I've got a slight problem. I'm not sure if this has been dealt with elsewhere, but I'll just set it out briefly. I took out a 5-year fixed sum loan with GE Money in 2006 and made payments until December 2009 when I ran out of savings. I'm self-employed and have not worked since December 2008 when the property market ground to a halt. Santander took over in about March 2009. I wrote to them in January, when I had missed a couple of payments telling them I was broke, both me and my husband were on the dole, and would they accept a token payment. They said they couldn't do that. I then got a letter from (I think) Regal Consultants, threatening allsorts, so I sent them a copy of the letter I sent to Santander. I then get a letter from Santander in February telling me the account has been transferred from Santander Cards to Santander Bank! I heard nothing further until I got a letter from Howard & Cohen solicitors telling me the debt had been assigned to C L Finance and in the same letter, also telling me that a county court summons had been applied for. I'm about to send of the Acknowledgement of Service to buy some time, but I'm not sure what's next. What annoys me is that I can't get a job for love nor money and only stop making payments because I was brassic. So any pointers would help. Thanks.

Thanks Martin. Avocados, I'm sorry but I didn't intend to highjack your post, and will most probably going to get another earbashing but the reason I posted my comment was because you said you had an enforceable agreement, and that Capquest were threatening a Stat Demand (not Dec - sorry!). You will have 21 days to pay up if a Stat Demand is served, and that hasn't changed. If you're still unconvinced just google "Statutory Demand", or contact CAB and ask them. As I said in my earlier post, I wasn't convinced that you could get your debts written off. I'm being chased by 3 credit card companies and a catalogue. I've been dealing with Capquest, Fredericksons, FTC, you name it, and they have never threatened me with a Statutory Demand, and that's why I think alarms bells should start ringing. I've just read that in yesterdays's Daily Mail (page 48) that the Commercial Court has thrown one of these claims out last week, and that's why I'm up at this ungodly hour, wondering what to do next. I'm quite happy to scan and email information about me to one of the moderators. As I have said, I'm not that brilliant at technical stuff.

Sorry, I'm gonna admit my ignorance - don't know what a troll is! I'm not from a DCA but have worked in a legal firm. The reason I posted the information about the Stat Dec is because these were used a lot in the last recession in the '80s, and I know that a lot of people lost their businesses/homes so that's why it sounds so dry, I suppose. I have watched this site for a while because I did not believe that it works, but I've just been proved wrong by Reliable Collections (J D Williams) who have written my debt off! I'm a bit of a technophobe, and photobucket's the next challenge. Hope this explains a bit.

Hello, I would say that they will be able to obtain a Statutory Demand if you owe them, I believe, over £5,000 as your agreement appears to be enforceable. They can then either apply for a Charging Order over your property, which will sit there until you sell it or they can apply to make you bankrupt. I know bankruptcies can be discharged after a year but it will show up on your credit reference file for six years. I'm sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but I would try to come to some arrangement with them if you can, so that if they do take you to Court you can show the judge that you have tried to settle the matter before then. I'm sure one of the other posters will correct me if I'm wrong, but you could check with Citizens Advice Bureau as well as their advice is free. Just a note to all those Caggers out there - thanks for your advice and some of the postings. They've been both enlightening and entertaining in equal measure!