I think Deb T is right. Make sure the payments go out early. Use some method of tracking the payments so it can be produced in court if necessary. A standing order should do the job as this will be an automated process and the tracking will be on the bank statements.

Hi Bazooka Boo Please accept my apologies if I have caused offence or possible difficulties for this site. I hope you will accept that is far from my intention. To clarify my view, my intention is to offer bub1 the best advice I can about how to handle the DCA. I have noticed a lot of people starting threads and desperately waiting for responses who have had their lives made hell by DCA's and I want to give them a methodology for a first response about how to handle a new situation from someone who has managed it for three years. Hence the structured advice I try and offer. I am trying to remove the initial anxiety from the thread starter and set them up with a way to manage their situation and prepare the information they have for others, who have vastly greater experience than I, to help them. I feel I can offer this advice from experience, and hope and believe the advice sets up the situation in a positive way, though I am sure it can be improved upon. This will hopefully allow others to follow on with specifics where I will not be involved, as I have not done much of it myself and I am not legally trained. I fully accept your point about the creditors selling the debt on for accounting reasons, something you have taught today. Knowledge exchange and learning is a very valuable part of this forum. I feel that does not render my point entirely invalid, as there is without doubt, a reluctance by DCA's to pursue legal means in favour of persistent mis-information, harassment and dirty tricks. Upon re-reading my post this phrase; “Consider if you actually owe this money and if so whether you want to pay it” would have been better phrased as follows; “Do you actually owe the money, if not do you want to pay it?” and was not intended as an exhortation to avoid a legitimate debt. The above points aside I hope you will accept that the bulk of my post is a practical action plan for bub1, because he needs to manage the DCA, and not the other way round, and he has to get on top of it fast. It is to be hoped he can reach an amicable agreement with the DCA but this site is full of threads where the initial offering has been accepted for a while before more pressure for fast payment is brought to bear, or the offer rejected. Bub1 should be helped to organise for this eventuality.

Hi Moonlandings Over a year ago I failed to SORN a vehicle that has been off the road for ages, and after the various reminders etc from the DVLA it eventually went to the DCA. I was surprised at this as normal traffic stuff like this goes to court. In my customary manner I ignored it. Up to this point nothing has happened except for a string of chasing letters. As I have more pressing needs for my cash I have not bothered with it. You could therefore consider not dealing with the DCA as my experience is they will do nothing except to keep chasing it. However, I would strongly recommend paying it if you can because it is not a sitaution that will get better over time, but I would go back to the original DVLA demands and pay them direct. The reason for this is that as a general principle I feel one should not pay DCA's as it only encourages them. Also, get that moped SORN'ed. Drive safely! PS deal with the DCA only in writing, not the phone as you need a proper paper trail.

Hi If your debt has got as far as a DCA you are dealing with a very unpleasant organisation. At the same time the original creditor does not think they have a strong enough case to pursue you for the debt in court, or they do not have sufficient information, or they don't want to take the trouble. I presume you are in trouble which is why the debt is where it is. May I suggest you consider two possible options. Decide how much you can afford to pay, and offer that amount and that amount only. Pay by standing order, NOT DIRECT DEBIT as they will take more if they can get away with it. Consider if you actually owe this money and if so whether you want to pay it. If you don ‘t you need to set yourself up for a battle with this DCA and quite possibly a whole lot of others who will be handed the debt when their predecessors find they cant get it. Before you pay you could ask them why they think you owe them the money. They should be able to provide a true copy of the original executed credit agreement. If they can it then has to be compliant with the Consumer Credit Act. If it isn’t and it was signed before April 2007 they cannot legally enforce the agreement. If it was signed after April 2007 it can only be enforced if a court decides it is properly executed. Whatever you decide please look at the following advice for dealing with debt collectors. PHONE NEVER talk to them on the phone. Never call them for any reason. If they call you put the phone down without saying anything. If they call back leave the phone off the hook for a while until they go away. Consider using BT Callminder to handle your inbound calls. Let it take all numbers you are not familiar with or where numbers are withheld. Use www.whocallsme.com to identify unfamiliar numbers. NEVER admit to the debt, but to avoid doing this NEVER talk to them. The reasons for the above are as follows: No records of what is said can be produced later on. They can say what they like and you would not have proof they agreed to anything. If the calls don’t go the way they want they will become abusive. This is not nice so don't let it happen to you. You can inadvertently provide them with information about yourself that you do not want them to have. In a debt collection situation you need time to think. You wont have time to think when talking on the phone. Play the game on your own turf. Correspondence is your turf. The telephone is theirs. CORRESPONDENCE All your communications to them, if any, should be in writing. Each letter should be sent UNSIGNED (Reason, they may copy your signature and use it to forge an agreement you never signed). Each letter should be sent recorded delivery. Keep a copy and staple the recorded delivery slip to the letter. Also, several days after sending use the GPO track and trace to see if it has been delivered. Print out the screen shot and staple it to the original letter. Better still use Firefox browser with the Scrapbook plug-in. Save the track and trace page with the scrapbook function. Keep postal receipts, just in case you wish to claim against the other party later on. NEVER acknowledge you owe the money in writing. Don't write to them just because they write to you. Any correspondence should have a definite purpose, something you want to achieve. RECORD KEEPING File all correspondence you have received in chronological order. From now on keep all envelopes the letters arrive in. Open the envelopes neatly and staple the envelopes to the back of the letters. (This is because it might be useful later on to see where the letters came from, and how they were sent i.e. second class, recorded delivery etc.). Start a spreadsheet and log all events; correspondence received and sent, phone call attempts by the third parties (Not calls you make because you will not be making any!!). Although it is to be hoped you will be steering clear of the courts you should put yourself on a war footing and from the very start organise yourself for a potential battle. If you are organised, structured and clear about what you are doing you will be at least on a par with the DCA’s who organise themselves using automated systems and scripts. There will be some more people coming on this thread to help you. If you decide to resist the DCA get your information ready to post because others will want to see it. Get any letters you have received copied, then ON THE COPIES delete your personal information, then get it posted on this thread so others can see what it is. They will then be able to tell you how to deal with it. How much is the claim for? Have that information ready for the others coming on here to help you. I am not legally trained and don't want to advise you on what courses of action to follow. However, I am happy to reassure you on a few points where I have practical experience, and the stuff above is designed to calm you down, get you thinking practically and steer you clear of any pitfalls you may make at the start. There will be other practical help coming along.

Hi Viv Take a look at this thread. May be some good stuff there: http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/local-authority-council-tax/156819-council-tax-statute-barred.html They are trying to get a 14 year old debt from you? There would seem to be at least 3 avenues open to you: It is possible that the debt is Statute Barred but you would need to check on the rules regarding local authorites etc as it may not be as clear cut with taxes and council rates as it is with commercial debts. Given the age of the debt you could ask them to prove it before you pay it. Hopefully someone will come on here and be clearer about how you do that in a council situation. (Possibly a Subject Access Request). Given the age of the debt there is a good chance they dont have accessible records. Without them they cant prove the debt and cant collect it. In the absence of either of the above two options it looks like a possible complaint can be made. I got all the above from the linked thread above. Why not poke about there for a while and see if it leads somewhere? good luck.

From what you have posted the letter they have sent you is just another piece of threatomatic andrex designed to worry you. I wont bother to de construct this rubbish but it is unlikely they have a head of litigation, a bankruptcy division or anything other than a bunch of phone monkeys. The important point is that it is not a statutory demand which might require action on your part. This letter requires no response and in my view you need offer none. From what you have posted it looks like Egg still own the debt. It is possible you have been a victim of identity theft. If your bank sent a credit card to the address you used to live they must have received an application from there in the first place. It might not do any harm to write to Egg and state your case which is you have never ordered a card, have no knowledge of the account and give them a full timetable of when you lived there, when you left etc., and ask the bank why they think you are the card holder. Another thing, based on what you say even if this was your debt (and I am not implying in any way that it is) it would be statute barred as it is over six years old. Even asking you for it might be an illegal act on their part. As to the catalogue if I understand it correctly you have a credit limit with them of £3500 but only have a £100 of credit with them. Is that correct? Are you therefore saying they have taken the whole £3500 away from you, in effect closing the account. I still don't understand exactly what the financial transactions and status of the Next account is. They appear to be saying they have reviewed the account in light of recent credit history and don't trust you any more Here are some options: If you only owe them the last £100 pay it off and kiss them good bye. There are plenty of good clothes shops out there. Write to them and ask what adverse information they have received about you that leads to their decision. Get you credit reports from the three main Credit reference Agencies. If adverse information is showing then you can start to get it cleaned up. I would think any adverse information reported about you with regard to the Egg card would have been put on your record longer ago than six years and would have come off by now but you need to be sure. Send a subject access request with £10 to Egg and ask them for all the information they hold about you. This might reveal what they think has happened. Could do the same with Next.

Hi On the subject of the Direct Debit I feel this should be cancelled for two reasons: 1. It is possible they will try to take more and as a general principle no DCA should ever be given this opportunity. It just encourages them. 2. Depending upon the bank concerned would they charge the account holder for returning an unpaid Direct Debit?

Start by getting some standard processes in place and establishing some working principles: PHONE 1. NEVER talk to them on the phone. 2. Never call them for any reason. 3. If they call you put the phone down without saying anything. 4. If they call back leave the phone off the hook for a while until they go away. 5. Consider using BT Callminder to handle your inbound calls. Let it take all numbers you are not familiar with or where numbers are withheld. 6. Use www.whocallsme.com to identify unfamiliar numbers. 7. NEVER admit to the debt, but to avoid doing this NEVER talk to them. The reasons for the above are as follows: 1. No records of what is said can be produced later on. They can say what they like and you would not have proof they agreed to anything. 2. If the calls don’t go the way they want they will become abusive. This is not nice so don't let it happen to you. 3. You can inadvertently provide them with information about yourself that you do not want them to have. 4. In a debt collection situation you need time to think. You wont have time to think when talking on the phone. 5. Play the game on your own turf. Correspondence is your turf. The telephone is theirs. CORRESPONDENCE 1. All your communications to them, if any, should be in writing. 2. Each letter should be sent UNSIGNED (Reason, they may copy your signature and use it to forge an agreement you never signed). 3. Each letter should be sent recorded delivery. Keep a copy and staple the recorded delivery slip to the letter. Also, several days after sending use the GPO track and trace to see if it has been delivered. Print out the screen shot and staple it to the original letter. Better still use Firefox browser with the Scrapbook plug-in. Save the track and trace page with the scrapbook function. 4. Keep postal receipts, just in case you wish to claim against the other party later on. 5. NEVER acknowledge you owe the money in writing. 6. Don't write to them just because they write to you. Any correspondence should have a definite purpose, something you want to achieve. RECORD KEEPING 1. File all correspondence you have received in chronological order. 2. From now on keep all envelopes the letters arrive in. Open the envelopes neatly and staple the envelopes to the back of the letters. (This is because it might be useful later on to see where the letters came from, and how they were sent i.e. second class, recorded delivery etc.). 3. Start a spreadsheet and log all events; correspondence received and sent, phone call attempts by the third parties (Not calls you make because you will not be making any!!). Although it is to be hoped you will be steering clear of the courts you should pout yourself on a war footing and from the very start organise yourself for a potential battle. If you are organised, structured and clear about what you are doing you will be at least on a par with the DCA’s who organise themselves using automated systems and scripts. OK to be clear: 1. You are being asked to pay a debt for an Egg card you have never had. 2. After a number of letters from Red you have now had a Pre-Bankruptcy petition. 3. In some way the fact of being chased for the non existent Egg card is affecting a catalogue account you have which is under control. Question One What exactly is the Pre-Bankruptcy petition? Is it a letter they have sent saying they will make you bankrupt or is it a Statutory demand? If it is just a letter saying they will make you bankrupt it has no legal significance as such, merely being part of their standard threatomatic output. If it is a Statutory demand this is a legal document. It would have a standard layout and have standard sections in it. The job of a Statutory demand is to formally ask you for the money and to put you on notice that the sender will start bankruptcy proceedings if you do not pay up. You will have a limited amount of time to reply to it. If you do not reply to it the creditor COULD, if they were stupid, then apply for you to be made bankrupt. This means a hearing before a court to determine if you should be made bankrupt. In practice this is a very stupid thing for a creditor to do as he will have to pay quite a lot of money to make you bankrupt. In addition any assets you have will then be equally divided up amongst all your creditors and if you do not have any, or enough assets, the instigating creditor will only get a fraction of the amount he wants. A better course of action if he had a good case would be to start a County court claim as if this was successful he would get all the money he is after and any other creditors would not come into the picture. I take the view the creditor is most unlikely to follow through with bankruptcy hearings for the reasons above. This is a standard practice of the DCA’s to scare you and is frowned upon by the authorities who do not want standard processes of the law to be used as psychological tricks by the DCA’s I am not suggesting you ignore it, but I have had four statutory demands which I have ignored and no subsequent Bankruptcy hearing has materialised. The conclusion here then is that whilst potentially serious you should not be too worried about it. There will be some more people coming on this thread to help you deal with the SD so try to get the letter you have received copied, then ON THE COPY delete your personal information, then get it posted on this thread so others can see what it is. They will then be able to tell you how to deal with it. I would say if you choose to respond the method will be to apply to have the SD set aside, as the other party wont have a credit agreement as there is no card. You will get costs against them and have some fun. It is likely you will also be advised to report the DCA as they are using illegal means of debt collection. Question Two How much is the claim for? If it is under £750 they cant make you bankrupt anyway. Question Three You presumably fall into one of the following scenarios: 1. Egg thinks you are a/the card holder, still owns the debt and has got the DCA to chase it. 2. Egg has sold the debt to the DCA that is chasing it on their own behalf. 3. Egg has sold the Debt to another party who has got the DCA to chase it on their behalf. Look at the correspondence and see if Red is asking for money on behalf of someone else. You need to find out who is damaging your credit record, if indeed it has been damaged. Have that information ready for the others coming on here to help you. Question Four Exactly how is this affecting the catalogue account you have? Is it that you have been given a black mark with the Credit Reference Agencies and the catalogue company is reducing your credit limit? Please clarify what is happening and be ready to explain it in more detail to others following. If indeed you have never had an Egg card and you have been Defaulted it should in theory be possible to fix this, and I sniff some possible compensation in the wind for you if you pursue it in the right way. You should write to the three main credit reference agencies for a copy of your credit report. This will show you any adverse information that anybody may have filed against you. Have that information ready for the others coming here to help. I am not legally trained and don't want to advise you on what courses of action to follow. However, I am happy to reassure you on a few points where I have practical experience, and the stuff above is designed to calm you down, get you thinking practically and steer you clear of any pitfalls you may make at the start. There will be other practical help coming along.

It looks like MBNA may have sold the debt onto Direct Legal and Collections. Here is their website. Direct Legal & Collections They talk about tracing on one of their pages, so they probably found you with this part of their business. The letter itself is standard debt collectors stuff and contains nothing particularly worrying in itself if you are used to seeing these things. It is outlining all the bad things that COULD happen to you if you don't do what they say. There are three “Mays” and one “could” in the threats section. My view is you can safely ignore it for the time being. I bet in about ten days you will get another similarly worded one. It is possible you will get a “solicitors” letter. The change of letter or source of letter is designed to make you think something is happening. Nothing is happening. If you engage with them they will begin to determine how best to crack your nut. The approaches they will make will depend upon what they can find out about you, i.e. do you work, do you have property etc. Later on they may make a nuisance of themselves by persistent calling or other trouble. At that point you can take some action against them. MINOR WARNING: If you get a statutory demand this is possibly a precursor to bankruptcy proceedings and you should get back on this post and get advice. Similarly if you get a County Court Summons. May I suggest you open a spreadsheet on them with the following headings: DATE TIME EVENT CLI NOTES (CLI stands for calling line identity and is the number shown on your phone when they call you). Keep a log of everything that happens, letters, calls etc, as it may come in useful later on. First entry: Date of loan Second Entry: Date of Last Payment Third entry: Date of this latest letter and some brief details. Fourth Entry: wahtever happens next. Their head office number is 01280 707523 but this may not be the number presented to you when they call. They may also use this number 08707469049. I found it on this website which is useful: www.whocallsme.com If you get any missed or ignored calls go to the site and type in the number. It is likely someone else has added an entry and you will identify the caller. Interestingly enough this mob seem to be owned by the Faccenda Group, Britain’s second largest poultry processor! According to Wikipedia “In 2002, the company was fined £75,000 for polluting the River Avon from its Sutton Benger plant”. Also, “The Environment Agency found in 2006 that the smell from the Brackley plant fell outside limits under the Pollution Prevention and Control and Regulations”. I would venture to suggest that the same working practices to be found in the parent firm will manifest themselves in the child! And as such they are suitably qualified to join the ranks of other DCA’s operating in this Country! With regard to your future actions at this stage you can do one of two things, Don’t respond or Respond. 1. DONT RESPOND I myself have had considerable success in not responding. As a result I am about two and a half years past the default dates on nine cards, one loan and one bank account. Up to this point by simply not responding I have had no legal trouble at all. If you think about that it is quite astounding. Out of eleven accounts not one thinks they have a sufficiently strong case to take legal action (or they don’t have sufficient information to decide if it is worth while because I haven't given them any, or they are too busy, too lazy or too incompetent to go any further without me playing ball). (I freely admit this could change at any time). At first I was receiving a daily onslaught of calls and mail but it has dropped off a lot and now I get one or two calls per day from their system (an automated calling device) which my system (BT call minder) takes care of and everything else gets meticulously filed against the day I might need it. If things carry on like this then in three and a half years the debts will become statute barred and my credit record should be clean. However, be warned that this strategy has some potential pit falls. I have received four statutory demands which are the precursors to bankruptcy. I ignored them but this was a gamble as by so doing I opened myself up to the possibility of being made bankrupt. However, my personal circumstances are such that this would not be problem for anyone except the creditors. None have been followed up on so far. Also, you could get hassled at work or your neighbours approached. Both actions by the DCA’s are illegal but they do it anyway. Again my circumstances are such that this does not cause a problem, but you would have to think about the impact in your own case. You could get a personal visit from them. This is not as bad as it sounds. They have no power as such. They can ask you for the money and you can tell them you want communication in writing only and that should be that. This is very rare. As far as I know I have never had a personal visit from any of eleven accounts in almost three years. (I cannot say for sure as I am not always there!). Also, your credit record is trashed until May 2012. If you take this course of action and get away with it then by about June 2012 (or June 2011 if you live in Scotland) your debt will be statute barred and they will not be able to do anything. 2. RESPOND This is probably the course of action most people on this forum would recommend. I cannot really advise you properly as I have never done it (except in one on-going case of bank charge reclaiming coupled with some other stuff which I must admit has been fun up to now). In general you will end up doing a lot of work, having potentially quite an exciting time of it and at the end of the day a possible court date and the lottery of a win or loss. I would not advise you which course of action to take. Have a look at what other people say. What I would say though is to consider whether you will need credit in the future and how you will live your life moving on. If you may re-mortgage within the next three years (jointly) then you may need to clear this up in order to clean up your credit record (but it is trashed at the moment and there is a lot to do to clear it up and you might not succeed quickly or easily). For myself, I have for the last three years totally changed my outlook on life, both as a consumer, and on what I think is important. I will never take out a credit agreement again, and am happy to live within my means, and do not care what anybody else thinks. If you want a new washing machine save for it and use the launderette in the meantime. It will be cheaper as you will have cash for it and can do a deal. Neither possessions, new cars or an acquisitive lifestyle are necessary for happiness. Also, I will be richer in the long term anyway if I save for what I want, instead of paying a load of crappy bankers interest. BTW I am glad your husband knows, as this is one less problem for you. Also, do not let it dominate your life. It is like the weather, handle it like you would the weather. Finally, you should consider your attitude to the debt. Do you feel you have a moral obligation to pay it? A lot of people do and that is very gratifying in itself. If I could pay my debts I would. Having said that the amount of interest and charges I have paid over the years is such that I don't believe I have any moral obligations left. Also, the treatment I have had from the DCA’s demonstrates a complete lack of both morality, and regard for the law, effectively discharging any moral obligation I may have had to them. It has become evident in the last two years that the moral question need not necessarily be raised. Consider; bank charges, Fred the shred, the bank bail out, MP’s expenses, PPI miss-selling, the behaviour of institutions and DCA’s. I say; They have had their’s and are still taking it, you should get yours!!

Hi Little Bear First of all, calm down as I promise you nothing bad is going to happen any time soon as my post will hopefully explain. I am not my self a great expert but have been following what has been happening on this web site for about three years and have greatly benefited so from time to time I try to give some advice back, though I am not legally qualified in any way. Some better people will be along in a while to give you good advice but I will catch your initial ball as follows: First of all, this is a letter from a scabby (because they all are) debt collecting company. It seems pompous, formal, official and serious because that is how they want it to be perceived. Whilst they would like you to pay up the full amount within the seven days they know there is no realistic chance that you will do so. This is a letter designed to get you to respond. If you do so they will take you down a well trodden path to get your money. From looking at other posts on here they are particularly nasty bullies and you should have no dealings with them. There is no immediate need for you to respond just because they say you should. If you do not respond the most likely thing to happen at this stage is that they will send a similar but differently worded letter. So as I said above, do not panic as you have plenty of time to develop your response. IMPORTANT ONE: Do not ever talk to them on the phone. If they call put the phone down straight away without speaking. Do not engage them in any conversation whatsoever at any time. If they keep calling leave the phone off the hook for a while and ignore them. You may think this is rude but it is nothing to how they will treat you if you show them any resistance, so don’t play tennis. IMPORTANT TWO: Do not at this stage write to them. There will be some people along on this post later on who will offer you good tactical advice and only write what they tell you to write. Whatever you do, do not admit you owe the debt in writing (or verbally), enter into a payment plan, fill out any forms they send you or anything else. In summary, no phone calls. Any communications to be written only. Second, the original loan is either a secured or an unsecured loan. A secured loan is one where you agree that if you don't pay back the money they can sell your house or other property. In your case this is not your husband’s property but another named/identified property that you might have had at the time you took the loan out. An unsecured loan is where they lend you the money hoping you will pay it back and if you don't they would find it very difficult (though not necessarily impossible) to get it back. You therefore fall into one of the following scenarios: a. You secured the loan on a property you still have. b. You secured the property on a property you no longer have. c. You have an unsecured loan. There is no d. What I mean by that is that you do not (or so it seems from your post) have a loan secured on your husband’s property. They cannot therefore take possession of your husbands property, or any other possessions he may have to settle this debt. For the avoidance of doubt they cannot repossess your husbands house or his possessions PERIOD. or indeed any property or possessions you have in your own name without going to court first, and winning and you then not maintaining a repayment plan that you agree with the court, and they are a long, long way from that! This is true even if they say it is not or doesn't apply to them. Presuming you have the original loan agreement you should dig it out (and all the other statements, letters etc.) pertaining to the loan and identify which scenario you fall under as others coming on here will want to know so they can advise you. Third, it would be useful to know who currently owns the debt. Originally the debt was owned by MBNA and the money would need to be repaid to them. However, it is possible, particularly in view of the amount of time that has passed, that another company now owns the debt, having bought it off MBNA (probably for a figure around £2K!). Therefore the people chasing you fall into one of the following categories: a. The debt is still owned by MBNA and Ruthbridge Ltd are chasing it on behalf of MBNA. b. The debt has been bought by Ruthbridge Ltd who are chasing it on their own behalf. c. The debt has been bought by someone else and Ruthbridge are chasing it on behalf of the 3rd party. You should re-read the letter and see if there is any reference to anybody else. You should also photocopy the letter and on the copy, blank out any personal references (name, address, account numbers, bar codes and any unexplainable codes/writing in the footnotes or margins) and get it scanned and place the scan on here so people can see it. (Also, dig out any old correspondence and file it, together with the new stuff that will come. Keep the original copies and make copies if you need them for other purposes. Also, keep the envelopes they come in, stapling the envelope to the original letter that was inside. This is a very minor idea I developed myself. For certain types of letter it could be useful to see how it arrived. For example first class, second class, recorded, etc.) Depending upon which scenario you fall into above your response may be a bit different. For example, have you received default notices, and if so, were they in the correct format? If the debt has been sold have you received the proper notices of assignment? (The presence or absence of these documents and whether or not they are correct can help in your defence). Fourth, how old is the debt? If you live in England or Wales and have not paid, been in contact with the creditor or made any payments for longer than six years the debt becomes Statute Barred. This means that whilst you still owe the money the creditor cannot take any legal action to recover the money. Therefore check the date of the last payment you made. Having said that it looks like you wont be able to defend on this point if your start date really was 2005. Check it. Fifth, does the creditor have supporting documents to chase the debt? It is entirely possible that MBNA does not have a copy of the original agreement. Incredible but often true. (A lot of agreements and other financial paper is put in a box, on a pallet, in a container and down a salt mine in Cheshire to keep them safe and dry in case they are needed. They will never come out!) If they have not got a copy they cannot enforce the agreement in court. You still owe it to them but they cannot take any legal action. Even if they have got the original agreement it may not be properly completed. For example it may have one or more terms missing, incorrect or ineligible, figures incorrectly calculated etc. making it unenforceable. In this scenario you still owe them but they cannot take any legal action. Did you have protection insurance on it. If so it may have been miss-sold to you. If it was miss-sold the entire agreement may be unenforceable. If a third party has bought the debt then in addition to the above it is even more likely they do not have a copy of the agreement because they have go to go back to the original lender who has got to go down the salt mine, and cannot chase you for the debt until they produce a copy. The guys coming on here after me will advise you on all that stuff and if necessary, make the Debt collector jump through all those hoops to establish their claim. So you see, there is no need for immediate worry and you have a good chance of dealing with this successfully. In fact, as and when you start writing to them you will find that when it comes to them trying to produce original letters they will be less articulate than the cast of Camberwick Green. Even if in the last resort you end up paying it you will only have to pay it by instalments that are affordable. If you have no money they cannot get blood out of a stone. Lastly, some domestic and matrimonial stuff. There are various ways to track down people who move or go off the radar and for about £120 it is possible to find people using things like phone books, electoral register, newspaper articles (was your wedding in the paper?) and so on. Do not freak about this, you are not being bugged, and there is no camera in your bathroom. (If by any chance there is would you post some pictures on here please?). If you have not already told your husband I would strongly advise you to tell him. The reasons for this are as follows: Trying to keep it secret from him wont work because you will get letters, phone calls etc. and have to spend time dealing with it, all of which will require an explanation. If he does not find out by accident he will none the less be suspicious and will try and come up with an explanation for your behaviour. Not good. He loves you. He has just married you. Whatever his response is he will soon get over it. You need an ally and he is it, apart from the people on here. If you try and keep it a secret it will add to your stress levels which will be somewhat challenged already. Don't do it to yourself. He loves you (again). You are not alone. By some estimates perhaps as many as 25% of people have so much debt that they are almost or totally unable to escape it. Welcome to the 1 in 4 club. Finally, and at present this last one probably seems a bit far fetched, but pulling the donkey’s tail (with the DCA being both metaphorically and in most cases literally the donkey) can be fun. Share it with him. With any luck there will be some competent people along to help you soon, so be ready to give them the information they need stay cool and welcome to the game!

Also, if they get on the phone refuse to talk to them. Put the phone down, note the numbers from which they call and don't answer the phone in future if it is them. You may or may not owe money to your customer. However, Capex are acting as agents for the creditor. You have no legal obligation to talk to them or indeed to deal with them at all. If your customer insists on working with them be clear that he has to prove you owe him by appropriate documentation (receipts, warranties, letters, invoices etc). Keep everything in writing. Also, I would not think the fee of £25 is payable but others with more knowledge and experience than I will hopefully come on here to offer safer advice.

Dear Shytalk 123 Just seen your second post. Hope you appreciate my reply took about an hour to write up properly. If you are a little patient I am sure others will be along to help out. In the mean time I am glad the utility is helping you out. Keep an eye on them to make sure they dont try (possibly by accident) to go for the warrant anyway.

Dear Shytalk 123 I am not by any means an expert and I hope there will be some people on here later who can help you. That said I took some advice of this forum that has proven to be good. The very first thing to say to you is there is no immediate cause for worry and there is a lot you can do. As I see it you have two things to deal with. The first is the letter threatening the application for a disconnection warrant and the second is to address the bill. To deal with the warrant threat first: 1. Check the letter and see if they have stated a court and the date where the warrant will be applied for. I suspect not in this case. More likely is that a field agent is trying to collect first. The talk of the police is to scare you. Disregard it for the moment. The £30 charge is something you can challenge, and they will very likely back down. 2. If the letter you have does not have a court date and location then you have probably received a standard letter from their threatomatic system or from a field collection agent. At this point there is no court date set. However, if you do nothing you will eventually receive another letter several weeks before the court date telling you of the court and time. (What is going on at the moment are efforts by the utility to get you to respond). 3. Once you have this date you can go to court to defend yourself. This is what will happen: a). The application for a disconnection will be one of many given to an agent. The job of the agent is to put the warrants in front of the magistrate. He will likely have 20 or more to submit and may be working on behalf of several utilities. b). The agent will not be in a position to argue the merits of each individual case. He is not a solicitor. His job is therefore only to put the paperwork through the court. Any application that is challenged will not be put in front of a magistrate that day. (Only applications not challenged will be submited to the court and all of them will be granted as the magistrates will have no opposing testimony that would give them reason not to grant the application). 4. Get to the court nice and early and report to reception. Say you are there to defend an application for disconnection and show the court your letter. Ask the court for the name of the agent handling your case and go and find him. It is likely he will want to find you anyway. (I advise you to shave, dress in your best business clothing and get a file to contain your papers. If you are female you don't need to shave! You will look neat, professional and business like. Indeed you will possibly be neater than the agent. This will put you in a positive position as you will feel more confident and business like and he will think you more credible. This really works and you should do it!). 5. When you meet him (or her) be polite and simply state you are there to object to the granting of the disconnection warrant. It is almost certain he will withdraw the warrant for that day as he has no information to put the utility company’s case . He may ask you the reasons for objecting and you can tell him or show him your defence. (see below). 6. It is possible for a variety of reasons that the warrant has already been withdrawn and nobody has told you. In this case get him to state on the back of the letter you have that it was withdrawn and his name and date. If you have not been told by the utility company that they have withdrawn their application you might have a nice little case against them for wasting your time etc. and you could get costs etc. back. 7. This does not stop the utility coming back on a later occasion with a solicitor to argue for a disconnection but one hopes it is unlikely given that by that time you will have an arrangement in place (see below). Secondly, to deal with the Bill and or prevent the warrant being issued. I would do the following: 1. Write a letter (do it today) to the utility and offer them a payment plan that you can afford, not one they try to impose. I would think you need to consider keeping pace with your monthly usage and adding a bit on for the arrears. Either make the first payment by cheque or postal order with the letter or see below. 2. Send the letter by recorded delivery. 3. After two days go on-line to the GPO track and trace page and make sure the letter has been delivered. Print off the confirmation in case you need to produce it in court later. 4. Call the utility to confirm they have received the letter and ask them if they will accept the payment plan. (Whatever their response request they give it to you in writing). If you have not paid them by cheque/po as above then offer payment of the first instalment over the phone by card. 5. Irrespective of whether they accept the payment plan at this stage or not, they will certainly accept the payment. 6. If they accept the payment plan you are not likely to get the court date letter. If they do not accept the plan get the name of the agent you were talking to and note the date and time of the call. 7. Keep to your payment plan until you get the court date letter and keep paying according to your plan even after the letter is received. 8. Prior to going to court type out a summary of your case, stating your financial position, the offers you have made, the payments you have made and a diary/timetable of events. 9. When you get to the court you can tell the agent you are objecting to the disconnection warrant because you have offered a payment plan and are making payments. Produce copies of your letter, recorded delivery slips, your summary that you intend to show the court etc. This will be enough for the agent to see you have a defence, however weak it may be and he will pull the warrant. (all as above). 10. It is possible the utility may come back at a later date with a solicitor ready to fight the case. It would seem from other posts on here that a court is unlikely to issue a warrant of disconnection if you are maintaining payments and addressing arrears. Here is a brief summary of my own experiences: CASE 1 1. Paid my father’s arrears (but not the current bill) over the phone two days before the court date. 2. Asked if the warrant application would be pulled. The utility said no as I had not paid the current bill (which was not yet due). 3. Went to court and found the agent. 4. The agent said he had no documents as they had been pulled. He himself advised that I had a case for wasted time/costs against the utility. CASE 2 1. Prepared a good written defence against our business electricity supplier. 2. At court found the agent. He said the utility had pulled the case, though no one could find a reason for this. 3. Subsequently spoke to the utility who said the application had been pulled because a part payment had been made (some two months prior to the issuing of the application). 4. Another case for wasted costs. I hope other more experienced CAGers will come on this thread and correct any errors I have made in my advice. This is the first time I have offered any advice to any other CAGer so could do with some confirmation that what I have advised is good and safe. I dealt with both cases above in the same week! And it was the advise on these forums that got me through so want to give back now. The key thing is to deal with the bill and not to worry at this stage. Hope this helps.

"In fact the Panorama did have an effect. I know it & other matters helped convince the government NOT to enact that part of the Bill allowing DCA's the right to break & enter private homes for civil debts" Well I am very glad about that and happy to be incorrect on that point.

Sorry to apply a damper to proceedings but there is a lot of comment here about how this is bad for the DCA's and what the atmosphere is like in their offices and so on. The fact is these people are hard nosed businessmen and they will not let a TV show set them back. They know full well that its impact will be 90% diminished by this time next week. Anyone remember the panorama programme a while back? Who in officialdom took any notice? The DCA's will tough this and most other things out. Note for example that despite the fact that Wurst Crudit was told by the FSA or whoever to report on their use of stat demands it has not stopped them from using them by simply having Connaught do it for them instead and presumably not then having to produce their quarterly reports. Not withstanding the above lets hope they get a good kicking.

Hi all I have been following this thread this morning but not logged in so may have shown as a guest. Apologies all round. Had what I thought was a funny one with Marlin a while ago. They were chasing me for a debt they had just acquired and asked me for my address to post me the hullo letter. I split my sides. What chance that they had a copy of the agreement or anything else? Unbeleivable. I refused and they said they would add £120 to the bill to fund a skip trace. I said it was their hard disk and what they recorded on it was up to them. About ten days later they found the address as I got the letter. Have to say though that I have had no trouble from them since. BTW. There is nothing more beautiful in this world than an expectant mum.

Hi All On the subject of what it actually costs to disconnect and reconnect a line I asked our local BT engineer and he said it could be done with a keyboard command so the actual cost would be about 1 minute of a persons time. The cost would be even less if that person happened to work in an Indian Call Centre. My own experience of Telecom billing is that there is a sophisitcated billing engine running on a big computer in a data centre somewhere. This machine just follows the processes and if, after the set dates and times, it has not seen a credit on your acount it will automatically disconnect you. When I have paid late using a debit card through BT's automatic system it seems to take about 24 hours fo the line to come back. This could indicate the attention of a human but I wouldn't bet on it.