Many thanks for the help and advice. I have sent the follow up letter off and we will see if that does the trick. In the meantime (do these DCA's all talk together and decide to all send letters at the same time?) I have received a letter from Thames Credit acting on behalf of Aktiv Kapital who they say have bought the interest of GE Capital/First National. They claim that their records show an outstanding amount and that any future payments should be sent to them. I do not recall ever having any credit outstanding with GE capital or First National, however the few debt problems I did have as stated earlier in this thread date back to the late 90's, so it could have been one of mine. I have never communicated with or made any payments to any of those debts since the late 90's so without doubt if it was a genuine debt at that time, it is most definitely now well and truly Statute Barred. So, based on previous advice on this thread, rather than going the long route and asking for any copy of credit agreements etc, I simply sent them the 'Statute Barred' letter. They have replied very quickly and whilst there is no threat of them taking any action, they have not confirmed that they have closed the file as I would have liked. Their reply goes along these lines:- "In order to assist us in investigating and resolving the issues you have raised, we would ask that you contact our customer relations team on the above freephone number. The purpose of the conversation would be to ascertain certain important facts in relation to this matter, which will assist us in complying with your request and/or resolving your query" Obviously I am not going to telephone them. I made it clear in my last correspondence that the debt was 'Statute Barred' and my understanding is that it is not for me to confirm details with them, rather that the onus must now be on them to prove that any debt is enforceable, which it is not. I could simply ignore their letter, but I would like to reply in order to try and get some closure from them. After all, whilst no mention of any date of this alleged debt is made in their letter, they will obviously know that it is 10 years old! So, what suggestions does anybody have as to how I reply to this most recent letter? Can Curlyben draft another of his killer letters that will close this matter as it should be after all this time? Any help as ever will be greatly appreciated. Many thanks

Well its been some time since I last posted. I originally started this thread to ask for advice on some old debts (nearly 10 years old). I was given advice by a few of you saying the DCA's were just trying it on and to send the 'Statute Barred' letter. The first letter I received I sent the 'Stat Barred' letter in response and recieved a reply stating that they would not be taking any further action and that the matter is closed.(perfect result!) The next letter from Meritforce on behalf of Lowell Group, I received on 2/9/08. It was basically offering me a reduced settlement. I sent the 'Stat Barred' letter and heard nothing at all until this week. They have now sent an identical letter but replaced 'Lowell Group' as the pursuers with the original Creditor, who obviously have nothing to do with it any more. The amount and account number are identical. Their letter is the same letter exactly as last time, except they are offering an even bigger reduction! (lucky me) They do state that if payment is not recieved, they will 'take the matter further' As the debt is well and truly Statute Barred my understanding is that they are not allowed to make this threat! (especially as I have already sent a letter stating it is Statute Barred. I have checked the recorded delivery for the letter I sent on 8/9/08 and it was signed for on 15/9/08, so they definately recieved it. Can somebody please advise the best letter to send them next to make them acknowledge that the debt is Statute Barred and get them to stop sending letters and harassing me? Any advise would be greatly received as they have obviously paid absolutely no attention to the last letter I sent. I look forward to some good advice as always. Kind regards

What amazes me is that the courts waste their time hearing cases that they dont need to. Surely with debt cases the first question they should ask before it comes to court is when the debt relates to? If the DCA or creditor doesnt know, it should never be allowed to get close to court. I am amazed Link turned up. I think you have them on the run Rudy. If they had any documentation, they would definately have taken it with them. Even their solicitor thought they were planks. !0/10 for having the bottle to face them. I think you will hear no more. I just noted the comment from JonChris. I agree comppletely with you, but whilst you may well know the date of last contact/payment, how do you prove it? All the best.

It might sound like a daft question but I am going to start sending some 'Statute Barred' letters from the templates section in reply to various DCA's letters that relate to debts that are 8 or 9 years old. During that 8 or 9 years I have never communicated, acknowledged or paid anything towards them so they are most definately Statute Barrred. In the letters that I receive from the DCA's they never mention how old the debts are, just the fact that they are about to take me to court, which of course they never do. As in this forum everybody always states not to ever acknowledge a debt, if I send the 'Statute Barred' letter, that indicates that I know how old the debt is which in turn indicates that I am in some way acknowledging that the debt is mine. Should I still type at the top of the letter? I DO NOT ACKNOWLEDGE ANY DEBT TO YOUR COMPANY I would be interested on anybody elses view just to make sure I dont shoot myself in the foot by writing something wrong. I look forward to your replies. Many thanks

Thanks for all the replies. To be honest, I may owe the amounts, but they are going back 9-10 years and the debts have been sold over and over to so many DCA's that I dont recognise what any of them are. I am going to go down the route of sending the statute barred letter as and when I receive any letters in the future. Perhaps then, once I have formally advised I will not be paying, they may stop adding these searches. I need to get them to stop or it will be very difficult to obtain any future credit. I have written to the CRA's to ask their advice. Will keep you all updated and any more views on the subject would be apreciated. Many thanks

Can I ask for some advice please? I obtained a copy of my credit file today and whilst there is no detrimental information on my credit file there are pages and pages of searches from Mackenzie Hall. Sometimes several per day. The reason they give for the search is trace, which I assume means they are trying to find me. I did have some debts about 9 years ago, which would be statute barred by now. They do write to me occasionally but I just ignore them. Is it legal for them to do these kind of searches and is there any way of me stopping them? Do lenders who search my credit file see these pages and pages of trace searches as I assume they would be regarded as negative? Any advice you can give would be greatly received. Many thanks

Thats great. Many thanks to both of you. I will respond with the Statute Barred letter each time I get a letter from now on and keep you updated with my progress. One more question. About 3 years ago after a long period where I heard nothing I got a couple of letters chasing two debts from the same DCA. I didnt respond but they did add new defaults to my credit file as all of the old defaults had vanished by then. How long can they keep adding defaults to your credit file? Its all well and good going passed the 6 years Statute Barred period but if you cannot get your credit file back on track it makes life difficult for the future. Any advice on that one? Thanks again

Firstly I would like to say that the wealth of experience on this site is second to none. I have read many threads on this forum and the knowledge is invaluable. So I would like to run my scenario past anyone willing to listen. In the mid to late 90's I was transferred with my job and whilst I already had a house the job seemed great so I purchased another house where I was working with the intention of renting my original house. To cut a long story short, I was made redundant, and had no means of paying either mortgage. The person I rented my old house to became a squatter so I received nothing from them either. Debts built and built and credit cards and bank loans spiralled to keep up the mortgage payments. I finally found another job and after trying really hard to start repaying arrears, I was made redundant again. I couldnt cope anymore and after finally managing to sell both houses (at a loss) I had no alternative other than to stop paying all of these unsecured debts. The last payment made on any of them was in July 2000 although most were stopped the year before and I have never communicated with any creditor since. They have sent me various letters over the years to various addresses including mine, family and anyone who might possibly know me, but I have never communicated at all. To be honest the debts have passed through so many different companies that I no longer have any idea who any of the original creditors are. To my knowledge I have never had any CCJ's and now only a handful of different DCA's write to me. These include Mackenzie Hall, Aktiv Kapital, Buchananclark + wells, Red, Lowell & ScottCall. They have been the same old letters for over 8 years now. I have read in detail about the Statute Barred Law and as I am well over the 6 year limit I wonder if it is now worth sending the 'Statute Barred' letter from the templates each time I receive a letter from a different DCA? It could take some time to work through as often I dont hear about a debt for months on end and then a new DCA must buy the debt for pennies and start the process over again. It would be nice to finally put an end to the letters and maybe feel I could resurect my credit file without fear of defaults. Any advice good or bad will be greatly received. Many thanks