Wescot Credit Services: Do You Have to Pay?

Wescot has no right to enter your home, take your goods, clamp your car or add enforcement fees. Enforcement agents who take control of goods act under a specific enforcement power, which may be a liability order, warrant or writ, or statutory CRAR authority for qualifying commercial rent arrears. CRAR does not require a prior court order, and Wescot has none of those enforcement powers. Our guide to bailiffs and debt collectors explains how to tell the two apart from the paperwork.

What they can do is ask you to pay, and, if the debt is not resolved, pass it on. Where that leads is worth understanding, and is set out below.

Wescot is part of the Cabot group

This is the fact most worth knowing, and almost nobody states it.

The Companies House register records Wescot Credit Services Limited (SC084131) as controlled by Cabot Financial Debt Recovery Services Limited (03936134), holding 75 to 100% of the shares.

That is the same parent as Mortimer Clarke Solicitors Limited (06211733). The verified structure:

``` Cabot Financial Holdings Group Limited (04071551) └── Cabot Financial Debt Recovery Services Limited (03936134) ├── Wescot Credit Services Limited (SC084131) └── Mortimer Clarke Solicitors Limited (06211733) ```

Why this matters to you. You may receive a letter from Cabot, then a letter from Wescot, then a County Court claim from Mortimer Clarke, and be dealing with one organisation throughout under three different names.

That does not mean your case will follow that path, and it does not mean the brands route work between themselves in any particular way. It means the names are connected, so treat correspondence from all three as related rather than as three separate problems, and keep one file covering all of it.

Company and regulatory details

Being FCA authorised matters practically. It means Wescot must comply with the FCA's consumer credit rules on how debts are collected, and it gives you access to the Financial Ombudsman Service if a complaint is not resolved satisfactorily. A bailiff company is not FCA regulated and there is no ombudsman route of that kind.

You can check the FRN yourself on the Financial Services Register.

I have already heard from Cabot. Is this the same debt?

It may be, and it is worth establishing before you pay anything or agree anything.

Ask Wescot in writing for:

• the original creditor and the original account number
• the date the account was opened and the date of default
• whether the debt has been sold or assigned, and if so to whom and when
• the current balance and how it is made up

Then compare it against any Cabot correspondence. If the original creditor, account number and default date match, it is the same debt appearing under a different name in the same group, and you should say so in writing and ask them to consolidate the correspondence.

If they differ, you have two debts and need to deal with both.

Do not pay twice. Where two brands in the same group are writing about what may be one account, get the position in writing before making any payment.

Do you have to pay Wescot?

Only if the debt is genuinely yours, genuinely owed, and still legally enforceable. Three separate questions.

Is it actually your debt?

Mistaken identity is common, particularly with similar names or a previous occupant at your address. Ask for the original creditor and account details rather than confirming anything.

Do not confirm personal details to establish who is calling. Ask them to write to you.

Is it statute-barred?

Under section 5 of the Limitation Act 1980, an action founded on simple contract *"shall not be brought after the expiration of six years from the date on which the cause of action accrued."* For most consumer debts that period runs from the default, not from when the debt was sold or when the collector wrote to you.

Two things restart the clock. Under section 29 of the Act, a written acknowledgement or a part payment restarts the six years. And under section 30, an acknowledgement must be in writing and signed by the person making it.

So a payment or a written admission can revive a debt that was almost time-barred. If you think a debt may be statute-barred, take advice before paying anything or writing anything that could be read as an acknowledgement.

In Scotland the position differs: the Prescription and Limitation (Scotland) Act 1973 operates so that the obligation can be extinguished after the relevant period, rather than merely becoming unenforceable. Our guide to statute-barred debt explains the limitation rules in full, and if enforcement itself is the question, our guide to who enforces debts in Scotland covers sheriff officers and diligence, which work differently from bailiffs in England and Wales.

If a debt is statute-barred, Wescot may still write to you, but it cannot be enforced through the courts.

Can they prove it?

Where the debt arises from a regulated credit agreement, a credit card, store card, catalogue account, personal loan or overdraft, you can make a written request under the Consumer Credit Act 1974.

Under section 77 for fixed-sum credit, and section 78 for running-account credit such as a credit card, the creditor must, on a written request and payment of a £1 fee, provide a copy of the executed agreement and a statement of the account.

The consequence of failure is set out in the Act itself: *"If the creditor under an agreement fails to comply with subsection (1) he is not entitled, while the default continues, to enforce the agreement."*

Read that precisely. The agreement becomes unenforceable while the default continues. It does not mean the debt is written off, and it does not mean the debt never existed. If the documents are later produced, the default is cured and enforcement can resume. Anyone presenting a section 77 or 78 request as a way to make debts disappear is misleading you.

It is still worth doing, because it establishes whether the paperwork exists and forces the balance to be evidenced.

Was the debt sold, and does that matter?

Cabot is a debt purchaser: its business model is buying portfolios of defaulted consumer debt. If your debt was bought, the buyer steps into the original creditor's shoes.

What you should establish:

Notice of assignment. You are entitled to know the debt has been assigned and to whom. Ask for a copy of the notice.

The balance at assignment. Compare it with the balance now, and ask for an explanation of any difference.

The default date. This drives the limitation period and your credit file, and it does not restart because the debt changed hands.

A sold debt is not more enforceable than the debt was in the original creditor's hands, and it is not less. It simply belongs to somebody else.

What if I ignore them?

Not advisable, but be clear about what actually follows, because the realistic risk is often misdescribed.

Bailiffs do not follow directly from a collection letter. For the consumer debts discussed on this page, goods enforcement would normally require the creditor to obtain a judgment and then a warrant or writ. Council tax follows the separate liability-order route. None of those enforcement powers exists merely because Wescot has sent a collection letter.

What can follow is a County Court claim. Given the group structure above, a claim on a Cabot-owned account may come from Mortimer Clarke Solicitors. If a claim form arrives, the clock matters: you normally have 14 days to respond to the claim form, extendable to 28 days by filing an acknowledgment of service.

A judgment obtained in default is the dangerous outcome, because a County Court Judgment can then be enforced by a warrant of control, an attachment of earnings, a third party debt order or a charging order. That is the point at which enforcement agents genuinely become possible.

So ignoring collection letters does not summon bailiffs, but it can start a sequence that eventually reaches them. Engaging early, even to dispute, is what prevents that.

See our guides to County Court judgments and the warrant of control.

If the balance is wrong or the debt is not yours

Put it in writing and ask them to place the account on hold while it is investigated. Under FCA rules a firm must investigate a disputed debt properly rather than simply continuing to chase.

Include what you can evidence: payments made, a settlement figure previously agreed, dates you did not hold the account, or evidence you were not at the address.

Keep the dispute factual and dated, and keep copies.

If you cannot afford to pay

Offer what is sustainable, with figures. Income, essential outgoings, other debts and dependants. A free debt adviser can produce a standard financial statement, which is recognised and carries more weight than an unsupported offer.

Priority debts come first. Rent or mortgage, council tax, energy and court fines have consequences that a credit card debt does not. A collection agency does not get paid ahead of your housing.

Ask for interest and charges to be frozen as part of any arrangement, and get the agreement in writing.

Tell them if you are vulnerable. Serious illness, mental health difficulties, disability, bereavement and recent trauma are all relevant, and FCA rules require firms to take account of them. Ask for a note on your file.

Breathing Space is available if the debts are unaffordable in principle. A moratorium pauses collection for 60 days, and it is free. See our guide to the Breathing Space scheme.

Complaining about Wescot

Because Wescot is FCA authorised, you have a route a bailiff complaint does not have.

Complain to Wescot first, in writing, setting out what happened, when, and what you want done. They have eight weeks to give you a final response.

Then go to the Financial Ombudsman Service if you are unhappy with the response or receive none within eight weeks. The Ombudsman is free to use and can direct a firm to put things right.

Grounds worth raising include persistent or excessive contact, contacting you after you asked for written correspondence only, pursuing a debt you have disputed without investigating it, failing to acknowledge vulnerability, or misrepresenting what they can do, such as implying they can send bailiffs.

Contacting and paying safely

Use contact details you have obtained yourself rather than those in an unexpected text or email. Wescot's official payment portal is paywescot.co.uk.

Enforcement and collection correspondence is imitated by scammers. Before paying anyone, check the company number and FCA reference against the public registers, and never pay by a method that cannot be traced.

Keep a written record of every call, letter and payment.

For what a collection agency can and cannot do generally, see what debt collectors can do.