Help needed - Wescot debt letter

mattboley

Hi,

I've been looking through other threads on this board and haven't seen what to do in the situation I'm in so if anyone could give me advice it'd be much appreciated.

A month or so ago I got a letter from Wescot Services Limited saying I had an outstanding debt of around £2,200. I did have some debts (not with Wescot or even with DCA's), but thought that all of them had been cleared, so it was a surprise getting this letter. Having done a search on the company on these boards I thought they might just have me confused with someone else (I've moved out of where I was living and back in with my parents, not ideal, but it had to be done).

I sent them the "prove it" letter and received back a letter saying that they couldn't provide me details of the debt because of GDPR regulations and asking again for the money, which confuses me as it seems they are ok sending me out a demand for £2,000+, but can't tell me what the debt originally is. The letters state that they are working on behalf of Cabot Financial Europe so I'm wondering if I should have sent the CCA request to Cabot Financial and not Wescot?

They have been calling me every day since (they did cease the incessant phone calls after sending their second letter for a short period), which I've never answered, but it leaves an automated message with my name and asking to call them. I feel this is harassment. I don't mind the written communication, but calls every day?!!!

I just want to know who the debt they hold that they claim is on me is with. I'm hesitant in giving them my complete details and past history, which could clear this up, as if it isn't my debt they might use it to either pin the debt on me (I've not accepted the debt in any way thus far, but understand they have done this to other people). I've also read that it is up to them to prove that the debt is mine and not the other way around. If they know the person the debt is with is me then I'm fine with paying it, but without details I'm not sure what to do to get any further and to stop the phone calls (which are stressing my mum out).

A few questions:
1. I sent the CCA request letter to Wescot, should I have sent it to Cabot Financial Europe?
2. If I send the CCA request letter to Cabot Financial Europe should I send a letter to Wescot letting them know I've done this?
3. What can I do to get the incessant phone calls to stop?
4. If the debt is mine I've read that I can negotiate down the debt, that the DCA will have bought at a lower cost. How do I start going about this, are there template letters, and at what fraction of the debt should I start?

Any comments or advice on what to do next would be much appreciated. I'm not trying to make excuses or get out of a debt that may be rightly mine, but I have had some mental health issues over the past few years after going through a messy divorce, leaving my job, and getting myself into a mess.

Thanks,

Matt

sourcrates

Hi,

Ok, some facts for you.

Cabot own this debt, Wescot are just acting on behalf of Cabot as collectors, so have no real say in anything, blocking their number is easy to do, however under GDPR regulations you can choose how to be contacted by companies, so write and ask for contact in writing only.

You cannot CCA an account that is not yours for obvious reasons.

Go to the provit letter in the stickies, scroll down to post #3#, there is a letter to send should they ignore your dispute, you should bare in mind however, that in order to comply with data protection laws, you must provide your full name, address, and DOB.

If you don`t provide these details, then its going to be a case of rinse and repeat again.
If you want to make a settlement offer to Cabot, and you accept the account is yours, then first do a CCA request to confirm they have the legal right to ask you to pay this debt, a template letter for making offers can be found here :


https://www.nationaldebtline.org/EW/sampleletters/Pages/Full-and-final-settlement-offers-%28sole-name%29.aspx


At what level negoatiations begin is up to you, but around 30% of the outstanding balance is a good starting point, rememeber, this process is more of a marathon, than a sprint, it can take time.

mattboley

I understand what you say about them not being able to tell me about the account if it isn't mine, but if they said the debt is originally with Capital One or HSBC and I'd had a credit card with them it would help me at least accept that the debt might be mine. Also millions of people have or have had accounts with certain institutions so telling me this is who the debt was originally with would not be giving away any other individual's data. I'm not expecting a detailed description of the account's address history, data of birth or anything like that so why is this a problem?

Finally let me get this right, they are allowed to send me a letter asking me for payment on an account that may or may not be mine, but aren't allowed to tell me anything about the debt that they are asking me to pay? This obviously points to the fact that they aren't sure that this debt is mine and are just sending out letters, maybe with some evidence (which they can't or won't share). If they had evidence that this debt is mine and that the account they have is mine then they are sure and they wouldn't be invalidating any GDPR laws? This is part of the problem I have with this.

Thanks for your comments though. They are much appreciated. I was going to send a CCA request to Cabot, I feel stupid for not doing that sooner, but guessed it would all have been passed on to Wescot, who sent me the letter, but apparently not. My fear is that I'll send Cabot the letter and get a GDPR response as well.

sourcrates

Debts are bought and sold every day, most of the time very few details are included, and certainly no evidence.
Unfortunatly this is the game we have to play with debt collectors.

Paperwork always remains with original creditor, thats why provit letter should be sent, it suggests to me they have very skant info on you. its up to you how you choose to deal with them.

mattboley

A further question (without knowing the details of the debt) is what is the minimum amount of personal information that i should give to them for them to be able to confirm the debt is mine or isn't, and how can I make sure that they don't use this data elsewhere? Is date of birth enough? Previous addresses? How far back do I need to go, and should I be prepared to go? I'm very uneasy giving out my personal information to companies like this as they may be just using this as some kind of phishing scam to collect personal information that they can use in the future. I know this may make me sound slightly paranoid, but I have been scammed in the past.

sourcrates

mattboley wrote: »

A further question (without knowing the details of the debt) is what is the minimum amount of personal information that i should give to them for them to be able to confirm the debt is mine or isn't, and how can I make sure that they don't use this data elsewhere? Is date of birth enough? Previous addresses? How far back do I need to go, and should I be prepared to go? I'm very uneasy giving out my personal information to companies like this as they may be just using this as some kind of phishing scam to collect personal information that they can use in the future. I know this may make me sound slightly paranoid, but I have been scammed in the past.

Obviously they know your name and address, so DOB is next.

mattboley

I'm also a little worried about what happens whilst I'm waiting to hear back from Cabot in regards to Wescot. I'm tempted to send a letter to Wescot letting them know that I've sent the request to Cabot and for them to only contact me by writing and not by phone. What do you think? Apologies for so many questions. I really just want this sorted.

sourcrates

mattboley wrote: »

I'm also a little worried about what happens whilst I'm waiting to hear back from Cabot in regards to Wescot. I'm tempted to send a letter to Wescot letting them know that I've sent the request to Cabot and for them to only contact me by writing and not by phone. What do you think? Apologies for so many questions. I really just want this sorted.

Wescot can be ignored, imagine them as been akin to PayPal, they just process payments on your behalf, Wescot provide a similar service to the debt collection industry, except they send letters on behalf of their client, in this case Cabot.

Cabot own this debt, not wescot, only the owner of a debt can take enforcement action, so Wescot are toothless, third party intelopers, with no mandate or ability, to do anything.

mattboley

sourcrates wrote: »

Debts are bought and sold every day, most of the time very few details are included, and certainly no evidence.
Unfortunatly this is the game we have to play with debt collectors.

Paperwork always remains with original creditor, thats why provit letter should be sent, it suggests to me they have very skant info on you. its up to you how you choose to deal with them.

You mentioned this in a reply, but isn't this the whole point. They have a legal right to tell you the details of the debt they have claimed you owe, if they can't then it won't hold up if they took it further. They are betting on a number of people just getting scared and paying up without question. They shouldn't be allowed to send out letters saying you owe money without the evidence in the first place, and in that case they'd be able to send you the details. That said it might be your debt. I just want to know it's my debt before I accept it's my debt and pay them any money.

You also said that if I don't give them any extra information then it's rinse and repeat. What do you suggest, sending the prove it letter again, but with an extra paragraph giving them my dob? Might they not just send me another letter back saying that they still can't reveal anything due to GDP regulations?

sourcrates

sourcrates wrote: »

Go to the provit letter in the stickies, scroll down to post #3#, there is a letter to send should they ignore your dispute.

mattboley wrote: »

You mentioned this in a reply, but isn't this the whole point. They have a legal right to tell you the details of the debt they have claimed you owe, if they can't then it won't hold up if they took it further. They are betting on a number of people just getting scared and paying up without question. They shouldn't be allowed to send out letters saying you owe money without the evidence in the first place, and in that case they'd be able to send you the details. That said it might be your debt. I just want to know it's my debt before I accept it's my debt and pay them any money.

You also said that if I don't give them any extra information then it's rinse and repeat. What do you suggest, sending the prove it letter again, but with an extra paragraph giving them my dob? Might they not just send me another letter back saying that they still can't reveal anything due to GDP regulations?

See my original post above.