I've just received a letter back from Aktiv Kapital: 'Dear Mrs Taylor We refer to your recent letter regarding the above referenced account. We have investigated the issues raised in your letter, and can confirm that your account is statute barred under the Limitation Act 1980. We have therefore taken the decision not to pursue this matter any further. We can confirm that the account is now closed and you should receive no further contact from us with regards to this matter.' Yay - thank you so much to everyone who pointed me in the right direction concerning templates and all the info about the statute barred situation. You are all stars Cath x

No doubt you will get a letter in 4 weeks time to tell you they are still investigating - by which time they will be just about ready to start implementing their charges !!

I've now received my new account number and my new card from A&L and they are sorting out switching my direct debits, they've given me an overdraft (which is free for first year so will be a weight off my mind come christmas ) and I will get the £100 for switching so hopefully in a few weeks I can close down my halifax accounts and not have to bother with them again

Its ok i've found it (and I nearly addressed it Aktiv Krapital as i've come to call them since your post ODC )

This is really stupid of me but I cant find the link to the template for the statute barred letter, could someone please put link up again. Thank you Cath

Not as far as I know, I have a mobile phone on contract, a credit card (never used it but got given one (halifax!)), a business account (not halifax) etc etc, not had a problem with credit so I am assuming I dont have a ccj linked to my name - i have never had anything in writing but as I've now seen that doesnt mean anything

I have just found this thread http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/debt-collection-industry/61223-debt-over-6-years.html and I think now that I have been really stupid - it looks like I have restarted the debt

I've just read the post from perfectmum so i'm hoping that I am also covered by the statute barred - I have an old store card debt from when my children were very young (they are now 11 and 13). I have since sorted my finances out and apart from the occasional dip into my overdraft, I dont have any other debt. Recently I received a letter from a company called Aktiv Kapital saying I owed an amount that was double the original debt, so stupidly I wrote to them (I didnt know about the 6 year limitation) and acknowledged the debt, I did also mention in the letter that I wanted to know why the debt had doubled seeing as this was the first letter I had ever received concerning this debt. I said about sorting out a payment schedule and left it at that. I received another letter telling me to ring them to sort out the payments. I wrote one more letter to say that I didnt have a home phone (I do but I dont want them getting hold of my number) and could they send a letter outlining an affordable payment plan. I have received another letter today saying 'In view of the time which has now lapsed since you first wrote to us, it is essential that you either forward payment or contact us again without delay' I have since heard about the 6 year time limit and now dont know what to do - I've acknowledged the debt but all of this has happened after the 6 years. Cath

Went in Alliance and Leicester today and applied for new account, offered me the £100 for switching etc so hopefully it will all go through ok and I wont need to stress about these Halifax charges any more, especially in the run up to Christmas !! Cath I also got all the leaflets in the post the other day about applying for a loan - they went straight into the shredder

I only really caught the end of it but I gather Martins advice was to switch banks - I've two accounts with Halifax and am in the process of switching all my direct debits and standing orders on to the newest account so it'll be easier to switch banks altogether Cath

I've just gone and had a look at the moneysavingexpert forums on this subject and feel quite ill now !! - Some of the forum users look like they actually work for the Halifax and seem to spend the entire time telling people how wonderful this and that account is with the halifax and how stupid some people are for using an overdraft and how the charges are perfectly reasonable !! Its made me realise how nice and helpful the people on this forum are Cath

signed

I was prompted to join forum today after i too received the dreaded Halifax letter - I have two accounts with them (plus two for my children), they have only small overdraft facilities (one is £100 and the other £300) and although I dont 'live in' them I use them often as a buffer. There is no way now that I feel I can stay with them - if I go into my overdraft for just a week then thats £7 they are going to take off me for going into an overdraft that I have agreed with them !!! I have been with them for over twenty years and like everyone else feel completely let down and more than a little peeved at the hassle of moving banks - but the hassle I hope will be worth it just to say to halifax - stick your charges up your @~&*!!!!!! Cath