My rent was 26 days late. I was talking to the agents on a regular basis and they knew the money was coming. This is the first time this has happened in the 3 1/2 years I have rented this building. After handing over more than £50000 in rent this is how you get treated i'm afraid. I have spoken to swift on the phone and they say that the £500 is for 3 hours labour. Broken down into one hour travelling to me, 1 hour travelling back and 1 hour at my premises. I still cant work out how you can charge £166.66 recurring per hour. Maybe this will be reason enough to believe the figures are made up and not real costs. I will write to swift to find out what they are willing to put in writing.

Hi martin, The bailiffs were instructed by hartnell taylor cook who act as agents for my landlord who is a private landlord. The only breakdown that they gave me is as stated in the first post. I am sure they are keeping it as vague as possible for their own reasons.

ok. thankyou martin

Hi, On the 27/7/2009 I was visited by a bailiff at my works premises (it is my own business). I have had a bit of a cash flow problem and was late with the months rent. My rent is £1649.57 + service charge of £86.25 The bailiff requested payment in full of £2399.37 On asking for a breakdown I was told the following: Costs £88.55 1 car and 1 bailiff £500 plus £75 vat The bailiff was with me for 1 hour. I paid them to get rid of them but ensured them I would be taking it further as I thought the costs were not reasonable and I believed them to be illegal. I called Swift credit services ltd today to ask what the £500 was for. The lady on the phone told me the £500 was for 3 hours of the bailiffs time. 1 hour travelling to me, 1 hour with me and 1 hour travelling back. I make this £166.66 recurring per hour which makes me think that the number is just plucked out of the air. Can anybody suggest what I should do as I am fed up with being robbed.

The bailiff visited yesterday to collect the debt but I put him off until Monday. Can I pay the supplier before then without having to pay the bailiff. He said if I paid in full Monday he would pretend he never visited yesterday. I need some advise asap. Thanks

Hi, Had a bailiff visit me yesterday as I was 3 weeks late with my rent ( I run my own business and had a bit of a cash flow problem). The bailiff added £660 to my £1750 bill in costs, the main cost being £500 for the removal of goods (1 bailiff, 1 car). After a lot of arguing and advise from the FSB I paid them in full by debit card (no goods were ever removed). Surely they cant charge this, can they. I also have a bailiff returning on monday to collect a debt from a supplier that has got a ccj against me but I have not had the funds to settle. Again they have added around £500 to the £900 bill. Is this legal and what can I do? Please help!

Hi, Sent nat west a sar on 10/6/2009 they responded with the letter I posted on th 22/6/2009. I have received a letter from Bryan Carter solicitors this morning stating "we are instructed in relation to recovery of this debt. Payment must be in full in the next seven days failing which we have instructions to issue proceedings for recovery without further notice. Should proceedings be issued, additional charges will be added to the existing balance as shown below" It goes on to say "to prevent further action being taken please telephone fredrickson international ltd on 0845 3136608 within the next 7 days with your payment proposals." What should be my course of action? I have had no response from nat west since the 20/6/2009. What happens if they do not respond in the 40 days allowed?

Hi, I have received a letter from Weightmans reading as follows: "our client : arrow global llc account number : xxxxxxxxxxx outstanding balance : £xxxx.xx via assignment from compucredit We refer to the above account. We act for Arrow Global and the balance on your account has been assigned to our client by CompuCredit. We are instructed that full details of the debt have previously been provided and you have been afforded a number of opportuniyies to pay or agree payment terms. Please contact Ambre Cross of this office no later than 25 June 2009 on 0151 242 1442 to discuss this matter further. If you fail to do so, we will have no alternative other than to continue with enforcement action against you. Yours Faithfully Weightmans llp" First of all I dont know any of the companies named and have not had any correspondance from any of them. I will not be calling them. What should be my first point of action.

Hi, Where do I find CPR 31?

Thanks, Will send that off tomorrow. Also received a letter from Fredrickson today. A yellow card with confirmed resident in big black letters across the top. It goes on to say if I do not contact them the account will be passed on to solicitors who are authorised to proceed with immediate litigation proceedings against me. What should be my response?

Update: Have received a letter from Nat West today stating they have received my request for personal data and the relevant fee. It goes on to say that my signature on the letter is unreadable and they cannot proceed without my signed authority. ( I signed the letter but put crosses through it so it could not be lifted) It also says that it is not their practice to provide further copies of standard documents that I would have received as part of their normal business. Do I have to send my signature? Do they have to send all documents?

OK. So plan of action should be: 1.contact the courts to find out who has judgement 2. SAR the creditor 3. Apply for set aside on the basis I did not live there so could not defend. I have read that I would need to build a case to show I have a chance of defense. I know that at least one and probably more of these judgements are hugely increased due to added charges, can this be a defense. Can I wait to see what comes of the SAR to build my best defense? Is any of this correct?

Latest update. Received 'letter before action' from fredrickson int ltd today giving me 7 days to pay or they may take immediate action. Plot thickens as I checked my credit report last night and noticed that nat west the OC have already got a judgement for this debt against me. This was given at my old address after I had moved. Seems Fredrickson knows nothing about this either. What is going on? Have already sent nat west a SAR. Should I SAR Fredicksons aswell as it seems they know nothing about this debt? I dont mean to go round in circles but want to do the right thing first time. I presume I need to send something to Fredrickson but not sure whether CCA or SAR or something else.

I have the case numbers. Can I just call the courts? What would I need as a defence? I think one may be an old egg account and one looks like it is Nat west current account and loan but no idea what the others are. I have already sent Nat west a SAR. Would it be wise to find out who the others are for and SAR them too. Maybe then I can find out if any of them are enforceable. I think there are going to be lots of added charges within the final amounts. Would there be any defence there? I will have to take it step by step as I am no expert am learning slowly by reading other posts. All help will be greatly appreciated.

Hi all, Been trying to get on top of my debts over the last few days. Have made a couple of posts on the site and people have been very helpful. I have got a free credit report today only to see I have 4 judgements against me at Northampton County Court. It does not say who got them. I know I buried my head in the sand at that time as my business went under and I was in alot of financial strife. I sold my house in oct 2007 but moved out about 9 months before that. The CCJ's are dated 17/9/2007, 22/8/2007, 16/4/2009 and 12/6/2007. This is all news to me. Is there anthing I can do?

Brilliant, Will send off tomorrow and keep you updated on progress. Thanks for your help.

Thanks shadow, Should I SAR thames credit or barclaycard? Will thames have details of charges made by Barclaycard before they got their hands on the account?

thanks cerberus, as the last letter I got was a statement from Nat West(Already sent SAR). Does this mean the account is back with them? What should my complaint be to OFT? Sorry to be thick but its my first time at this.

Should I send Fredericks and AIC one each as they have both written to me in the last week?

Subject access request sent to Nat West. Where do I find account in dispute letter? Can't seem to find it. Will post any developments as they happen.

From another angle, much of the amount stated as the default figure will be made up of charges. Is it worth me sending them a subject access request, claiming back all charges and making up the difference if there is any. Not sure if this is a good idea as I am new to this but would like to get default settled as I have a few on my file and would like to clear them one by one. Just dont want to pay the exagerated figure that may even be less than all of the charges made to the account over the years. Any advice would be appreciated.

I have heard nothing from them since October. What I am really trying to find out is, is it worth me contacting them again or can I just apply to have the default removed as they have failed to comply and have no proof that I ever owed them anything?.

Hi make them aktiv runners, Thanks for the letter. I sent my request on 25/9/2008, the letter I referred to was sent back along with my PO on the 29/10/08. Credit report shows as defaulted on 26/2/2007 and file updated to the period of 21/12/2008. Does the letter still apply as their time ran out long ago?

Thanks Crapstone, The letter goes as follows: "We refer to your recent request for documentation under the consumer credit act 1974. We are unable to process your request as we have been unable to confirm the relevant information required, despite repeated written requests. Therefore, we are returning your £1.00 fee. We would still be happy to assist you, however we will need to confirm the requested information. We would ask that you contact this office without prejudice on the above telephone number in order for us to progress with this matter. We look forward to hearing from you soon." At no time have they said what information they need. I would have thought if they were sending me demanding letters they should already have any information they need. Is it just an attempt to try to get me to call?. Fat chance of that

Hi, I received a letter a few months ago from Thames Credit. It referred to a barclaycard account that I did not recognise the account number. They say Activ Capital have bought the interest of Barclays Bank. I sent them a CCA with a £1 postal order. They sent me a couple more letters asking me to call them to "ascertain certain important facts in relation to this matter". I ignored their letters. Then received a letter returning my postal order. Have had no contact with them since. I have checked my credit report today to find a default from Activ Capital, last updated 2 months after my cca request. What can I do? Thanks in advance