Unfortunately it's not as simple as that. I had another BG engineer round today who looked at the pipes and found that they are neither 8mm or 10mm but somewhere in between. So his solution was to get an end feed soldered 8mm to 15mm reducer and then file down my pipes so that the reducer fits. As I said previously, although I had an engineer come out to estimate the job, what they are saying now is because it's not a straight forward job, the quote they gave me before is now cancelled and they will only do the job if they re-quote, which may be well in excess of their original quote. The question I am asking is, since I already had a quote from them, am I in my rights to hold them to their original quote as per their policy?

I don't know which part of the UK you live in Kirkby, but here in London there are a lot of cowboys around. So I thought I could rely on BG, but it seems they are part of these cowboys!

6 weeks ago I asked BG to install 4 radiators which I bought in Wickes. They said an engineer would first have to come out and assess the work and give me a quotation. A week later the engineer came out and I showed him where the existing pipework was and he said it was a quite straightforward job and the workman should carry it out in 3 hours and the cost would be £285.00. I asked him if this was an estimated figure and he said no, the price is £285.00 and that what BG stick to as he has assessed the work. The only other remark he made was that the piping was not the standard 15mm but as it's a 1930's house, the piping is a micro bore 10mm but the workman should have no problem in fitting the radiators. He also said that they weren't too busy, so it could be done in a couple of weeks. However when I rang back to accept the quote, I was given a 5 week wait because they only had 1 engineer to fit radiators! In the meantime I went back to Wickes and bought 4 10mm universal push on radiator valves. The engineer came out today and the first thing I showed him were the valves. He looked at them and said he didn't know what they were but they were the wrong ones, so I told him I would get the right ones in 15 minutes, so he showed me on the Wickes catalogue which ones I would need. I told him Wickes were near me so I would be back in 15 minutes. He said don't worry, he would go home in the meantime and come back by the time I returned. I came back in 15 minutes and he arrived back 10 minutes later! He started fitting the first radiator then messed about with the valves the said he couldn't fit it because it was still the wrong size. He then rang his office and they told me because of the problem with the pipework they would have to re-quote but it would be most likely a 5 hour job, not as previously quoted! I told them about their policy of sticking to a quote and their reply was that after looking at the job more closely, they can no longer apply the original quote. What do I do now?

The information I can see is the present information. If I go back say, five years, that would take me back to 2008. As the default notice was issued in 2004, I would be able to see if there was anything on my credit file in 2008, 2009, 2010 etc. The question is how do I archive or see that information today, as I can only see the information they have on me currently.

Brig I might be wrong, but a SAR is what it means, Subject Access Request. As such, I would have thought that this can apply to any company, be it a finance provider, your own employer or anyone that may have information on you.

So the bottom line is, although I've been repaying Barclaycard for the past 10 years, as I stopped paying in March this year, they were within their rights to enter a default on CRA files. Similarly with First Direct, although I've been repaying the debt for the last 10 years, if I don't tow the line with CL Finance, they would be within their rights to enter a default on CRA files. In which case I'd better go back to continuing to pay CL Finance because although First Direct have admitted that they could not provide me with a copy of the loan agreement and therefore they can't enforce the debt, they can still enter a default. How is this possible?

Sorry Renegade, we seem to have crossed wires. By the OC do you mean First Direct or Barclaycard that I gave as an example? I was paying First Direct from 2003, they issued me with a Default Notice in April 2004. Metropolitan Collections started to collect on behalf of FD in July 2004 and it was assigned to CL Finance in September 2007 to whom I have been paying ever since. At no time was the account ended/closed or terminated. Regarding Barclaycard the debt was originally with Egg and I was issued with a Default Notice in April 2004. Barclaycard took it over in 2011 and they used Moorcroft to collect the debt, to whom I was paying ever since. Barclaycard placed a Default on my credit file as they claim that the Default Notice was never placed with the CRAs in 2004. At no time was the account ended/closed or terminated. I will be sending off a SAR to First Direct tomorrow. With Egg it's a bit more difficult as they do not exist any more, which means that I assume I would need to send the SAR to Barclaycard. Is that correct? So when you say I may have a case to challenge the default, I assume you are talking about Barclaycard as so far CL Finance have not yet issued a Default Notice.

I'm sending First Direct a SAR on Monday. The account was assigned to CL Finance on September 2007 therefore First Direct no longer own the account. If what CL says it's true that First Direct only issued a Statutory Notice but never actually placed the account into default, then it would now be up to CL to issue a new Statutory Notice of Default. If that transpires, then on what grounds can I challenge that default notice?

I received a letter from CL Finance chasing me for money as I have not paid anything since you advised me. CL Finance sent me a statement of my account from Oct 2007 to April 2013. They said they could not provide me with any statements prior to Oct 2007 as it was assigned to them by HSBC Bank on 28 Sept 2007. First Direct, as I said before, have already advised me that they are unable to provide me with statements prior to Oct 2007 nor can they provide a copy of any loan agreement. So therefore they cannot enforce the outstanding debt. Now here's a word of warning! I received a formal Default Notice on this account in 2004 and therefore you would expect that in addition to the fact that they cannot enforce the debt they also can't issue another Default Notice and have it recorded with the CRA's. Wrong! Currently I'm having another battle with Barclaycard who issued me with a Statutory Default letter in 2004 and they have now placed another default marker on my credit file! When I told them about the 6 year rule, their reply was that the Statutory Default Notice letter I received in 2004 was not confirmation that my account was placed in default and if I can provide a letter confirming that the account had been placed in default in 2004, they can amend my credit file accordingly. Without this, the default notice from July 2013 cannot be removed. I got on to the CRAs and they confirmed that a default had been placed on this account this month. When I told them that I already had a default on this account in 2004, they said once the 6 years are up the default comes off and they cannot retrieve any details. So the bottom line is, no they can't enforce the debt, but if you have no proof that they have placed the debt before, they can issue you with another Default Notice. So be careful!

Very helpful. Thank you all, I'll wait to see what reply I get from the Data Controller of Barclays.

Thank you Brig Great letter, will be going off tomorrow. However my question 1. remains. How can they have recorded a default with the CRA's without first consulting with me in order to give me time to remedy the default?

I received a letter from Barclaycard today saying " After speaking with our collections team I have been informed that the Statutory Default letter you received from Egg in 2004 was not a confirmation that your account was placed in default. They confirmed that it was in fact a notice of the arrears on your account and was sent to make you aware that further action may be taken if payments were not made to bring your account out of arrears. This would include placing a default notice on your credit file. They have confirmed to me that we have placed a default notice on your credit file on 5 July 2013. 1. How can Barclays place a default notice on my credit file in 2013 without first notifying me that this is the action they plan to do? 2. I spoke to the CRA's and they have confirmed that I now have a default notice on my credit file which will stay on for the next 6 years. 3. I asked the CRA's to see if they have anything on their files from 2004-2010 when the default notice would have been removed after 6 years and they told me that once the 6 years are up they wipe it off their records, so I cannot prove that the account was placed in default during that period. So now I have ended up with a default notice on my credit record for the next 6 years!!!!

It was removed from all CRA's in 2010. I have been with CCCS for the past 10 years because I have quite a few other creditors but they have all been removed from file except one which I hope will be removed next year when the 6 year period is up. However, in total I still owe over £20K to all my creditors. In March I decided to go it alone as I found that the CCS, who are generally very helpful by keeping the wolves at bay as long as I continued to pay the various creditors, they weren't very forthcoming by giving me advice like PPI, what to do when a creditor can't provide a credit agreement, how to ask for a CCS etc. Basically they were quite happy to continue paying my creditors without asking any questions. If it wasn't for CAG, I would never have got back PPI from one of my creditors and I would still be paying Moorcroft now without any questions. So all in all, I'm quite happy to deal with my creditors myself as I now feel I'm more in control. If it goes pear shape then I can still go back to CCCS. I used to get a monthly statement from CCCS but never any statements from my creditors direct. In the formal warning letter from Moorcroft dated 23/05/13 they say my current balance is £1538.07, but to be honest I don't even know if that's correct as this account started with Egg in 2003, handled by Moorcroft since 2004, then taken over by Barclaycard in 2011 and is still being handled by Moorcroft. When I asked Moorcroft for a CCA in 2011 they told me to go to Egg then shortly after that, Barclaycard took over Egg and I never received a reply from Egg. Them Moorcroft sent me a partial statement from Oct 10 to Feb 13. I asked for a PPI from Barclaycard in March this year and they said that my enquiry has been sent to the relevant department, but again, I did not hear from them. At the same time they sent me copy statements from March 2007 to Feb 2013 and advised me that they couldn't provide me with a copy of the terms of my credit agreement and all they could provide was a reconstituted copy of my credit agreement and a statement of my account to say that my current balance is £1,538.07. So you see, none of this would have come to light if I was still with the CCCS.

Yes, for the past 10 years, but in my innocence I never referred or had cause to refer to CAG as I believed everything the banks told me. I'm much older and wiser now. On another issue, there seems to be some bickering going on between some members. Please let us focus on the issues to hand. I would not like to feel that I have been a cause of disagreement between members as a result of my original query.

1st March 2013.