Santander credit card debt passed Westcot

Kelz11

Hi,

I’m looking for some advice concerning a debt I had with Santander now passed to Westcot.

In April 2009 I took a Santander Credit card, I run up a debt of around about £3,000. In July 2010 I fell into financial difficulty and was unable to keep on top of my payments so I contacted CCCS and they put me on a debt management plan – I would pay them an amount and they would pay my creditors.

I stayed on this plan until Sept/Oct 2012 when I came into a bit of money and decided the first thing I would do was settle my debts.

When I called Santander to ask what the balance outstanding I was told “NOTHING” my account had been closed and there was a ZERO balance.
Fair enough I wasn’t gonna argue with them and beg them to let me pay them money so I left it!

I received a statement with an outstanding balance from Santander a few months ago but as I had not been asked to make payment and was told that there was nothing outstanding so I ignored it.

I checked my Experian & Equifax credit report recently and saw that I had a default but this credit card had been marked as ‘settled’ in January 2011.

I haven't heard from Santander (other than the odd statement) since 2010 until last week when I received a letter from them telling me that my account had been passed to Westcot and they would be in contact with me.

I have had NO contact from Santander who advised I owed NOTHING and now they say they have referred the debt to a Debt Management Company!

I just wondered if anyone could offer me any advice on how to deal with Westcot when I hear from them and are they able to reactivate a settled acount on my credit file?

Many Thanks

Kelly.

sourcrates

Hi, Well wescott are a debt collection agency, not debt management , if you say you received a statement from Santander with a debt balance then perhaps they got it wrong originally and you do still owe the money ? best advice is to send a letter to Santander asking them if you do still owe them money and if so to explain why they told you you didn't originally, or you could ask wescott to prove you own the debt same thing really different way round, and see what reply you get and take it from there.

Tixy

Did you think you had repaid the debt in full? or were you expecting there to still be a balance on the debt.

When a creditor sells a debt to a debt collector they do sometimes mark the debt as settled and then if the debt collector adds an entry to your credit file (with the original details, default and correct outstanding amount etc) at that point the creditor then removes their original entry altogether.

So westcott may put their own entry on your file and show the outstanding balance.
When westcott write to you send them the prove it letter template - Letter when you know nothing about about the debt - AKA "Prove it" letter

But if you have nothing in writing from santander to confirm that the debt is fully paid and have had a statement to show an outstanding balance since the phone call you made to them, then its likely that you will need to repay the debt.

You will probably find you are able to negotiate a reduced full & final lump sum settlement with westcott (always do it in writing not by phone), or could offer them a repayment plan at a rate you can afford.

Kelz11

Thank you so much for the advice guys.

Tixy - No I didn't think I'd paid the debt off, hence the reason I called last Sept time to see what the balance was and start paying them direct again.

I am looking at my Experian credit report now and It would seem that the account was marked as 'satisfied' with a zero balance on January 2011 when Santander were receiving payments from CCCS on my behalf but since my last payment (Sept 12) they have not contacted me, just left it 9 months then told me they have passed the the debt to Wescot. As an experienced Credit Controller myself I find this very unreasonable.

I received my letter from Wescot yesterday and already had a call left on my mobile at 8.40 this morning even though the letter asks me to call them.

The letter says that They have been instructed on behalf of their client and I must pay the debt in full or contact them immediately.
I would also like to add that the amount they say is owed doesn't tally with my figures!