Writing letter to debt collection agency

sourcrates

Has the debt been sold to them, or are they just managing it?

If it was sold, you would have been informed in writing, an easy way to tell is if they keep referring to "their client" that would mean they have only been assigned it equitably, and not legally.

There is no real need to write and tell them anything, once defaulted there is no expectation of regular monthly payments, ad hoc payments are fine if it suits you, regular monthly payments clear a debt more quickly, but are only ever required when under a consumer credit agreement.

Collectors who manage client debts may not hold on to the account for the length of time you are quoting, you can make payment whenever you like on the collectors website, no contact is necessary.

Who is the DCA by the way ?

tenchy

At the moment I just have access to the most recent correspondence. It's a letter from Wescot, which is not in any way threatening. They mention their client as 'Cabot Financial Europe Ltd', so I'm assuming that Cabot have bought the debt from Halifax. I'll get the whole picture in due course. Wescot are stating the importance of contacting them within 10 days to 'avoid further recovery action as detailed in the box above' - but there is no 'box above' on the letter.

I'm inclined to suggest that an initial payment is made, but based on the comments above, I'm still considering whether or not to write to them. 

sourcrates

Yes Cabot own the account, Wescott are just collection agent.

Their 10 day timescale is utterly meaningless drivel, "further action" consists of calls/letters/emails and texts.

They are a 3rd party interloper, no authority to do anything, Cabot, as the owner, is the only one with any clout, and they won`t exercise that clout unless they have to, they leave it to companies such as Wescott initially, but it may be passed around several collectors, depending on how you engage with them.

It`s commonplace to start a regular payment arrangement, then have the collector return the debt to the client for no apparent reason, make payment to them by all means, but there is no need to get into protracted discussions about 4 year plans, in all likelihood they could return the debt to Cabot in the blink of an eye.

tenchy

sourcrates said:

Yes Cabot own the account, Wescott are just collection agent.

Their 10 day timescale is utterly meaningless drivel, "further action" consists of calls/letters/emails and texts.

They are a 3rd party interloper, no authority to do anything, Cabot, as the owner, is the only one with any clout, and they won`t exercise that clout unless they have to, they leave it to companies such as Wescott initially, but it may be passed around several collectors, depending on how you engage with them.

It`s commonplace to start a regular payment arrangement, then have the collector return the debt to the client for no apparent reason, make payment to them by all means, but there is no need to get into protracted discussions about 4 year plans, in all likelihood they could return the debt to Cabot in the blink of an eye.

Thanks. I'll adjust the letter accordingly, with no mention of timescale.

Sly72

tenchy said:

sourcrates said:

Yes Cabot own the account, Wescott are just collection agent.

Their 10 day timescale is utterly meaningless drivel, "further action" consists of calls/letters/emails and texts.

They are a 3rd party interloper, no authority to do anything, Cabot, as the owner, is the only one with any clout, and they won`t exercise that clout unless they have to, they leave it to companies such as Wescott initially, but it may be passed around several collectors, depending on how you engage with them.

It`s commonplace to start a regular payment arrangement, then have the collector return the debt to the client for no apparent reason, make payment to them by all means, but there is no need to get into protracted discussions about 4 year plans, in all likelihood they could return the debt to Cabot in the blink of an eye.

Thanks. I'll adjust the letter accordingly, with no mention of timescale.

Dont send a lettrer just go onto the Wescott website and setup a payment plan. Wescot Credit Services - Payment Options | i would setup a standing order so you are then in control of the payments.