Wescot Credit Services and ntl 'debt' (merged)

competitionscafe · 6 November 2004 at 7:16PM

On Friday morning I received a threatening letter from a company calling themselves 'Wescot Credit Services' saying I owed nearly £400 to ntl communication services. :o They said that that they will be sending a debt collector or solicitor to recover this debt if it is not paid in full in the next 10 days. I have tried contacting Wescot Credit Services by phone but am unable to get through.

As this letter arrived out of the blue and I owe ntl no money (you cannot even get ntl here in Edinburgh!) I am concerned that

The only possible debt relating to ntl occurred 4 years ago(!) - ntl continued to charge me for a service which I had cancelled (I cancelled because I left the property and moved to Edinburgh). Unfortunatley the other tenants who remained in the house continued to use the phone, cable TV etc, (which ntl continued to supply as they ignored my cancellation letter). As the bills were in my name (despite me asking ntl to change this) they continued to arrive at my old house - the tenants just ignored them (despite having my forwarding address) and they enjoyed their 'free' phone, broadband and tv....... while the bills mounted up without my knowledge. >:(

Anyway - this mess was all sorted out years ago - after legal advice showed I was not liable for any bills which occurred after i had left the property as I had given the required notice to ntl. So why, all of sudden am I getting this threatening letter (you have 10 days to pay or else... etc) out of the blue!?

Has anyone heard of Wescot Credit Services? And what should be my next course of action, as I am concerned about some 'heavies' turning up at my door demanding this money!

The address on the Notice I was sent is in Hull, but it is just a PO Box number (PO Box 137, Dunedin House, 45 Percy Street, Hull, HU2 8HF) - however in tiny (barely legible) print at the bottom of the letter it says "Registered in Scotland No 84131, Reg Office: 64 Dalbair Road, Ayr, KA7 1UH". I only found this because I thought that limited companies had to include this info on their stationary, and then came across this in minute writing at the bottom of the letter. It seems odd that they give an address in Hull but are a Scottish registered company?

And is it legal for a company to send out threatening letters like this with no prior warning and can they really just seize my possesssions? (I guess if a couple of thugs turn up at my door I won't have much choice!?) :'(

I also found this rather worrying thread on google when I attempted to search for a website for 'Wescot Credit Services' (they don't give a web address on their letter, just the PO Box one and a (premium rate?) phone number). Anyway, I could not find their web site, but it looks like I am not the only one who has had problems with this company >>

http://www.debtadvisers.co.uk/gentools/discuss/messages/1295.html

http://www.debtadvisers.co.uk/gentools/discuss/messages/1299.html

http://www.debtadvisers.co.uk/gentools/discuss/messages/1679.html

http://www.debtadvisers.co.uk/gentools/discuss/messages/1473.html

http://www.debtadvisers.co.uk/gentools/discuss/messages/1238.html

Regards,

Mark.

DJ1UK · 7 November 2004 at 12:09AM

I work for a utility company and we use Wescot for trace and collect. I have found their address on another site, but as far as I know they do not have an active website.

WESCOT CREDIT SERVICES LTD MIDLAND HOUSE 64 OSWALD STREET GLASGOW G1 4PL Telephone: 0141 300 5300

WESCOT CREDIT SERVICES LTD PO BOX 137 DUNEDIN HOUSE 45 PERCY STREET HULL HU2 8HF TEL: 0148 259 0590 FAX: 0148 259 0591

As far as I know if you owe them money they can seize goods up to the value of 10x what you owe (10x due to the resale value being lower). I would contact them ASAP and try and get it sorted before court action would proceed.

Hope this helps.

ourplace · 7 November 2004 at 11:19PM

Same thing happened to me only they were acting for Norwich Union, Westcot got as far as taking me to court, which I wasnt worried about bucause I had it in writing that I owe nothing.

Bloody awful firm to deal with, they dont care and they dont listen and there not really interested ... best bit about it is they cost themselves money by taking me to court

westernpromise · 8 November 2004 at 3:46PM

On Friday morning I received a threatening letter from a company calling themselves 'Wescot Credit Services' saying I owed nearly £400 to ntl communication services.

Write back threatening to report them to the police for attempted fraud.

hopefulfooluk · 8 November 2004 at 9:13PM

I have heard that westcot is the debt recovery agency that will take the name of someone that owes money to, say, NTL, and blanket mail notices to everyone with the same name in the area if they are not 100% sure the address they have is right. So you're probably one of the poor sods who has the same name as a debtor, but don't worry if you owe nothing. Just say it's not you, and if they threaten to take you to court then send them a copy of the letter you have saying you don't owe anything. They won't have a leg to stand on.

Don't expect an apology though.

Chris

Debt_Free_Chick · 8 November 2004 at 9:33PM

The only possible debt relating to ntl occurred 4 years ago(!) - ntl continued to charge me for a service which I had cancelled (I cancelled because I left the property and moved to Edinburgh). Unfortunatley the other tenants who remained in the house continued to use the phone, cable TV etc, (which ntl continued to supply as they ignored my cancellation letter). As the bills were in my name (despite me asking ntl to change this) they continued to arrive at my old house - the tenants just ignored them (despite having my forwarding address) and they enjoyed their 'free' phone, broadband and tv....... while the bills mounted up without my knowledge. >:(

Anyway - this mess was all sorted out years ago - after legal advice showed I was not liable for any bills which occurred after i had left the property as I had given the required notice to ntl. So why, all of sudden am I getting this threatening letter (you have 10 days to pay or else... etc) out of the blue!?

Has anyone heard of Wescot Credit Services? And what should be my next course of action, as I am concerned about some 'heavies' turning up at my door demanding this money!

Regards,

Mark.

It's entirely possible that Wescot are contacting you regarding this. You say you had legal advice ... did you get an acknowledgment, in writing, from NTL that this was not your debt? If so, I suggest you reply to Wescot and send a copy. If not, then you are going to have to negotiate with them if, indeed, it is regarding this debt that they are contacting you.

I had "dealings" with them once over a Telewest bill. The bill was paid and I sent a fax to show the amount debited to my credit card. They either ignored or lost the fax and sent a follow-up letter even more agressive than the first. I called and explained I'd faxed proof of payment. Their attitude was one of "pull the other one, luv". I asked for the name of someone to send the fax to or an undertaking that they would call me to confirm receipt of a further fax. They refused. I tried to suggest that sending a fax had no guarantee, due to the "problems" with the first fax. They were unsympathetic and insisted I pay the bill (again).

In the end, I found out the name of someone senior at Telewest, from their website and relayed the story to them. Westcot stopped pursuing me, but never wrote to confirm that the debt was indeed cancelled.

They were extremely unpleasant to deal with.

I rather suspect that the NTL debt is still on NTL's books somewhere and that it's been sold on to Wescot.

As a first step, I would ask them for details of the debt and a copy of the bill/correspondence sent to you by NTL. Or, if you had an acknowledgment that it wasn't your debt, just send that. I would suggest not ignoring Wescot .. .or if you do ignore them, then start to pay attention if they issue a CCJ!!

They are not a scam - just an extremely unpleasant firm of debt collectors.

HTH - good luck

King_David_2 · 8 November 2004 at 11:25PM

Their not going to have a website as it'd be a target for someone to bring it down, and I don't think many debtors would use it to pay them.

I nearly had a problem with NTL when I last moved in February 2003. I had digital TV and phone from them and they kept the phone going after I'd moved out. Eventually, after numerous messages, they sorted it out.

They (NTL) are so incompetent that I still have their set-top box from the digital TV (not sure whether I actually own it or whether they do).

If you have a letter, I would send a copy of it to them. If they still persist then it becomes a police matter.

JulesF_3 · 16 November 2004 at 4:36PM

I also received a letter from Wescot re: ntl balance which I paid to ntl many months ago. Wescot's attitude - "you prove it we'll remove it"

Being the kind of person I am I got straight on to ntl who refered me to Actis Credit Services who look after any O/S debt belonging to ntl. They work exclusively for ntl and have access to their accounts records. They attempt to obtain the debt (apparantly) before passing it on to a credit agency i.e. Wescot. As soon as Actis brought up my recordes he could see that I had paid this and contacted Wescot to remove the debt which they did after two call's from Actis.

Ultimately I blame ntl who have to be the worst company to deal with. I have a friend who used to work there she said noone cares and if they want rid of you you they pretend to pass you through to a diffirent department when really they are passing you on to some other poor sole in the same department who happens to be next in line for a call by which time you are furthered anoyed with the service so they get it in the ear. It's a shocking vicious circle.

Anyway any one in a similar situation can try ringing Actis on 01582 893 002 who may just find your missing money.

Steffee_2 · 17 November 2004 at 12:38PM

???how is wescott related to Equifax! Internet searches do not clarify whether Wescot are owned by Equifax ! My concern is if Wescot is actually owned by Equifax they must be referring it for the credit scores.

competitionscafe · 27 November 2004 at 7:24PM

It's entirely possible that Wescot are contacting you regarding this. You say you had legal advice ... did you get an acknowledgment, in writing, from NTL that this was not your debt? If so, I suggest you reply to Wescot and send a copy. If not, then you are going to have to negotiate with them if, indeed, it is regarding this debt that they are contacting you.

I had "dealings" with them once over a Telewest bill. The bill was paid and I sent a fax to show the amount debited to my credit card. They either ignored or lost the fax and sent a follow-up letter even more agressive than the first. I called and explained I'd faxed proof of payment. Their attitude was one of "pull the other one, luv". I asked for the name of someone to send the fax to or an undertaking that they would call me to confirm receipt of a further fax. They refused. I tried to suggest that sending a fax had no guarantee, due to the "problems" with the first fax. They were unsympathetic and insisted I pay the bill (again).

In the end, I found out the name of someone senior at Telewest, from their website and relayed the story to them. Westcot stopped pursuing me, but never wrote to confirm that the debt was indeed cancelled.

They were extremely unpleasant to deal with.

I rather suspect that the NTL debt is still on NTL's books somewhere and that it's been sold on to Wescot.

As a first step, I would ask them for details of the debt and a copy of the bill/correspondence sent to you by NTL. Or, if you had an acknowledgment that it wasn't your debt, just send that. I would suggest not ignoring Wescot .. .or if you do ignore them, then start to pay attention if they issue a CCJ!!

They are not a scam - just an extremely unpleasant firm of debt collectors.

HTH - good luck

Thanks for all the replies - and here is an update.

First of all, this morning a 'final notice' arrived in the post, saying that unless I made payment within the next 7 days a Claim Form/Summons may be lodged with the local Sheriff Court.

So I did a bit of digging into my old correspondence and I realised that when all this came up (3 years ago!) I did send Wescot a letter from ntl confirming that I did NOT owe £389.46. No response was received from Wescot and I have not heard from them until now. I also had advice from the legal department at Which? (consumer association) and my local citizens advice bureau at the time, confirming that I was not liable for debts run up by the other tenants after I had left the property as I had given the required written notice to ntl to cancel their service.

So, I am still puzzled by why 3 years later this is all starting up again. >:( Unfortunately because I thought this had all been dealt with, I no longer have the letters from 3 years ago FROM ntl and Wescot - i just have the letters I sent TO them as these are word docs on my pc.

I will try phoning Actis Credit Services on Monday (thanks JulesF) - but any other advice on what to do next will be much appreciated.

Thanks again.

chugalug · 28 November 2004 at 1:38AM

Surely if you don't owe the money you can just return letters marked 'see you in court'. Westcott would have to pay to take you to court as it is the court who issues a ccj if the case against you is proved. From what you are saying they would not be able to prove you owe this money. Also they could not remove any goods without a bailiff's warrant (in England) which they couldnt get if they hadnt already proved to the court that you owed the money. Not much comfort I know if you are worried about harrassment. I would try contacting the CAB to see if they kept a record of your enquiry. These days most advice agencies keep records for up to 6 years in storage for data protection. May not be the same everywhere but worth a try. Good luck.

Wescot Credit Services and ntl 'debt' (merged)

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