Thanks DX, that makes sense. Next stage will be to send a letter telling them they have failed in their obligations etc and request details of all charges applied to the account. Once I have that list, I can submit a low offer and see how it is received. Maybe a stupid question, but can a F&F be in the form of an alternative agreement ie; to pay £XXX per month over XXmonths (which will give them the chance to legitimise it) or does it HAVE to be a lump sum? Naturally, I'll keep posting updates on here so that others may benefit from my experiences. Thanks for all the help.

Thanks DX - not looking for a magic bullet as such, just something to reduce the impact. None of my creditors have produced anything with my signature on, only 2 have actually replied, so I think I may be able to argue that all the agreements are unenforceable. Obviously the debts, at least in part, still exist, but if my understanding is correct, they will struggle to force me to repay if I choose to be difficult.I am thinking of going to them with a proposal along the lines of: 1. The agreements do not contain the prescribed terms and as such are at best unenforceable, and possibly illegitimate. 2. I believe I can dispute the legitimacy of the agreements and therefore the validity of any default notice relating to the agreements. 3. However, I am happy to continue payments under my DMP for the next (say) 10 years, and can sign an agreement to that effect but only on the condition that they remove the default notices. What do you think? I'm trying to get a win-win. This way they get some (or all) of the cash eventually, despite their inadequate documentation, and I get a clean record. Do you think they'll go for it? Any pitfalls?

just thought I'd bump this thread in case there was someone who would be willing to share some expert knowledge on this subject? Cheers

Ok, its been a little while. Here's an update. If anyone has any thoughts on what I do next, please post - any advice gratefully received! CCA's sent 1/11/11 - all were signed for on 2/11/11 and its now 18/11/11 and none of the creditors have actually sent a signed agreement; Apex - Egg Loan. £16,887. They wrote on 3/11/11 to acknowledge my letter and they confirmed that request is being processed and account is on hold pending fulfillment. I haven't heard anything since. M&S - M&S Card. £5376. No response. Egg Prudential - Egg Card. £9724. Account now with Barclaycard. Letter received from Barclaycard dated 16/11/11 saying they are dealing with my request and will reply as soon as possible. HBOS - Marbles Card. £7483. Have sent me a copy of my 'current executed agreement' and they have requested a copy of the original signed application form. This is confusing - Surely an 'executed agreement' has to be signed by me? I'm not sure I have ever seen this 8 page document before. No sign yet of the original signed application form. Equidebt - MBNA Card. £9672. They wrote to me on 7/11 saying they have requested a copy of the credit agreement and will respond in due course. No further response to date. Any recommendations for my next steps? What should I do if they can't send me copies of the agreements? What are the prescribed terms I looking for to verify the legality of these agreements when/if I received them? What are the implications for the creditors if the agreements are flawed? nb: I'm not looking to have these accounts totally written off on a technicality (I did borrow the money after all!) but I would like to see if there is any way I can negotiate a sensible settlement - and get rid of the default notices that will be hanging over me for the next few years at least. So I need to understand what my legal position is - Obviously I am in a much stronger position if any of these accounts are not enforeceable. Thanks in advance for any advice!

Dx100uk: Thanks! Ghost: fair point. Not as if they can make it much worse! I'll post any developments as i go along, for other people to benefit from.

ok. CCA's first seems a sensible step. A template was mentioned in one of the posts... am I being stupid because I can't find a link? Can someone point me in the right direction?My only concern is that in some ways I don't want to rock the boat. Like I said, the DMP is going ok, it's just the associated 'bad press' which is painful. Is there a risk that by going down the CCA route that the creditors will react badly assuming I am going to try and wriggle out of ANY debt on a technicality? (I guess I just want to lose the stigma of the defaults on my credit file)

I have a Dmp with payplan that is going ok, and have posted here before but am not sure about my next steps. I am ok with the repayments, but the default notices are causing my wife problems and will be hanging over me for some time. So what i would like to do is find out whether the debts are enforceable, and if not, am i right in thinking that i can get the default notices removed? Problem is, in some ways i don't want to rock the boat as none of my creditors are giving me a hard time at the moment. I've read some of the threads on here, but can anyone give me some direct advice on the best way to proceed? My total debt is around £50k across 5 accounts... All old credit cards and an egg loan. Thanks

I have found Payplan very supportive and helpful, and my creditors responded positively to my initiatve in engaging them to help sort me out.

I understand that - but thats 3 more years which is a long time if it can be avoided. I have heard that defaults can be removed if there have been procedural shortfalls by the creditors... but this is all unknown territory for me, hence the 'cry for help'.Also, on reading some of the other posts on this (really useful) forum, it seems that the DCA's may have bought my debt for peanuts, in which case maybe I can leverage that as well?I am thinking that there may be a way that I can dispute the legality of their claims, but offer to make a sensible arrangement on the condition that they remove the DN's which unfairly affect my partner as well.

Hi All - can someone help me? I have had a DMP with Payplan since May 2008. My Creditors are: Apex Credit Management (EGG loan) £17,050 - a/c since 1/10/2005 Egg Plc £9,447 - a/c since 19/1/2004 Equidebt (MBNA) £10,533 - a/c since 27/3/2007 M&S £5,668 - a/c since 28/1/2006 Halifax (Marbles) £7,549 - a/c since 24/11/2003 Total = £50,247 - DMP payments of £170pcm agreed. I got myself in trouble due to a severe drop in earnings in 2007, just after taking on the mother of all mortgages (£370k!). The situation is not likely to improve and I am making token payments via a DMP with Payplan. So far, all the creditors are playing ball, and my personal situation has stabilised insofar as I have a good job, and no-one is giving me a hard time over the debts... all the same, realistically, I am not going to be clear for many, many years. I don't mind that, hey, I borrowed the money after all. However... these accounts are all showing as defaults on my credit file which has caused my wife issues because she is financially connected to me (joint mortgage with NRAM). I am not interested in borrowing money (never again ) but the stigma of this 'bad reputation' weighs very heavy. I am a respected senior executive in my company and I am happy to keep paying the DMP until hell freezes over - I just desperately want to try to get my dignity and self-esteem back. I also don't see why my wife should be 'punished' because of her association with me . So... what I want to try and do is to somehow 'clear' the default notices asap so that my credit file is at least 'reputable' - I have seen many adverts for 'credit file cleaning' etc but I am sceptical. Can anyone recommend an expert who could advise or better still perhaps take this on for me? or am I just wasting my time and just learn to accept my fate? Any help, or opinions would be really appreciated - thanks!

I've been in a DMP with Payplan for over 2 years now and am rather resigned to my fate... should be paid off by 2029 if I'm still alive . Anyway, I have 5 debts totalling £50k all of which are showing as Default on my credit file... except one. As part of the DMP I am paying Equidebt a monthly amount and there is no trace of the account on my Experian credit file? Should I read anything into this? I don't dispute the account (hey, I spent the money after all) and don't want to tempt fate by cancelling any payments or drawing their attention to it... but I resent paying a third party a load of cash if MBNA sold my debt to them for peanuts! Any suggestions out there?