HBOS Wescot account

Sadie14

Hi everyone
Not sure if anyone can offer advice re an ex HBOS debt I have?

For the past 12 years I have been paying HBOS a fixed amount to clear a credit card I defaulted on. I’ve always paid on time and have never missed a payment.
In January 2019 HBOS sold the debt to a company called Link financial who used Westcot to manage the debt for them. I continued since then to pay Westcot the agreed figure (£30) each month.
In November, I was diagnosed with a serious illness, so decided to see if I could settle this account, along with another one I had. I didn’t want my family to have to deal with this, if something should happen to me.
A friend offered to lend me a £1000 and I made settlement offers to each company on a pro rata basis. One accepted straight away and I paid the money, getting proof etc that the account was closed.
However, Westcot haven’t been so accommodating.
I wanted to sort things out before I had major surgery, so on 6th December I put my offer to them.
They said they would have to put my offer to Link Financial and get back to me.
I hadn’t heard anything by the 16th December, so chased them up. They said they hadn’t had a response from Link and would get back to me. About 5 minutes later, they rang me back and said they had pushed Link into replying and that the best they could do was give me a 30% reduction on the amount owed. As this was nearly double the amount of my offer, I declined.
I then called Link and asked why, when they knew I was so unwell, did they reject my offer. They stated that they had nothing on file re a settlement offer and that Westcot hadn’t put any offer to them. This went backwards and forwards for a couple of days and I ended up making a complaint to Westcot. They advised me to stop my payments and they would review the offer on my balance before Christmas.
I’ve tried to call them today and surprisingly there’s nobody available to talk to me.

I know I’ve gone round the houses explaining things but what will happen if I just don’t pay this anymore? I’d rather just settle and be done, but if they aren’t being entirely truthful with me, where do I stand. Can they still pursue me for the debt?
Thank you for your time.

Willing2Learn

If it were me, I would submit a CCA request for the HBOS card. Westcott would then have to provide you with a 'true copy' of your CCA agreement. If they are unable to provide with the correct paperwork, then the account becomes unenforceable and you would not have to pay anything. This is often useful for older accounts such as yours.

Debts - why, how & when to ask for the CCA agreement

Sadie14

Thank you for your reply.
Do I request this from HBOS, Westcot or Link Financial? It is my understanding that Link bought the debt from HBOS.

sourcrates

Sadie14 wrote: »

Thank you for your reply.
Do I request this from HBOS, Westcot or Link Financial? It is my understanding that Link bought the debt from HBOS.

Send to whoever now owns the debt, which will be Link.
Wescot are just acting as collectors and will most likley shirk their duty to pass the request on to link, as has been reported before on this forum.