Thanks. I've already downloaded their complaints procedure and the Otelo info from their website. I'm expecting another phone call from them today giving details of how they arrived at the £531 bill. If they do not satisfactorily answer my questions I will be following their complaints procedure straight away. Regarding the termination fee though, if I cancel the DD at my end what position does this legally put me in regarding the payment?

I've been looking through previous threads and it seems like I have a fairly common problem, but noone seems to have resolved it before. Last July we tried to switch our landline from unicom to a new supplier. Unicom informed us that we'd have to pay a termination fee to do this as our contract didn't expire until September (2010). We waited. Last month a new deal came up and we decided to take it, now having completed our three year contract. Oh no! It was a rolling contract (not that we knew that) so unicom pop up again with their termination fee, which we were initially told on the phone would be around £200, based on 30%of what they could expect us to pay if we saw the contract out. Today the termination invoice came through, £531!!! Our monthly average bill is £22 and we have 29 months of a three year contract left. That's a total potential income for them of £659.80. How is £531 30% of that? How do I fight this? If they apply for the fee from my bank it will be refused and I will get bank charges. I don't want a default on my credit rating but how do I stop them filing one. Please help. I really don't know what to do.

Their latest letter has given me 7 days before they take further action. They've made a FINAL OFFER, though it is the first offer they've made! I think I'll give them their 7 days and then if they contact me again I'll send the letter above.

Not sure what to do now. The letter's good. I may need to tweak it a little though to suit my circumstances. I'm also seriously considering just ignoring them though. Having read some other threads regarding the company I'm not convinced they'll continue to persue if I leave them alone. My only concern is the stress they're causing the resident of my old address. They badger her alsmost daily for my current whereabouts and have been quite threatening from what she's said. Does anyone else have any advice. Just don't want to make the wrong move.

Hi people. I need some help again. Despite sending the statute barred letter to Meritforce they are continuing to hassle me. They are constantly phoning my old address and have just sent a final demand letter. I don't know what my next step should be. Do I call them, write to them or simply ignore it? Thanks in advance of your assistance.

Wasn't planning to report them yet anyway. I'll wait and see what their reply is to the SB letter. Thanks for your advice, and thanks to everyone else too. I'll let you know if they write back.

Sounds like an almost identical letter. They claim to have bought the debt a month and a half ago from another company. I certainly won't be paying a penny. The guy I spoke to encouraged me to phone the police to report identity theft when I told him I had no recollection of the debt. Maybe I should report them instead.

Thanks. Letter printed and on way today. I've no memory of the debt at all so definitely haven't paid anything on it. Thanks again

Hi, I've been reading through some old threads and realised there are some fab people out there who may be able to help me. I recently recieved a letter from Meritforce claiming I owed money to GUS Home Shopping Group. I have no recollection of the debt so I (possibly stupidly) rang to get further information. They have told me the debt goes back to 2002 and no communication has been forthcoming in the period between then and now. I have not acknowledged the debt, which I have no record of. Even though I spoke to them regarding the debt can I still send your template letter regarding statute barred debts, since there is, by their admission, a seven year gap of no payment?