Background - I took out a loan with Alliance and Leicester in roughly 2003 and had trouble paying it back. I went through the IVA process but unfortunately ended up off sick for a year and the IVA failed. I then contacted Alliance and Leicester and agreed a repayment schedule. They may have passed me on to a debt agency at some point I can't remember. We moved house in 2009 and I contacted the company I was paying to inform them of my change of address and they informed me A&L was owned by Abbey and my account had been passed on to a debt collection agency, they couldn't pass my address on or tell me who owned my account. So we moved and I heard no more until today.

I know Santander now own A&L but the amount owing is higher than it should be by £2000.00 to £3000.00 so what do I do now? I have an address to pay the debt in full or a telephone number to phone (which I shall not do) - any advice? Do I send a prove it letter even though I suspect it is my loan they are chasing and are they trying to charge me interest for 4 years even though they are surely at fault for not contacting me sooner?

Thanks for any advice you can give.

Tixy

Yep start with the prove it letter. Letter when you know nothing about about the debt - AKA "Prove it" letter

That way they'll confirm if it is your loan, and hopefully provide enough details for you to see if interest is still being added.

When did you stop paying? just before you moved in 2009?

Solstice_3

Hi and thanks for the reply.

My last payment was in 2009 around the month we moved out. What "proof" should I expect back from them if they have it? From what I understand from reading other forums they are a difficult company to deal with so I want to make sure I understand whether their reply is legitimate if that makes sense.

Thanks again for your help!

Sorry - also should I use the name they put on the letter (my maiden name) or my married name?

Tixy

Reasonable proof would be a copy of the original loan agreement and a statement of account up to the current date and a notice of assignment.

Other things might be considered proof - wait to see what they come back with and then I'd post back on here for more advice.

Solstice_3

Thanks. Any thoughts on what name I should use in the letter? Sorry to be a pain.

Tixy

Do you mean in terms of the name of the creditor? I would put Santander in the letter at the end of paragraph 2.

Solstice_3

No whether to print my name as in the letter or my name as it is now - I got married after we moved, the letter is addressed to me in my old name.

Tixy

If the letter is written to maiden name I'd reply with maiden name.

Solstice_3

Just an update, Husband told me to ignore the first letter which I did. Just recieved a new letter saying.

Our latest enquiries have now confirmed you are still resident at this address.............

Unless you contact us to agree repayment of £x within the next 10 days further collection activity will be taken to to recover the full outstanding balance.

Please do not ignore this letter as it could result in further action being taken.

So I am now sending a prove it letter but just wanted to check whether I should be worried. Also I noted they spelt my first name wrong in both letters, spelling mistake twice or something else?

fermi

Most likely "collection activity" = send another fishing letter

Naf

Solstice_3 wrote: »

Just an update, Husband told me to ignore the first letter which I did. Just recieved a new letter saying.

Our latest enquiries have now confirmed you are still resident at this address.............

Unless you contact us to agree repayment of £x within the next 10 days further collection activity will be taken to to recover the full outstanding balance.

Please do not ignore this letter as it could result in further action being taken.

So I am now sending a prove it letter but just wanted to check whether I should be worried. Also I noted they spelt my first name wrong in both letters, spelling mistake twice or something else?

HA! Their 'confirmed' means nothing at all. I received a letter for someone else which said the same thing - the person hadn't lived here for over a year by this point. They're still fishing, it seems.