Thanks again everyone! I compiled everything and have now sent it off to the Financial Ombudsman - to complain (though after reading the threads in here - I wonder if its worth it!). I have to wait till next week to do the CCA thing, yes money is THAT tight. But on a good note, reading the threads in here has made me feel so much better -which sounds terrible - but you know what I mean.

I've now had a another letter off them, this one's a bit longer - saying My minimum payment is £36.07 and I haven't paid them this amount. So again - they're totally ignorning me and banging out different versions of the same letter. What do I do? Ignore them? Write to the financial ombudsman saying they're ignorning me? I really don't know what to do.

All the recent letters I've written have all included a 'At no point have have I agreed to pay you £36'. So, should I just STOP writing letters back? I mean - no one actually pays any attention to what I write to them....

Hiya SG, O dear I have to admit - and I don't want to sound ungrateful - that the CAB ladies weren't very good. They mean well, but there was no 'debt' person available so I saw 3 separate old ladies, the 3 times I went - who weren't any help. Bless them. I know the ONLY reason I haven't offered them all £3 each is because of all the letters you have to send off, which I know they'll all ignore - leaving me worried to damn death. Again, I know from reading posts on here, that my debt is small compared to some, but the worry, I don't know, It's my nature I suppose but I worry so much, and the depression, leads to more worry....and the poverty, and ... it goes on and on.... I've continued to pay because I literally can't cope with the stress. The postman comes - My hearts sinks. I feel sick, my heart races - yeah you know how that one goes! I've been on Beta blockers for months and they're not working now. I just wish, I could have one day, just one, with NO letters, no worrying, terrible isn't it? Nameless people in boxes, have no idea who any of us are, and certainly don't care! And still I can't sleep or breathe most of the time! I've never been one to stick my head in the sand - But at the moment, no matter how many letters I write, NO ONE answers! Or if they do - Its got nothing to do with what you've written. My friend thinks I should write in big black letters across all enevlopes I get ' GINGER HAS MOVED TO LAS VEGAS & IS NOW A STRIPPER -YEEHAW' Thank that'll make em leave me alone : ) ? (nope)

So does that mean there's absolutely no point sending anyone a CCA as eventually you will be taken to court?

Before I start, can I thank you all again for your help and kind words. Thank you. I have followed your advice - I'm a pretty organised person, so had all the letters/££/details to hand when I rang the CCCS, and basically because I'm on income support they're not interested. The guy I spoke to didn't exactly say 'Bugger off till you've got a job..'.... BUT.... Okay so..... To the catalogue - Which is now RELIABLE collections, I wrote the 'I would like to make a complaint about your company - I listed the facts that they ignore any correspondance to them - The interest - That they had to reply in 5 business days (It took them business days) - if they didn't resolve my complaint in 4 wks They must send a letter saying why - then finally if I'm not happy, after 8 wks I'll report them to the financial ombudsman'. Today I had a reply. In short it says: ' We note the [ayment made does not match the rate previously agreed' (This amount is £36 a month, I've been paying them £10 for 18 months, never missed a payment. I've NEVER agreed to pay them any more. O and they want e to call them. Well THAT IS NoT going to happen! (thanks again for that advice!). So where do I go from here? Carry on paying them the £10 a month, then in 2 months send the lot to the financial ombudsman? Or send them (and everyone else) CCA letters? I will await your good advice! Also Thank you Mould for that last post, it made me smile a lot. I'm now on the happy pills, I still don't feel like dancing. However, I have started to feel a little less ummmm 'guiilty' for being in this situation, and blaming the thin woman my husband run off, I may even start fantasing about the baliffs taking away her brand new car... (Bitter, moi? : )

Thank you so much for your quick replies. I did a debt management plan, worked out how much I should pay each creditor (it turned out amounts like -£2.30... so I thought instead of not giving them anything - I'd give them £10 each). I will contact the CCCS (I had to look up what they were!) and I will also try the CCA (had no idea what that was either! - This is all a minefield isn't it?). Thank you again, for what its worth, Its noce to know its not just me, and I appreciate your help! I'll let you know how I get on.

Hello, I'm new, so I hope I'm writing in the right place! I've read a lot of posts and haven't seen anything similar to me. My debt isn't huge - Its under £15,000. I was married and had a pretty nice life, till my husband left me for another woman. I managed to pay my debts (credit cards, catalogues, store cards) for 2 years, but after becoming ill and ending up on Disability income support (I also get DLA) I've just couldn't afford to keep the full payments up, so I contacted everyone, and offered them £10 a month. I followed all the guidelines and wrote all the 'correct' letters. Altogether there were 8 creditors (I've paid 2 off so now I have 6 in total), and I've paid them all £10 a month for the last 18 months and haven't missed a payment. Barclays completed ignored me, so I paid them more as they kept slapping charges on me (£13 a month instead of £10). Now I've had a letter off one catalogue (the debt's been sold, but its obviously that same catalogue under a different name with a slightly different address), who want more money. £36 a month, I wrote back and said I can't afford it. And of course they're completely ignoring me, they've slapped 'admin' charges of £12 a letter on the debt, and want £62.12 immediately. I know if I write to them again, they'll ignore me. So is it really worth wasting a piece of paper on them? My sister told me to bin all the letters from everyone, and don't pay anyone anything (Buy food instead she said), but God, I feel terrible even owing the amount I do. I've looked at some of the money probelms some people have got on here and I have nothing to moan about! It seems such a piddling amount of money, but I'm struggling and I can't sleep at night. What do I do? Continue to pay the £10 a month, ignore THEM and stop paying them? Write them a letter in Welsh? I don't know....! Any advice would be gratefully received! Thanks in advance