Wescot is the only leading edge debt collection agency which offers diversification of four product areas, allowing them to support their clients at every stage of the credit cycle. The Wescot Credit Services locate products and services that have recently been put to further use, in partnership with Swift Advances in relation to a remediation exercise which was undertaken.
As part of a one-off exercise, Swift Advances wished to trace some 2,000 customers who had already paid off their loans in order to issue them with a relatively small refund. Wescot were asked to help by using their Locate experience, skills and technology in order to trace these customers. Within the space of just two weeks, Wescot were able to give positive trace results on almost 80% of all the customers, a far higher figure than Swift originally expected.
As part of the diverse, full credit cycle range of products on offer at Wescot, accurate locating has proven an invaluable tool. Through an extensive range of lead generation and trace products and services, Wescot are able to not only provide originators with validated data, but also to tailor a solution to the specific requirements of the Swift undertaking and deliver results which exceeded expectations.
Exceeding client expectations is part of the ongoing Wescot business model. As an ethical, customer-focused business, Wescot strives to remain the right choice for the customer and to deliver solutions which maximise profitability for clients, whilst also delivering achievable conclusions for the individual. The locate validation services provided by Wescot Credit Services work to re-establish contact between clients and individuals for the purposes of debt collection, pre sales and dormant accounts, and for verification of residency. Wescot also provide debt recovery services and outsource services to cover the full range of the credit cycle.
As one of the UK’s largest debt collecting agencies employing over 650 staff and working with five million accounts, Wescot take their responsibilities as market leaders seriously. Compliance is at the forefront of everything Wescot do. Not only does Wescot operate at an unsurpassed level of compliance, but it has also been responsible in part for shaping some of the current government legislation.
Another indicator of the success of Wescot and the solid reputation the company enjoys can be found in the fact that this year it was involved in a sponsorship capacity in two of the most prestigious annual events in the credit industry calendar. Wescot was the main sponsor of the 2013 CCR Interactive event and the Credit Excellence Awards. The purpose of this annual event is to spread the latest best practice principles across the industry. It is also a very useful forum for debate concerning the challenges faced by the credit industry now and in the near future.
This year, Wescot was the principal sponsor of the CCR Interactive conference and Credit Excellence Awards. This conference is the flagship annual event for the credit industry. Wescot was also one of the sponsors for 2013 Money Advice Scotland conference. This particular organisation is an umbrella group for the many companies and independent bodies that provide impartial and confidential debt advice across Scotland. The 
As Wescot fully appreciates, these are challenging times for any business directly or indirectly involved in the consumer credit niche. In some ways this is linked to the dented reputation experienced by the banks in the aftermath of the credit crunch. There has been a knock-on effect for the entire financial sector. Certain niches within the consumer credit industry have been subjected to particular scrutiny. These include the payday loans providers and credit-based retail stores. Many businesses will be extremely wary about the collections agencies they work with. In particular, they will want to avoid being tarred with the same brush as some of the more unscrupulous elements within the industry.
Wescot also has a highly effective locate team. Swift Cover, one of the country’s leading insurers, recently selected Wescot to complete a specialist-tracing project on its behalf. Swift was legally required to make small repayments to a large number of former customers. As part of this, approximately 2000 customers had to be traced. Because this was outside of the usual type of activities Swift is engaged in, the insurer did not have the resources or the expertise to carry out the tracing project itself. Swift chose Wescot as its partner. The choice was warranted. The Wescot locate team was able to track down 80 per cent of the individuals Swift was attempting to trace. This exceeded the insurer’s expectations.
It is extremely fitting that Wescot was the principal sponsor of this year’s event. Since its conception in Scotland over 30 years ago, Wescot has gradually grown from strength to strength. The company now has nationwide coverage and employs over 650 employees at offices in Glasgow, Saltcoats and Hull. It has expertise across a number of distinct areas including debt recovery, early stage collections, customer tracing and debt purchase.
Utilising the new to the market Experian dynamic platform, 
Recently, these resources were put to good use in a project on behalf of one of the UK’s leading insurers, Swift Cover. Swift was ordered to carry out a remediation exercise, which involved making a relatively small refund to approximately 2000 former customers. These customers had to be tracked down. Swift realised that it did not have the resources to carry out the searches itself. Wescot Credit Services proved to be the ideal choice of agency to complete the task. Within a matter of weeks, Wescot had managed to exceed Swift’s expectations by tracking down 80 per cent of the customers. This was a far greater number than Swift had expected to trace.