Debt Collection Agency

[Zee]

So i have a dept with Wescot of £1195, i had been really stressed about this, but they actually gave me a good deal. Basicly i have to pay £15 in December and then £260 by 11th Jan 2010 and the debt is cleared.

Has anyone else had a good experience with debt collection agencies or really bad experience?

[Tony.]

This company was featured on BBC Watchdog a while ago.
They will tell you anything to get you to make a payment

I would be very surprised if they can write off the rest of this debt

[Mr Angry]

Who did you owe the money to?

[Sirius]

Originally Posted by Zee

So i have a dept with Wescot of £1195, i had been really stressed about this, but they actually gave me a good deal. Basicly i have to pay £15 in December and then £260 by 11th Jan 2010 and the debt is cleared.

Has anyone else had a good experience with debt collection agencies or really bad experience?

No never,

I found i needed help from a very knowledgeable person to be able to deal with them.

if you have a good deal with them.

[Zee]

Originally Posted by Mr Angry

Who did you owe the money to?

To O2...

Originally Posted by Tony.

This company was featured on BBC Watchdog a while ago.
They will tell you anything to get you to make a payment

I would be very surprised if they can write off the rest of this debt

Well if they don't i will make their life hell.

What did watchdog say about them?

[Mr Angry]

Originally Posted by Zee

Well if they don't i will make their life hell.

Do you have any proof that they agreed to settle for £275.00?

In fact do you have any proof that they were legally entitled to collect the debt?

[Zee]

Originally Posted by Mr Angry

Do you have any proof that they agreed to settle for £275.00?

In fact do you have any proof that they were legally entitled to collect the debt?

Well i got a letter 2 weeks ago saying that they were instructed by O2 to collect the debt of £1195.

So i got a letter today which says

Conformation of your repayment plan

Total balance to be repaid: £1040.08
Payment frequency: monthly
Amount of each repayment: £15.00

So i wasn't so comfortable with this so i called her up about 30 minutes ago and she said that its just how their system works, because if i dont make the payment in december then that will be the balance i will have to repay, but if i do make the payment in December then £260 is all i pay.

Should i call them up again and ask for a new letter detailing the exact payment plan that was offered to me?

[Chris]

Moved to 'lifestyle'

[Kymmy]

Actually you've not got a good deal with them, they instead have a good deal with you..

The debt has already been written off and sold on (hence wescot have it) on a debt of £1195 they've probably paid between 5%-30% of that amount (probably nearer the lower end) and paid whoever the original debtor anywhere from £50 pounds upwards. So in the end after you've paid a couple of hundren pounds the debt collection agency is laughing all the way to the bank.

I'm not condoning debt here but if you are going to pay back debt at least do it to the original company and not someone making money on the fact that you havn't paid

[Mr Angry]

You should phone them up, record the call, ask them to confirm the repayment terms and then ask them to provide you with a copy of the deed of assignment which O2 gave them.

[Zee]

Originally Posted by Mr Angry

You should phone them up, record the call, ask them to confirm the repayment terms and then ask them to provide you with a copy of the deed of assignment which O2 gave them.

What does this deed of assignment say?

Originally Posted by Kymmy

Actually you've not got a good deal with them, they instead have a good deal with you..

The debt has already been written off and sold on (hence wescot have it) on a debt of £1195 they've probably paid between 5%-30% of that amount (probably nearer the lower end) and paid whoever the original debtor anywhere from £50 pounds upwards. So in the end after you've paid a couple of hundren pounds the debt collection agency is laughing all the way to the bank.

I'm not condoning debt here but if you are going to pay back debt at least do it to the original company and not someone making money on the fact that you havn't paid

If i had to pay O2, i would have had to pay the full balance of £1195 which i dont have at all. Im happy paying £260.

[Kymmy]

I bet you are, and even though you've paid back what you're happy with your credit rating is still messed up

What a world we live in when you can chose who you want to pay and who not to.. No wonder so many businesses go under year after year

[Gary L]

Unless you have written confirmation of the agreed total to pay, then them offering the chance to pay a tiny fraction of the whole debt and it will be cleared could be just their way of getting you to interact with them.

you might find that they still want the full total.

How did it go from £1195 to £1040.08 already. you haven't even paid them anything yet?

[Kymmy]

Originally Posted by Gary L

Unless you have written confirmation of the agreed total to pay, then them offering the chance to pay a tiny fraction of the whole debt and it will be cleared could be just their way of getting you to interact with them.

you might find that they still want the full total.

Yep, by contacting them the 6 year countdown gets reset, now they can harass, threaten and lie to the debtor all they want to for another 6 years.. The sooner debt collection agencies get banned and the law starts to enforce payments back the to the original business the better

[Mr Angry]

Originally Posted by Zee

What does this deed of assignment say?

I'm not getting into a protracted debate on this but it doesn't matter what it "says", what matters is that they need to have one in order to legally collect a debt for a third party.

Originally Posted by Zee

If i had to pay O2, i would have had to pay the full balance of £1195 which i dont have at all. Im happy paying £260.

You need to read and consider / understand Kymmy's post.

Edit:

Good God! Gary L in "sensible post" shocker!!