OK thanks, I just thought that was standard debt collector wording. The exact phrase they use is "We have been instructed by our client to collect the outstanding balance on their behalf." So I assume this means they are acting on behalf on Lloyds. So I guess the best thing to do moving forward is to try and contact someone at Lloyds and just ignore Wescot?

Thanks, I have records of payments made to Moorcroft and these payments have been deducted from the amount Wescot is asking for. So shall I just contact Lloyds and ask to make a payment to them? I'm sure they'll say something like "we have passed your debt onto a third party, please deal with them"...

Thanks so much for the replies. New DCA is Wescot, old one was Moorcroft. With regards to a "prove it" letter, what exactly am I asking them to provide in terms of proof? I've read something about asking for a copy of the "original credit agreement", is this what I should ask for?

Hi all, I owe Lloyds bank an unplanned overdraft of around £2,000. Paid back about half of it over the space of a year in 2012 with a debt collection company acting on behalf of Lloyds but then ran into some job/financial difficulties and had to postpone my repayments. Now a new debt collection company is contacting me asking for repayments, and I have heard nothing in months from the old company. How can I ensure that the new company is now in charge of the Lloyd's debt? They have sent me a letter stating they are acting on behalf of Lloyds but is there any more proof I can ask for? Thanks a lot for your help!

Thank you again for taking the time to comment. So assuming I can assemble some sort of proof via my bank, old correspondence with Equidebt and maybe the letter I gave to my employer, who should I send it on to? 247 MoneyBox? I don't really want to deal with them but will if I have to. Rossendales? I don't really see why I should talk to them since they're just a third party who don't really have anything to do with this.

Hi silverfox, Thank you for your prompt reply. Yes it was a final settlement and as a result they offered a discount on the original amount they were asking for (around £530). Is there something wrong with that? I disputed the amount claiming it wasn't proportional to the original debt, and we agreed on a full settlement of £350. At the time I was dealing with 13 creditors and used similar tactics with all, agreeing on final settlements with discounts. Over a year later and this is the only one that has caused me any problems. Anyway, yes my bank statement will have proof I made the payment to Equidebt, but this doesn't prove they were in possession of the debt, what the payment was for etc.

Hi all, In July 2012 I settled an outstanding payday loan (for roughly £350) with 247MoneyBox, after it had been passed on to the debt collection company Equidebt. I agreed the settlement figure with Equidebt and paid it into their account, with the company assuring me they would now inform 247MoneyBox that the debt had been settled. I requested written confirmation of this (which I have since passed on to my employer as part of a security check). Over a year later and I have started receiving letters from a company called Rossendales Collect, informing me that I still have an outstanding loan with 247Moneybox. I rang them and explained that I had already settled the account with Equidebt, and they informed me that I would need to send them proof of this so that they could close the account. I can only presume that Equidebt failed to inform 247MoneyBox that I had settled the debt way back in July 2012. Now I need to prove this to both the new debt collection company and 247MoneyBox, but Equidebt have gone out of business. Can anyone help?! Its been over a year since I had any dealings with any of these payday loan/ debt collection companies and I really thought I'd seen the back of them! Thanks, Segway

thanks so much for your response asmilecostsnothing, really helpful information!

hi asmilecostsnothing, could you tell me if you managed to get PDE to agree to a repayment plan in the end via email, or did you have to send them letters in the post? I'm currently emailing them with my proposal but dont want to waste my time. Also if it was via email, what address did you use? Thanks for any advice you can give...

hi baileysmammy, I'm in a similar position with Minicredit. Took out a £150 loan with them thus owed £195 at end of the month. Told them by email that I couldnt afford to pay and was creating a debt management plan (i'm doing it independently), but they never got back to me. The loan is less than 2 weeks overdue now but the balance now totals £318! I've read some horror stories on here about how Minicredit never reply and the loan spirals into the thousands. Anyway, my next step is to write to them via recorded delivery so I can then lodge a formal complaint when I inevitably receive no reply. Only problem is i cannot find any address on their website to contact them. Do you know what address the CCCS used when writing to them on your behalf?

just negotiated 12 monthly repayments and frozen interest/charges with TxtLoan and Cash Genie. Both of them go into my good books (relatively speaking). Still getting nothing back from Minicredit but this is what I expected, not prepared to waste my time on these jokers. Has anyone had any experience in negotiating reduced payments with Paycheck Credit (owned by Toothfairy finance), 247Moneybox, or 1 Month Loan (owned by fortress group i think)?

just negotiated my first reduced payments agreement! It was with wonga who were very actually very civil and prompt with their replies. They agreed first time to my proposal of 12 monthly payments for the original loan plus one month's interest. I have to say that throughout this whole experience wonga definitely seem like the best of a very bad bunch. They are a class above the other sharks. On the other end of the scale, and at the very, very bottom, I would put Minicredit. Any other recommendations over which PDL companies are good/bad when it comes to debt management plans? I've got a lot of them to go through...

thanks for your response ksmiggy, very helpful. I've actually started negotiating with Txtloan over a £300 loan I have with them. So far they have offered to accept reduced monthly payments if I pay "the full overdue balance", which will be frozen at £499.60. Is this reasonable compared to what you negotiated, or should I try to bargain them down a bit?

Hi guys, I have been reading quite a few of the threads on here and some of the advice that keeps coming up is that when negotiating with payday loan companies for reduced payments, you are only legally required to pay off the original loan plus one month's interest. Even if the creditor keeps adding interest and charges you should insist on only repaying that amount. Could someone please tell me whether this is actually true or not? Is there any legal basis for this? Personally I do not think this is true as I have been told that once you agree to the contract with the PDL company they have the right to add interest at the end of every month the debt is not settled. When negotiating my repayment plans, I fully expect to pay far more than original loan + 1 month interest in the long run, unless the companies agree to totally freeze interest. However, I would like to know 100% where I stand legally before I start negotiating, no point wasting money on interest if I dont have to! On another note, I wonder if anyone could help me with the following question: I have been looking at the letter templates for contacting creditors on the national debtline website, and it seems that when you contact them with your budget sheet asking for a reduced payment plan, you need to give a reason as to why your circumstances have changed and you are unable to pay the full amount (for example reduced working hours, unemployment etc). My circumstances haven't changed per se, I've just realised that after months of pointlessly rolling over loans and splurging my entire salary on interest payments, without making a dent into the actual debt itself, I've had enough and cant stand any more. Is this a viable excuse for requesting reduced payments? Even though my circumstances haven't changed? If so, does anyone have any advice on how to word this in a letter? Thanks for taking the time to read my questions, I would really appreciate any advice you can give.

ksmiggy - as someone about to embark on the process of coming to terms with payday loan debt (and repaying it sustainably), and as someone who has taken out loans with several of the companies you have mentioned, I would just like to say that I find your thread and updates very inspiring and encouraging. Please continue to let us know how you get on, I aim to do something similar once I work out the basic budget/pro-rata repayment options etc.