Wescot & Prove it letter

Loubyloux

I requested advice for this previously and you guys were great and advised me to send a prove it letter.

Short version, Wescot are chasing me for a debt in a name I haven’t used for over 10 years, I don’t believe the debt is mine as it is PayPal related and I didn’t even own a computer of my own when I had that name and I certainly never had a Paypal account in it. Also I have only ever had one PayPal account in my current name which is still up and running with active bank cards.

I sent the prove it letter but they are now saying they can’t give me any evidence unless I send them my previous address and my date of birth due to GDPR.

Is this right? Considering I don’t use that name and have not used it for a long time I don’t want to give them details about me, especially when they are supposed to be proving they have the correct person.

Any help would be much appreciated.

Willing2Learn

According to the FCA Handbook Rules:

A firm must not pursue an individual whom the firm knows or believes might not be the borrower or hirer under a credit agreement or a consumer hire agreement.
And
Where there is a dispute as to the identity of the borrower or hirer or as to the amount of the debt, it is for the firm (and not the customer) to establish, as the case may be, that the customer is the correct person in relation to the debt or that the amount is the correct amount owed under the agreement.

sourcrates

Loubyloux wrote: »

I requested advice for this previously and you guys were great and advised me to send a prove it letter.

Short version, Wescot are chasing me for a debt in a name I haven’t used for over 10 years, I don’t believe the debt is mine

I sent the prove it letter but they are now saying they can’t give me any evidence unless I send them my previous address and my date of birth due to GDPR.

Is this right?

Yes, more or less correct, wescot are following due process under data protection laws.

If the debt is not yours, then you could provide the information they have requested from you, if anything it will prove the debt is not yours, and that will be the end of the matter, but I’m not keen on giving DCA’s information to potentially hang me with.

However, on the flip side, if there is a chance the debt is yours, providing that information may prove liability.

You could take the stance, as outlined above in willingtolearns post, and tell them to do one, eBay/PayPal debts never get enforced through the courts.

Barney_Rubble_0403

Been through the same with Westcott and Paypal. Debt may or may have not been my daughters as it was so old and unrecognised. Did the same as you and sent the prove it letter.

Same response asking for her to supply previous addresses and confirm personal details.

I sent a letter back saying the info would not be provided as it is for the DCA to prove the debt. All you are doing is giving them ammo to pin the debt on you when it may just be a phishing exercise.

You may also have read that westcot do not own the debt and therefore have no powers. Their client is based in Luxembourg so next to no chance of a debt going to court.

So reply refusing to supply further information and point out that they have alleged a debt and demanded money so must be in a position to back it up.

Most probably get a few computer generated letters and then they will go away.

Check out Legal beagles for people with the same wescot/paypal issues

[Deleted User]

How old is the debt?

Does it appear on your Credit Report?

Loubyloux

Thanks all, I have sent a letter to say I will not be providing any of my personal information and reminded them of the requirement to 'prove it'.

I genuinely don't think the debt is mine and I have a relatively common name so could be a mistake but I don't want to risk giving them any info as I would have to go back 10 years and about 6 addresses before coming to one where I would have used that name.

mattboley

Loubyloux - Did anything come of this? Did they chase you further? I'm in the same kind of situation, I received a letter, and I'm receiving daily automated messages to call Wescot. I sent them a letter asking for the details of the debt so I could confirm if it was mine or not (I thought I'd cleared all debts a year or so ago). I got the GDPR letter back, which confuses me, as if they know the debt is definitely mine then why wouldn't they be able to share the details of the debt with me? They seem to be happy to chase me to pay it without giving me any information, but obviously I'm not willing to do this,

I want to be sure the debt is mine, and that it hasn't been paid off already. I'm at the point of sending them a letter again asking for more information and stressing that it is on them to prove the debt is mine, if only to obtain who the debt was originally with, I'm sure this is anonymous data and they could tell me this without compromising anyone else's data protection rights. I've checked my credit reports and nothing on there says there is any debt held by Westcot on me. I don't mind them sending me letters, or even calling every so often, but I don't want to talk to some stranger on the phone who I feel will use what I say to hang a debt that isn't mine on me. I understand that doing this could clear up the situation, but I just don't trust them, and I don't trust giving them more information about me that they might use in any way. And calling every night seems excessive. Surely this isn't lawful? Can I report them to anyone for harassment? Did they just go away after you sent the letter telling them you wouldn't provide any more personal information and reminded them of the requirement to prove it? How did it end up? Any advice would be much appreciated.