Hi I sent Red the excellent letter you recommended ( see previous posts )beginning:- "[As holders of a Consumer Credit License you are obliged to comply with the Office of Fair Trading Guidelines on Debt Collection. I would therefore be obliged if you would provide me with an explanation as to why you are attempting to collect on an alleged debt which was disputed with HSBC Bank PLC prior to your first contact with me, and has yet to be resolved. As per OFT guidelines Section 2.8k "not ceasing collection activity whilst investigating a reasonably queried or disputed debt." ...etc. see post http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/debt-collection-industry/130154-another-pre-bankruptcy-petition.html i.e. this was about disputed ammount due to bank charges which as we know is still going through the courts. They have replied this week with a letter entitled "Statutory Demand Processing Unit" It reads thus... Your account has been passed to this department and papers are being prepared with a view to a petition for yuor bankruptcy being filed at Court. We are writing to you to explain the process that is likely to follow. As a first step we have to serve you with a Statutory Demand fopr payment under section 268(1)(a) of the Insolvency Act 1986 in respect of a debt for a liquidated sum payable immediately. Following receipt of this document you will then have 18 days to make an application to set the demand aside. If after 21 days you have not dealt with the demand our client could file a petition for bankruptcy at Court. How to comply with a statutory demand or have it set aside To avoid a bankruptcy petition being presented to you, you must pay the debt shown above. Alternatively, you can come to an agreement with us and enter a repayment plan, you will not be asked to enter a plan that is beyond your current financial circumstances. To discuss your account, make payment in full or enter into a monthly repayment plan please call the number below urgently. **************************************** What is my best action to take regarding this letter - what are the possible outcomes. As I said before I have every intention of paying HSBC what I owe them but I do not wish to pay their rip-off bank charges...Thanks.

Hi I have found a resoanble explanation - looks worrying here:-http://www.insolvencyhelpline.co.uk/legal_issues_explained/statutory_demand.htm

Many many thanks Curlyben for your advice. I will send them this and let people know how I get on. It seems standard practice for a lot of firms to try it on either with selling faulty goods or services or overbilling and then passing debt collection/ harrassment over to the likes of Lowells, Cabot and others. In a similar vein it is interesting now with the other services where we get ripped off such as in the utilites sector where we get ripped off through PPP which is making a tidy profit for the likes of Siemens and co. Everything appears to be contracted to different companies ( often registered offshore ). Something has to change. Feel like going to Leeds and organising a picket of their offices!

Hi I contested HSBC charges with the result they closed my account and referred it, I assume, to RED/Hampton/Lowells. I get Loads of phone calls from various companies;the first call from them I disputed the ammount owed and now do not speak to them. They have sent now me the "pre bankruptcy petition" letter claiming my account is to be fast-tracked to their bankruptcy division. I was about to write to them with an offer ( around £15 month is all I can really afford at a push ) whilst disputing the total ammount which is sevral hundred pounds more when I notice the address and realised they were all the same company - which then led me to this website! Any suggestions on my best course of action? BTW. What is an SD?