Aside from the debt owed to the Government in the form of taxes and miscellaneous debt by individuals, banks are owed the largest amount of money in the UK, a sum of around £8 billion. This is significant for companies like Wescot as large financial institutions such as these already have a competent and capable, long running debt recovery process. It is a large portion of the market share that independent debt management companies like Wescot cannot break into, and as such is putting pressure on the industry. The upshot of the current economic climate however, is such that despite the market share being comparatively small there is still a large amount of private debt owed to other companies, that Wescot can take advantage of, recovery rates are in fact the highest that they have been in six years since the recession.

Banks are very efficient at recovering their debts, with a working model that they have operated for decades, coupled with a mean debt of many thousands of pounds they can quickly persuade customers to part with their cash and begin repayments. However, despite recovery rates being high, independent debt management companies such as Wescot are facing another dilemma. Average people simply do not have as much money to pay back their debts on a weekly basis. The average person only has £139 to spare once essentials have been paid for, so it is taking Wescot longer to close each client’s account. Wescot has to come up with more efficient strategies given the difficulty of closing an account during this recession.

A major difference to the economic outlook today as compared to six years ago at the height of the credit crunch is that mainstream banks have long since stopped unsecured lending. So for the last two and a half years the collections flow, stock and impairments rate has decreased. Looking ahead for companies like Wescot, who rely on creditors to lend money, it is necessary that those in charge come up with another solution to unsecured lending. In this way, they will provide further business to debt recovery companies such as Wescot.

Despite the changes that Wescot and other debt management companies face in the coming years, the UK’s biggest debt recovery company is adapting and overcoming the problems they might come across to maintain their lead.