I have found this website after almost a year of battling a really messy situation.

I currently have so many DCAs after me I have lost track of who they are and what they are after. I have 2 or 3 tracing companies chasing me and, annoyingly, one has found where I am but not verified that it is actually me they have found.

I am now at the panic stage. I need advice quick on what is the best way to proceed.

To summarise: total debts add up to around £30k, all unsecured. Biggest is just over £10k, however a great deal of the above is interest and charges, not the original debt. Personal loan and CC's.

I originally started with a complaint against Virgin who had irresponsibly increased my credit limit on my Virgin card exponentially, every time I used up my limit, they jumped it up by 100% or more. I hold them personally accountable for the mess I am in now, as I used their debt to offset other debt. This was all balance transfers, all to fund my small business. I never used any money on my self personally.

It got to the stage where I had borrowed so much I could not borrow any more. I tried to get a consolidation loan - refused. I tried to get more credit cards - refused. My credit rating was A1, so I could not understand what had happened. I suspected it was to do with Virgin, and my suspicions were confirmed when I suddenly got a notice from Virgin that my special offer on my balance transfer would soon expire, and following that my interest rate would increase from 0% to 37%. I truly felt I had bitten the carrot.

To cut a long story short, I went thru the official complaint procedures but they denied the order of the events, saying they had notified me before they increased my credit limit. Let's just remember that I never once asked for a credit limit increase!

At the same time I complained against Halifax, for a similar mistake in which I had been quoted one rate for a balance transfer over the phone, but when the paper work came thru the rate was totally different rate and they denied that it was possible for me to have been offered the rate. This also did not go too well:- they offered me £30 credit to my account for their error but kept the higher rate, despite having listened to their own recorded conversation to verify that what I had said was true.

These 2 events prompted me to return to a state which I once happily lived in, a state which I called to myself "Free of the system" but which I see is now called Freeman-of-the-land. This wasnt done in any official way, I simply moved house, stopped paying any of my loans or CCs, did not notify my change of address to ANY official channel, and lived a new life free of trouble, in which I earn a little money and use only the money that I have earned to pay for anything. I could never have paid off any of the amounts I owed with the amount I earned....

Not a totally peaceful life as I have around 10 - 15 calls a day from various DCAs, but I quickly learn to recognise the numbers, store them on my mobile and do not answer. Occasioanlly one gets clever and rings from a personal mobile number, I always answer the phone vageuly anyway and never give any details or enter into any conversation as soon as I realise who they are.

However, I was recently shocked when I opened a hand-written letter addressed to me, which turned out was from "Hillside Messengers" saying could I get in touch as they had a personal message for me. Of course I didn't, but after quickly googling their name I saw that they are a tracing company.

Apparently they call up utility companies pretending to be you, since they have all your personal information, and get some witless idiot to give out your new address with some phony story that 'You' have not been receiving any bills. This is the only way they could have traced me.

Soon after, came a phone-call. Again I was caught slightly unawares, but not totally off-guard... I always answer the phone a bit vaguley anyway so I just denied that anybody of that name was living at this address. Hillside's reputation is really very, very bad, so I am now on high alert and really, getting quite worried.

I also have Moorcroft and Westcot(?) on my case. Also CCI Legal, Blair Oliver & Scott, AIC... It's not a pretty picture.... so I need help fast. It seems that refusing to acknowledge or reply to any correspondence is not working - the threats of legal proceedings are looming over me. I don't have much that they could take, but since morally I feel that I was put in a position I'd have easily avoided without the main 2 points I indicated above, I feel reluctant to let it get to that stage.

What do I do next? Should I start the request for Agreement route straight away, using my last known address and hoping that all mail will be forwarded to me? I feel loathe to reveal my new address.

Someone else has advised me to either refuse to acknowledge any correspondence from them, as if they cannot serve notice upon me they cannot actually take me to court, or to otherwise make my self a proper freeman of the land -- however from what I can see that ends up going to court where I would feel extremely intimidated and out of my debt!

Whatever adivise you can give me would be greatly appreciated! Thank you.

I'm sure some experienced caggers will be along in a while to ask some questions about the individual accounts, enforceability, and where to get started.

However, I was a little confused that you think your creditors are 'personally responsible' for YOU accruing more debt - yes, they need to take some responsibility, but you should take a significant portion too - YOU spent the money and used the extra amount when they increased the credit limit. I did the same thing, but realised a few years back that I had to take control and I am now getting things in order; but, you can't shift the blame onto your creditors: you have to acknowledge the problem and help yourself.

Also, on your point of them taking you to court and your friend advising they can't serve notice on you; that's true, but the courts will probably just enter judgment against you by default and place a nice CCJ on your credit file (which will stay on there for 6 years).

no a ccj does not expire.

dx

how old are these debts.

i'e that date will be the last financial in/out by you on each.

dx

Some date back to 2003 but last acknowledgement of debt on my part (on all debts) was early 2009, so in 2008 tax year.

oh well blows SB'ed out the water then!

dx