cheers folks! confirmed what I suspected that their letter is all boswellox

Right then, it continues... Since we got the solicitor on board in May we have heard nothing from BCW or Aktiv - until today. We received a letter from Aktiv stating that they have tried to get the supporting documentation but the original creditor cannot find them in the archives. They go on to say that they (Aktiv) legally bought the debt, but did not buy the documentation . They go on to say that when accounts are legally assigned, they do not purchase the liabilities of the original creditor. But in a gesture of good business practice they will (without prejudice) accept 50% of the balance in full and final settlement. So, how come they can claim to legally have the account assigned to them but not have to abide by the CCA anymore. Sounds very odd to me - and we'll being seeing the solicitor again ASAP. A scan of the letter is below. We'll keep you posted.

cheers Kenny Yes our solicitor has all the facts. I suspect (rather hope) that BCW will now go away

and so the saga goes on... Our solicitor has now contacted BCW to find out what is going on, and got a response from BCW. BCW claim that they have no record of us ever responding to any of their letters. This is despite that fact that: a) we have sent 5 replies all recorded/signed for and we have the signatures as proof of receipt. b) we have documented phone calls between Citizens Advice Bureau (dates, names of people spoken too etc.) and BCW and Aktiv c) 2 letters (and copies of the credit agreement) received from BCW containing replies from their litigation officer to our letters that requested copies of the credit agreement d) a FAX from Aktiv stating that they had informed BCW that we had been trying to resolve this. So on simple terms it appears BCW are now lying to our solicitor. Coincidentally - or not!- BCW wrote to us yesterday offering us a discounted rate to satisfy the debt. All very fishy. D

cheers Kenny, that's what I thought.

and it continues... We got a letter last week from BCW stating that they now have authority to send a debt assessor round pending court action. I presume they can't actually send anyone round without a court order? And today we get a letter from a solicitor acting on behalf of BCW stating that legal action will commence. We have a solicitor ourselves on the case, but we have been away for a while so nothing has yet progressed.

BCW are a firm of debt collectors in Glasgow acting on behalf of Aktiv CL Finance are the people named on the CCJ as being the creditors (the CCJ mentions the reassignment of the debt to CL Finance from GE Capital) The fax we got from Aktiv was a letter written by them stating they owned the debt from CL Finance. It is odd because I'd have thought a deed of assignment should be from CL Finance stating that they have handed the debt to Aktiv. Not the other way around. Indeed we do need to find out who owns the debt - that is what we are trying to ascertain. I'll try and scan the "copy agreement" when I get the paperwork back from the solicitor. It looks basically like the application form - but it does have a large heading "Consumer Credit Act" and lots of small print pertaining to the Act and GE Capital. It also bears our signature. thanks D

Not as yet. Our solicitor is drafting letters to BCW and Aktiv today. I'll update when I hear anything.

Indeed that is one of (many of) our concerns. It all seems rather fishy.

I suspect 2 is probably correct. As they must be aware of the CCJ as the alleged debt to GE Captial is £130 - the debt they are claiming for is £340 which is the £130 + court costs specified on the CCJ. thanks

Thanks, so what are BCW playing at I wonder.

we are going to make the application for the CCJ set aside - as we were not present at the address it was served - so that should be OK. However, one question though. The latest letter from BCW states that if we don't pay this alleged debt they will apply for a judgement in our local courts. Now - can one alleged debt have 2 CCJs against it? It all seems very odd to me. TIA Dave

Oh yes! Everything stored, all letters sent recorded with copies of the recipients signatures, we have the complete paper trail.

cheers - yes it is GE Capital that we have the credit agreement with - not Arcadia (even though it is Debenhams card) - it is just strange to us how after 9 letters from BCW they are changing who they claim the creditor to be. Letters 1-8, Aktiv as client and creditor Letter 9 - Aktiv as client and Arcadia as creditor It is the inconsistency and total disregard to our attempts to resolve this that cast doubt on the validity of their claims. cheers!

we're working on getting the CCj set aside yes - one of the things we're getting the solicitor to do. Thanks for the OFT tip. cheers!

and so it continues... We now get yet another letter from BCW stating Aktiv as their client yet now also stating that the creditor is "Arcadia DEBANHAMSSTORECARD". This is the first we have heard of Arcadia. The creditor we have the signed agreement with is GE Capital - so surely they should be listed as the creditor or a deed of assignment given showing someone else. And now they are threatening to moving to court proceedings as we have made no attempt to resolve this matter. Despite the 8 letters to BCW and Aktiv and the fax from Aktiv that we should deal directly with them and not BCW. Is this now grounds for harassment? We now have contacted a solicitor to help but have heard nothing as yet - so any advice from here most welcome. Thanks D

thanks for all the advice, we'll address the CCJ issue. D

The amount quoted on the CCJ matches the amounts quoted by BCW and Aktiv and match the values stated on a Experian credit check as defaulted payments to GE Capital. So does this all sound above board? However, we still don't recognise the debt as we have no records of it at all, no statements etc. Now we did move house, and it is possible that we used the store card, and it is possible we have made a mistake. The problem is without seeing any statements we don't know what the debt alludes to. If the debt is genuinely ours we'll gladly pay - but we want to make sure we pay the correct people so we can inform the court that the CCJ has been paid.

The CCJ was issued in March 2004 to our old address - but we knew nothing of it despite having postal redirect that would have covered the period. (i.e. no bills from store card, no final reminders etc, nothing). First we heard about this was Nov, 2006 when BCW wrote their first letter. How do we go about getting the CCJ set aside? Is it not too late almost 3 years on?

update: We have the fax from Aktiv that they claim is a deed of assignment showing that they manage the debt. However all it is a letter created by themselves (their headed paper, their signature) stating they manage the debt from CL Finance. Surely this can't be right? Surely CL Finance or some other authority must state the re-assignment of the agreement to a third party - not the third party simply making the claim! [cynic mode] if it is the case anyone can search for CCJs (they are public records no?) and then write a letter stating that they now manage the debt on behalf of XYZ when in fact they don't [/cynic mode] Should we write to CL Finance to get a deed of assignment from them? Or is this all really above board? TIA

yes all 5 letters we have sent (to Aktiv, BCW or both) were recorded and signed for (good old Post Office means you can get the signatures online!)

It looks like the application form to be honest (it is not in front of me ATM), it had no figures non it at all. It was a store card BTW. We have not seen anything from the original creditors (GE Capital it seems) that has a statement of account - so no proof of the original debt as far as I can tell. thanks

According to Experian yes there is a CCJ .And we got a copy of the CCJ summary from Northampton County Court. This is why we are suspicious of Aktiv - why would they make an offer of a lower amount?

Thanks, we did all that back in November, all we have received is a photocopy of the credit agreement from BCW. Though today we should have a fax of the deed of assignment from Aktiv. edited to add we keep getting monthly reminders from BCW so we sought CAB advice who phoned BCW on our behalf. cheers!

It doesn't say on the summary sheet we have about a minimum monthly payment. The ability to pay the debt is not an issue, it is the fact that Aktiv and BCW have failed to fully supply the documents we requested (and we paid the pound) - i.e. we are still waiting for the statement of account. We have a photocopy of the Credit Agreement (took more than a month) and a fax of the deed of assignment (got it today so over 3 months). Is this now enough for the debt to be proven and that Aktiv are the managers of the debt. The odd thing was the phone offer of settling direct for just £185 - just made it sound iffy. I guess we write to them asking them to confirm in writing their offer - or do we push for the statement of account? thanks again.