Thanks again for replies. I've got the message - I WILL definitely not be contacting them. Just to clarify the matter, they don't telephone me but send me letters every week with increasing demands - I actually threw away the first couple as I thought they were bogus claims - but as those letters got more threatening, citing that they would damage my credit rating and refer me to a solicitor, I got nervous. I'll ignore them and keep you all posted on outcome - so glad I've found this forum with all your helpful suggestions!

Thanks for your reply - I understand that I shouldn't acknowledge debt - the one contact I had over the phone with them was to deny the debt. Should I, in any case, put it in writing to them and to request that they stop harassing me? Ta!

Hi - I'm just new to this forum and i'm very glad that I have discovered it. I have also received threatening letters of demands by AKTIV Kapital, claiming that I owe a debt to Barclays Bank (£518). I have no recollection of that debt and fear a bogus claim. After much searching on internet and calls to Debt national helplines, I was advised to call the debt company to clarify what the debt was. In the phone call to AKTIV they advised me that this debt dated back to 1997 and had I lived at a particular address - (I hadn't) which AKTIV claimed that I had resided at . They then said they would 'continue with their investigation'. Today I received another letter from Pargate Investigators Bureau (all that for £500!) saying that they would 'commnece inquiries into your current financial position. We will arrange for a visit from a collector or one of our trace and audit investigators' :o. My query is: 1. Do I send the debt company a letter demanding clarification of the debt and proff that they have that I have resided at claimed address- if so, does anyone have a sample? 2. If I did owe the debt could I quote them the 'statute of limitation Act'? 3. Do their demands fall under harassment and how could I get them to stop? Thank you in advance to anyone with suggestions! Tomcat2