Around 3 years ago, I rung Revenue & Customs to do my annual review. Unfortunately, the person I spoke to wasnt too handy on the data entry side of things and entered my salary onto the system minus a digit. This resulted in a hefty payment arriving in my bank a few days later. I immediately contacted Revenue & Customs who said they would fix their error. I asked them where do I send this overpayment and they said no, you dont pay us back yet, it will come off your award notice and be sorted out in due course. I had no clue at the time about the various codes of practice etc So time passes and Im alerted to the code of practice that states if the Revenue make an error and I alert them within one month, then I dont have to pay it back. So I write and appeal and after a few months got my reply this week that stated that as they corrected the error within one month of making it, then they have taken care of all their responsibilities and the overpayment has to be paid back. This seems odd because they only corrected the error because I notified them within one month. Had I not notified them, they wouldnt have corrected it - and had I not notified them within one month anyway then I would have failed my responsibilities and lost out anyway. They also say I cannot appeal their decision despite this being the first stage of my complaint. Where can I go next, anywhere?

Thanks 42man, some very interesting threads to get my teeth into. I am going to get a section 10 letter sent off asking them to stop processing my data.

Here it is: Dear Mr Our response to your CCA Request under section 77/78 I refer to your letter dated September 2007 and our letter dated December 2007. I understand you have made a request for a copy of your original credit agreement with Hitachi Nova as the original lender. The Cabot Financial Group purchased your debt from Hitachi Nova on 2nd April 2003. In your letter dated September 2007 you state that you are entitled under sections 77-78 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974 to a copy of the credit agreement that you signed with Hitachi Nova. Although Cabot does not have an obligation under section 77 and/or 78 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974 to supply this information, Cabot will assist the original lender and customers in providing this information. We have made several urgent requests to Hitachi Nova to forward any documentation relating to your account to us. Unfortunately, Cabot has not received documentation due to a delay in retrieving this information from their archives. Please be advised, that the failure to provide a copy of your agreement within agreed time lines does not affect the legality of your debt with the Cabot Financial Group but merely renders the credit agreement unenforceable until such time the agreement can be produced. As aforementioned, Cabot does not have a duty to provide this information and therefore section 78 of the Consumer Credit Act does not apply to us. I can confirm that Cabot has taken the decision to treat the balance outstanding on this account as irrecoverable. Please note that this decision is not to be confused or interpreted as a write-off of the outstanding balance on your account as the debt legally remains. Please be advised that although Cabot has treated the above account as irrecoverable, we shall continue to report to the Credit Reference Agencies accordingly. Notwithstanding the above, Cabot will continue to request these documents from the original lender and in the event Cabot obtains the information as requested by you, at a later date, we reserve the right to recommence collection on your account. I trust I have set out our position clearly. So....what do you think? Can they still report to Equifax and so on despite not having a copy of the agreement? Should I do anything more ? Thanks DigbyD

Lovely, thanks for your help as always

Yes Rory. Would it be a good idea for me to photocopy it and slip it in with the nasty letter Im putting together to AIC?

Dont know what to make of this one. Now this may be me getting the reference numbers mixed up and putting 2 and 2 together and making 5 - or it could be a DCA trying to collect an already settled debt. I had a debt with The Royal Bank of Scotland that I settled with Intrum Justitia before Christmas. Intrum tried to collect it even after I'd settled, to which I replied with a nasty letter, to which they replied back saying yeah, the debt is now settled. To my surprise, I get a letter today from Allied International Credit and the Client Ref No is the exact same as the Client Reference on the Intrum Justitia letter. The only problem is, Allied have not put any balance on the letter for me to cross check, they just say I owe them money. Now before I get on my high horse to AIC, is it possible that the Client Reference used by both Intrum & AIC is RBS's reference number (as in the reference number they use specific to the loan department for example) and not mine? Or is it likely that AIC are trying to collect a debt thats already been legally settled. They have even sent it to my old address which is crazy. TIA.

Further update. Response from Cabot (Original Lender = Hitachi Nova - Time Finance) Your request for information under the Consumer Credit Act Unfortunately Cabot has not been able to provide you with the requested information within the relevant time period. We have worked hard to obtain this information for you. However, the original lender has not yet been able to locate the relevant information from their archives. You are of course entitled to request the information direct from the original lender. Your account Cabot shall continue to hold any action on your account until further notice. What happens next? Although Cabot is dependant on the original lender for the information, the relevant time period has now expired. However, Cabot shall continue to request the information from the original lender to assist you with your request. We hope to receive the relevant information shortly. So what should I do now? Nothing? Or is there a standard letter that I can send them that states they have exceeded the time period and request they write the debt off? Thanks !

Thanks for that concise reply, firing off the letter now

I arranged a settlement figure with intrum justitia 2 weeks ago. I made sure they emailed me with "This payment will be accepted as F & F" etc etc so I paid around 25% of the debt. So far this week, I have received phone calls and a letter trying to recover the remaining balance, despite me telling them its settled. Just about to go out for the day and the buggers have rung me yet again, leaving a recorded message for me to ring them. I am going to write them a nasty letter but just wondered if anyone knows which particular act/law I can quote that states once they accept payment as F & F they cant come after the rest. Thanks

Spoke to Cabot as they are chasing me because I stopped payments re an old debt as I am still waiting for them to respond to my CCA request - they have responded previously by saying they will get back to the original creditor and sent my £1 cheque back but I have not received anything else. So, Im talking to this guy on the phone and he says actually, Cabot bought the debt a number of years ago. As I understood it, they were only collecting on behalf of the original creditor, but looking at the letter, the original creditor is only named in the "Account Type" of the letter so I assume they have bought the debt. Now I offered Cabot token payments of £x amount per month and had been paying regularly until I put in my CCA request following advice on here. My question is, the fact that I agreed to pay them a certain amount each month for a number of years, does this constitute an agreement in itself - ie acceptance that I owe Cabot money purely based on the fact that ive been paying them. When they purchase a debt, do they purchase the rights to collect under the old cca? Or am I correct in thinking that this debt is in no way enforceable and I dont have to pay. He said look, if you dont pay anything then the accumluted interested (almost the same value as the debt so he said) will be added to the account, so I really need to get this sorted as I dont want my debt to be £2500 instead of £1500. What should my next move be letter wise? Thanks again.

Yes, made token payments initially then increased the payments as my circumstances improved.

This is a debt that went into default around 2000 when I lost my job etc etc so I guess I signed up for it around 1996/97. Thanks for all the replies everyone, definetly gven me food for thought.

Owe DCA around £2500. Asked for Full & Final figure 6 weeks ago, given £1800. Sent CCA request (original debt with RBS) a few weeks back. DCA cashed my cheque. Nothing back from them yet other than a phonecall the other day saying "RBS have agreed to accept £800 as F & F". Im suspicious of this as it makes me think they know they cant find the CCA and are just trying to get what they can out of me. Im so tempted to pay it though because it gets it out of my life forever. So my options: Pay Ring and offer lower than £800 Write and remind them about my CCA request What do you think? Thanks in advance

Update. I wrote to IJ regarding the above letter where they stated the account would be closed. They wrote back confirming the account was closed and they would inform all credit reference agencies etc etc so looks a result on that one. Cabot sent the cheque back and said they would contact the original creditor. I cancelled my direct debit with them, they then got back in touch with me saying why had I stopped paying them. I told them that I was in the process of requesting a CCA (told them to check their records) and that the account was currently in dispute and I would be making no more payments until its resolved. Whilst chatting, the telephone operator said "Is this your letter?...uhm..something about the account being closed.." I asked for more details on the letter on the screen, he went to talk to his manager , came back then point black refused to discuss that letter - I have a feeling its from the original creditor saying the accounts been closed. He then asked me if Id like to settle for £x amount, I then said no, lets wait for the CCA request to be sorted , he said fine. Very strange! So thats where I am now, one debt apparently written off, four left to sort out!

Just signed up for the 30 day trial with creditexpert.co.uk Viewed it today and my credit rating is "Fair". However......the only accounts on there that are showing any sort of account informtion are from Barclays - overdraft and loan which show payments up to date. My worry is - where on earth are all my debts from people like Cabot, IJ, Fredrikkson et al. I make monthly repayments and owe thousands yet none of this appears. If I go down to the linked addresses section, then it shows up the DCA being the source but I just dont understand why I cant see any of these amounts that I owe - even the orginal creditors (Alliance & Leicester to name one) do not show any entries. Anyone got any ideas? TIA! Edit - the reason I ask is that when I make full and final settlements to my creditors eventually, I will ask them to amend my credit file accordingly - but I cant actually find anything for them to amend at the moment.

I had a huge tax credits overpayment last year. Whoever took my details down over the phone missed out a decimal place when entering my salary and I had two huge payments go into my account. I rung straightaway to say "Take them back" but they refused to let me send them money straightaway, saying that someone would be in touch about "collection". The money still sits on my tax credit award notice as "overpayment to be collected". I am currently looking into the rules about overpayments where it is the fault of the tax credits office.

Intrum Justitia. The 'clients' name was "Intrum Justitia Debt Finance" so Im assuming Intrum Justitia basically bought the debt and now cant come up with an agreement. I have requested my credit file from experian to see what I need to do now as its not clear from IJ if the debt is written off or if its been passed around.

Another reply, this time from Cabot. Please find enclosed your cheque for the £1.00 fee....... Basically saying they have forwarded my request on to the original creditor who will forward this to me accordingly. They say there might be a delay as they have to retrieve these from the archives and they want my patience and co-operation. Im wondering now if the original creditor (Hitachi Nova) will get out of the 12 day rule because its been requested by Cabot and not myself and have not cashed the £1 cheque.

Got my first reply yesterday. It was from a DCA who appear to own the debt (Where it says client, it is listed as the DCA) and they are basically saying they will now close the account. http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/debt-collectors-debt-collection/114062-cca-request-what-do.html#post1127816

Just made a CCA request to a DCA following advice on here and received this reply: Thank you for your recent communication. Unfortunately, we are unable to provide you with the information that you have requested and in light of the information contained in your letter, I can confirm that the above account has been closed and that you will receive no further telephone calls or correspondence from in relation to this account. A cheque for £1.00 will be returned etc etc I would like to thank you for bringing this matter to my attention. ----------------------------------- So.......this was in reply to the template CCA request on this site. Am I to assume that this debt has now been passed on to someone else rather than been closed and that this particular DCA have just washed their hands off it? It was for £1300. Edit - The letter was dated 7 months ago.......I only requested the CCA last week!!!! Further edit. I have two debts with this DCA. On one of the debt, the client is listed as "Royal Bank of Scotland". On the other debt, client is listed as the DCA. Looks to me like they bought this particular debt but I may be wrong. It is the one where the DCA is listed as the client that they say the account has been closed.

Interesting on my CCA requets. I sent five by recorded delivery. One of them has not yet been signed for................yet they cashed the £1 cheque! Funny that !

Having just sent off some requests, I have a question about CCAs. Is it more likely that the older an agreement the more likely it is they havent got an enforceable agreement? I just wondered that with lots of people now requesting CCAs will they start tightening things up so that five years down the line, askng for CCAs will be a waste of time because they will all have enforceable CCAs on request. All my credit related debts were prior to 2000 with a selection of loan/credit providers. I wonder how those taking out agreements now will fare in a few years time when they request CCAs.

Thanks all for your great advice. Just playing the waiting game now, sent all 5 CCA requets by registered post and 4 out of 5 have been received - will now see wether the cheques are cashed. Edit: Reading through I noticed I have exactly the same debt as this poster with cabot so will watch this thread closely for advice: http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/cabot/95565-me-cabot-financial.html?highlight=hitachi

Ok....sent all my creditors the CCA letter by registered post along with £1!

Thanks for that. Ive been having a read around the site about CCAs and the effect it could have on my situation but Im struggling amongst all the legal jargon! Ive just looked at the last few letters sent by the DCAs and a couple of them refer to the banks/credit card companies as "Our client" and say things like "Our client has instructed us" etc . Am I right to assume that the DCA in this instance dont actually own the debt? At this current time, I have interest frozen on everything and am not paying more than £20 per month on any debt - £10 per month on others (total debt around £10k). By requesting the original CCA to those who dont own the debt, is it likely to get sent straight back to the bank? For those that do own the debt, does that mean I will have more bargaining when it comes to full settlement because they are likely to have purchased the debt cheaply from the bank in the first instance? Sorry, just trying to work out the purpose of requesting the CCAs! Edit : Just read some other posts. So it seems that if I request a CCA it may turn out that the debt is not enforceable in which case I might not even have to make a settlement figure at all - am I right?